Igbo-Ora: The Town Where Twins Are the Rule, Not the Rarity

Nestled in southwest Nigeria lies Igbo-Ora, a small town where twins aren’t just common, they’re everywhere. Walk through the market and you’ll spot identical twins in matching clothes, walking together like mirror images. Tourists call it remarkable. Scientists call it a mystery. Locals call it home.

In Igbo-Ora, the twin birth rate is staggering: around 45 to 50 sets of twins per 1,000 births, far above the global average of 12 per 1,000. Studies conducted in the region show this is overwhelmingly due to fraternal (dizygotic) twins, not identical ones.

Once a year, the town transforms with joy and ritual during the World Twins Festival. Hundreds of pairs of twins don matching outfits and parade proudly—toddlers in purple dresses, elders in agbada, and even a royal visit adds pageantry. “There’s hardly a family here that doesn’t have a twin,” said visiting Yoruba king Oba Kehinde Gbadewole Olugbenle, himself a twin.

But why does Igbo-Ora produce so many twins? Theories abound. One local belief attributes it to diet, particularly amala (yam flour porridge) and ilasa soup made from okra leaves. Some say these foods encourage multiple ovulation. Fertility doctors are cautious. A gynecologist in Abuja suggested, “It very well could be that there are things they eat there that have a high level of certain hormones that now result in what we call multiple ovulation.”

Genetics likely plays a key role too. The Yoruba people already have higher twin rates, and a study by P.P.S. Nylander in the 1970s confirmed that the region’s rates were four times those in Europe or North America.

Beyond science, twins in Igbo-Ora carry deep cultural significance. Yoruba traditions blend faith and honor. Twin names—Taiwo (“one who tastes the world”) and Kehinde (“one who comes after”), reflect beliefs that the first twin scouts the world for the second. Some view twins as gifts from the supreme god Olodumare. Taiwo Ojewale, a university researcher, said this reverence “is rooted in traditional religious belief.”

But there are real challenges. Twin pregnancies are higher risk: early births, complications, and special neonatal care are common. Rural clinics often struggle with staffing and resources. That reality contrasts with the celebration, smiles and dancing during festivals, and worries behind closed doors when young lives are at risk.

Igbo-Ora is more than a human oddity. It is a cultural beacon and a research site. The House of Representatives has even called on UNESCO to declare it a World Heritage Site, a recognition that could bring needed infrastructure and tourism.

So what makes Igbo-Ora special? Perhaps it’s the intersection of heredity, culture and community. Or as one local mother put it,

“It is the work of God… and the food that I eat.”

Science may seek patterns and proof, but for Igbo-Ora’s people, this twin-filled town is proof of nature’s wonder, and a living legacy that fuels pride, research, and hope.