The global average birthrate for twins is around 12 per 1,000 births, but in Igbo-Ora, a community in Nigeria’s southwest, that rate is about four times higher. Proudly celebrating the unusual abundance, the self-proclaimed twin capital of the world has held its annual festival.
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00:00The drums pay homage to the twins already born and those yet to come.
00:06Ojo Awu Ifayemi is mother to three sets of twins.
00:10People who want twins themselves are seeking her blessing.
00:14She is the chief priestess who pays tribute to the local deity believed to give that precious gift.
00:20Yes, I am a mother of twins.
00:23My twins are three times.
00:27Yes, one, two girls.
00:32Second, two boys.
00:35Third, one boys, one girls.
00:38The shrine of the twin gods is in my place where we worship the twin gods.
00:43That's what we're doing here.
00:45Anyone who wants twins, come to us and it'll happen. That's it.
00:50Many families here have one set of twins or more.
00:54They are seen as bountiful gifts of the gods.
00:57This is the community's annual twin festival.
01:00And walking around and seeing so many twins, a lot of them actually identical,
01:04it's easy to see why the community in Igbora is nicknamed the twin capital of the world.
01:09Festival organizers hope the celebration will attract more visitors.
01:14What is happening here is called twins pilgrimage to the land of twins.
01:19A lot of people, a lot of twins come around to Igbora just to experience that pilgrimage to the land of twins.
01:25That's why we are celebrating the multiple births.
01:28With the matching outfits, you sometimes get the feeling you're seeing the same person twice.
01:34We are so happy to be celebrated because we are so special.
01:37Twins are so unique, so we are special.
01:40We are unique, we are special and we are happy. You can see that we are happy.
01:46As Igbora gains popularity, authorities say they want the festival to be recognized as UNESCO World Heritage.