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In the small Edo speaking community of Okpella, in central Nigeria, men and women come together to provide leadership. The men are the official leaders within the society. They are selected for entitlement because of their accomplishments. The women, however, control their initiation process, and it is the women who allow them to continue in the course of becoming an elder. This sharing of power creates a balance of power between the men and the women in Okpella society and visually this balance of power is represented in the women’s indigo dyed cloth, which the Okpella call omada. In general, the balance of power is expressed in the clothing the entitled elders wear. The entitled men wear an obetes, an appliqué cloth apron that "provides a concrete link between three essential rituals undergone by an individual seeking title status" (Borgatti 1983: 20). The omada, worn by Okpella women, is an indigo dyed cotton shawl which functions the same as the obete. The omada like the obete suggest visually the entitled status of the wearer. The clothes are worn at festive and ceremonial occasions which enhances the magnitude of the entitled’s status. The ideas behind these garments are closely linked because of the shared leadership roles of the men and women in Okpella society. The notions of the clothes are so closely linked in design, and the rituals used to create them, that the leadership roles therefore share commonalities and interlink. Women of entitled status function similarly in Okpella society as men of entitled status. While entitled men provide the community with political and moral leadership, the entitled women provide the other women of the community with leadership. They also play a significant role in the initiation of men. The entire male entitling ceremony, called Oghalo, is a social transition men take when they are old enough and can prove their achievement as a citizen. These achievements are measure by his wealth. Women provide these entitled men with support when carrying out the social role, and they control most of the process by performing the essential rituals for the continuation of initiation. (Borgatti, 1989). An entitled woman has the power to veto a male who is insufficient in providing leadership for the community, and who therefore should not be entitled. She does so by declining to perform the rituals and by refusing to paint the bodies of the candidates and the walls of their compounds. This is a powerful abstention against a considered candidate which suggests women’s power within the community. She also allows the male candidate to "take the feather." This concession commits the candidate go forward in the ceremony and obligates him to the expense of becoming entitled. Women lead these rituals and this illustrates their power in the nomination process of the future leaders of the society. In general the women can stop the candidate from continuing in the initiation making their silent role very powerful. (Borgatti, 1989). The women not only initiate the future leaders within their society, but they also are the artists who create the visual link between the gendered roles. The balance held between the entitled men and women is reflected in the patterns of the omada. The patterns embroidered on the omada are similar to the patterns painted on the bodies and the walls of their homes. The entitled women paint the initiated males’ bodies in a process that is called crowning. If she refuses to crown the candidate she is declining to continue the initiation process. Her abstention is much like abstaining from performing the essential rituals because painting the bodies and walls of the candidates is a part of the ritual process. The women crown the men by applying a black stain to the men’s backs and chests. After the male is crowned, he is given special obete, a headdress of nightjar feathers, a red title hat, and a wooden staff of office. Once he finishes this step of the ceremony, he goes back to his compound, and receives gifts. In the compound, a spiritual transformation takes place. The values of the entitling ceremony are reinforced by the wall painting which are also executed by the women. "The work encodes a powerful message which aids in the transformation of the candidate from an ordinary man to a titled elder" (Borgatti 1989: 180). Not only does the body painting process link the values of the entitling ceremony to the newly entitled male, but it also links the females to the entitling customs and values (Borgatti 1983). The men and the women of the Okpella society can be entitled leaders in the society, but it is the women who control many of the rituals of male entitlement. Without the consent of the women, Okpella men can not be entitled; and moreover, the women can stop the entitlement of a man. They are the crafts people involved in the painting of the bodies and the walls that closely connect values of entitlement to the candidates. And by refusing to do any of these tasks they prohibit the candidates further progression in the ceremony and in Okpella society. As entitled women they have extreme power in the society, and control the initial process of the male entitlement. The omada, and the ideas that it embodies, reaffirms the women’s roles in the initiation ceremony as artist, creators, and initiator. Alex Minehart Borgatti, Jean.
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