OPURUNUZOBURUMKPARA
Xenophobia is an intense fear of foreign people, their customs and culture, or foreign things. Xenophobia is as old as the world itself which Africa is not an exception. It is a phenomenon that brought about boundary demarcations between tribes and tongues; races and countries vis-à-vis religions of the world. Opurunuzoburumkpara is a xenophobic derogatory name which connotes a woman or man who marries outside his or her cultural environment in Imo State and its environs. The methodology applied in this study is sociological and qualitative to demystify the scenario behind Opurunuzoburumkpara and infuse ameliorating language that will remove stigma and hatred from the in-group and out group. This derogatory name arose out of envy; fear of contamination of cherished and prized character, language or dialect, religion, customs and culture of a particular country, tribe or clan. There is an age-long culture of indepth investigation of the background of the two families whose children are coming together in marriage to ascertain whether they are compatible or not which seem to be truncated by distance marriage. Hence, when a woman or man crosses the bounds of his or her clan and culture to get married into a people outside his or her own culture loses a home advantage and support of his or her people. At same time, the woman loses her value to her matrimonial home and regarded as inferior “Fiddlestick”. Opurunuzoburumkpara in a world of change is gaining acceptance for several special reasons ranging from migration, media influence, religion, political, economic, interest and need. It is wrong to mistreat, humiliate, and torment a woman because she is married into a strange culture. Good values are what one values; this value is binding on her, and gives her authority to adapt in her new home and culture. Xenophobia can manifest itself in many ways involving the relations and perceptions of an in-group towards an out-group, including a fear of losing identity, suspicion of its activities, aggression, and desire to eliminate its presence to secure a postulated purity as is the problem in Opurunuzoburumkpara marriage.
Keywords: opurunuzoburumkpara