Editing Lady-in-waiting (section)

===Nigeria===
A number of tribes and cultural areas in the African continent, such as the [[Lobedu people]] of Southern Africa, had a similar custom of ladies-in-waiting in historic times.

As a further example, within certain [[List of Nigerian traditional states|pre-colonial states]] of the [[Bini people|Bini]] and [[Yoruba people]]s in Nigeria, the [[Queen mothers (Africa)|queen mother]]s and [[high priest]]esses were considered "[[Honorary male|ritually male]]" due to their social eminence. As a result of this fact, they were often attended to by women who belonged to their [[harem]]s in much the same way as their actually male counterparts were served by women who belonged to theirs. Although these women effectively functioned as ladies-in-waiting, were often members of powerful families of the local nobility in their own right, and were not usually used for sexual purposes, they were nonetheless referred to as their principals' "wives".