History of Igbo-ora “The twin capital of the word”.

This is Igbo-ora “The twin capital of the word”.Igbo-Ora is a town and the headquarters of Ibarapa Central, Oyo State, south-western Nigeria. In 2017 the population is estimated to be around 198,514 people.
The town is famous for it’s high rate of twinning among births of children. In Yoruba culture twins are so common that they are traditionally given specific names. They are called either Taiwo or Kehinde depending on whether they were born first or second. But even for Yoruba people, Igbo Ora is considered to be exceptional.
This caught my attention recently when I found out about the community from a friend of mine who is a twin and from the town, I decided to carry out a research on the community.Trying to understand the reason for this phenomenon, a survey was carried out using researched work, scientific views, and Q&A by members of the community.
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The most widely accepted reason is, the said diet of the people of Igbo-ora which is the local food mostly eaten (Amala and Okra soup) Amala is made from yam and cassava flour
“There are so many twins because of the okra leaf that we eat,” said 15-year-old Kehinde Oyedepo, one of the twins, repeating a view commonly held in the town.
Oyenike Bamimore, who sells bread, said she was living proof that the diet was the cause. “Because I eat okra leaves a lot, I gave birth to eight sets of twins,” she said.
The Theory: Apparently local traditions over how the leaves are consumed were crucial. For example, a stew made from the leaves should be eaten immediately and never stored.
It is also believed that the yams prompt the production of chemical agent “Gonadotropins” that stimulates the production of eggs in surplus ” is believed that this helps to produce eggs fertilized and separated to produce twins.
🔥🔥🔥The second version is that the great sàngó (son of Oranmiyan and grandson of Oduduwa) the third Alaafin of the Oyo empire, the Yoruba god of thunder and lightning with his first wife “Osun” bless them with twins. It is believed that a twin in Yorubaland is the child of Sàngó and Osun (Both are deities worshiped in Yorubaland). So a twin in Igbo-ora is seen as a Demigod or mini-god.
The Ibeji Orisha “a twin idol worshiped in yorubaland” prove this phenomenon.
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Scientifically there is no prove why the high rate of twinning occurs. But there have been hypothesis.
Ekujumi Olarenwaju, an obstetrician gynaecologist based in Lagos, believes the causes of the phenomenon lie elsewhere because the same kind of yam and flour is eaten through out the country without the same result. He also points out hereditary as a big reason for this phenomenon, years of Inbreeding and intermarriages have left a concentrated gene pooled in that environment.
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Speaking to my friend a graduate of Mass Communication who has a twin, told me, the same story of the diet was told to them by their parents and as thus fed them Amala and Okra a lot when they were young for reasons not known to him. He also confirmed that they were seen as special kids “Ibeji” and taken to the Sàngó shrine regularly for prayers. When asked if he finds any of the stories believing, he says, the sàngó theory or may be intermarriage.Speaking to Nine other people it was found that almost each family in Igbo-ora has twins in their house hold.
Although all of them says associating the high level of twin rate with diet is nothing but superstition and a myth but majority think it has something to do with Sàngó. I asked further if this is true, then there will be low recorded death of twins at infancy? But to my shock they told me death does occur and dead twins are even more revered as the Ibeji Orìsha is built and worshiped in any house that has lost a twin or twins.
This phenomenon is not limited to Igbo-ora as it has been observed in Cândido Godói state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil and Kodinhi village in Malappuram district in Kerala, India. When I told them about this occurrence other places, they were shocked as they had no idea of it’s occurence elsewhere.At the end of the research I came to the conclusion;
The diet theory: ❎❎❎
There is actually no prove their diet causes high rate of twins occurrence in the town. This diet is eaten throughout the country and this does not occur. Another reason is, in the old days soup were not actually stored, they were made for just a day.
The Sàngó theory: •••••??
There might be a possibility that this rare occurrence does have something to do with spirituality. Only the gods can verify this believe.
Inbreeding and Intermarriages: ••••??
This is the closest explanation to this rare occurence. Years of intermarriages means twins would marry twins and thus produce a genetic trait of reoccurring. But this would mean the community would have been founded with two or more pair of twins to begin with.
Which ever one it is! Whenever you visit Nigeria, pay a visit to the Igbo-ora town to see for yourself.