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Mari komot no bi awa "style"

bai Edwin Eriata Oribhabor

Except one has deep interest in watching Hollywood films or lucky to belong to the veri old skul age bracket, the name Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor may just sound like one Lizzy babe a former school mate or neighbour. She was a famous Hollywood star actress who became a superstar way back in the 50s. Hau meni of os dem don born bai dat taim? She played landmark roles in projecting Hollywood as an institution and the film industry in general in the United States of America. Way back in 1944 she started her film career with the powerful film “National Velvet”. Later on in her eventful life, she starred or featured in films like “Father of the Bride” (1950), “A Place in the Sun” (1951), “Giant” (1956), “Cat On A Hot Tin Roof” (1958), “ Cleopatra” (1963), “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” (1966), “Butterfield 8” (1968) etc. She won several high profile awards & honors including the Academy Awards, the Oscas, etc. Her story could be summarized as that of a very beautiful woman whose beauty and role as a film actress brought her fame, wealth and propa gbese married eight times to seven husbands (one of them twice.) She died on Wednesday, March 23 at the age of 79 in Los Angeles. Eyaaaa!

Once we are in love with a particular thing or person, hardly do we have the “heart” to accommodate dissenting opinions. Taking cognizance of the “other sides” of Elizabeth Taylor, one would be offending many in their thinking that her beauty made up fo ol di yeye tins she did in her life time. In local parlance, Elizabeth Taylor’s beauty and marital life would be best described as one fain wuman we no fit hol imsef, pesin we de jomp from one man to anoda Hers could be likened to a marital janglova; a swing in a rhythmic fun, leaving a serious dent to her moral standing.

No doubt, it has been said in several places that she would be greatly remembered for playing a perfect script out of her love and marital life. Blessed with a peculiar capacity or skill in husband switching, she was to say the least confused by her controversial behavior. Wen dem ask am se wetin mek am de mari mari laik dat, she said “I don’t know honey. It sure beats the hell out of me”, complimenting a friend’s assertion that she was kind of hyperactive; im bodi tu hot and was not ready fo eni kain yama yama fo marej.

We all have our individual weaknesses; fo laif, evribodi get im oun. No one can determine what life has in store for him or her. Elizabeth Taylor would never have envisaged that in her life time, she will get what she got in her marriage. One of his former husbands named Richard Burton got married to her twice in what we simply call mari komot, mari komot.

Despite Taylor’s various life challenges she achieved a lot in the area of motherhood and ”became a grandmother at the age of 39” in 1971. “At the time of her death she was survived by four children, ten grandchildren, and four great grand-children.” That she was surrounded by four of her children at the point of her death at Cedas-Sinai Medical Centre in Los Angeles, California testified to the fact that she was loved by them.

In life, our strength may be our weakness if not well-managed e.g. one’s wealth or beauty may turn out to be one’s undoing. In those days, a man’s handsome look may turn out to be propa wahala for him because women no go get let am res. Elizabeth Taylor, was beautiful and rich; double wahala (Fela Anikulakpo would love to say.) Like her, men were carried away by both her natural and material endowments. Some say she was simply unlucky with the marriage institution. Whichever way one may look at it, she was only a victim of the syndrome of "mari komot, mari komot" something we strongly abhor in our clime. A woman’s respect and dignity is largely rated by her capacity to hold tenaciously to her marriage despite the “ups and downs.” But a friend said during a discussion on the subject matter, that, her attitude of jopin from marej to marej was far better than “playing around” with smol smol boys. Another friend countered that she was also guilty of this act by her relationship with Michael Jackson who was more or less a smol pikin then. Elizabeth Taylor na "fine" wuman. Na koret actress. Na mari komot, mari komot. May her soul rest in perfect peace, amen.

Mr. Oribhabor is a promoter of Naija (aka Nigeria Pidgin) residing in Abuja-Nigeria

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