WIDOWHOOD PRACTICES IN SOME NIGERIAN SOCIETIES: A RETROSPECTIVE EXAMINATION

WIDOWHOOD PRACTICES IN SOME NIGERIAN SOCIETIES: A RETROSPECTIVE EXAMINATION

Abstract

Bereavement associated with widowhood is generally considered to be a difficult life event which constitutes a source of emotional and psychological stress which requires a period of time to overcome. This is further complicated by the inability of family members and society to realistically assist the widow through the bereavement process. Apart from the fact that the widow is usually disadvantaged in the distribution of the late husband’s property, she is also subjected to some unpleasant widowhood practices. Such practices include shaving of hairs, wearing of black/white clothes, sleeping and sitting on the floor or mat, being refrained from bathing for a number of days, seclusion and being made to swear with husband’s corpse, among many others. The paper x-rays these widowhood practices in some Nigerian societies and offers recommendations on how to improve the position of the Nigerian widows which among others included the economic empowerment of the widows.

Introduction

There is a growing evidence in many parts of sub-saharan Africa (including Nigeria), that most widows whose husbands die live in abject penury, because their in-laws who are supposed to cushion the effect of the loss, often deprive them of their husband’s properties and subject them to a lot of dehumanizing treatments. Yvonne and Browning (2002), Nwosu (2007).When one’s marriage partner dies, the surviving partner, if a woman, becomes a widow, if a man, a widower. But for either party, the death of a partner is such a traumatic experience that it is better imagined than experienced; much more for the widow. When Rita Marley, the wife of the legendary Bob Marley, sang the song titled “who feels it knows it” after the death of her husband, she perhaps could really assess the suffering and the pains, the impact and the devastating effects of losing a dear one; while her opinions would represent to a large extent those of the widows of the world, who more often than not are at the receiving end and bear the brunt of the loss, worst still in Africa. Widowhood is an unpleasant experience. It is degrading when widows are subjected to untold hardship and maltreated by the in-laws and by the society in general. Their situation is quite awful, they are poor and uncared for by people who are supposed to give them succourand help. However, the status of the widow under the law depends on the type of marriage in question. There are about four types of marriage contract in Nigeria, namely, that of Court/Registry marriage based on government laws; Traditional/Customary marriage based on the traditions or customs of the people under question; Christian marriage based on Christian beliefs and principlesand Islamic marriage based on Islamic beliefs and principles. The principles of law applicable to each of these marriages differ considerably. For a woman married under the Marriage Act, her rights after the death of her husband are spelt out if the husband dies ‘intestate’ that is, without a valid will (Ogundipe, 2001). A widow under customary law is not entirely without rights in her husband’s estate, she has a legal right to retain the use and possession of the matrimonial home subject to the good behaviour of the widow. But it is a well known fact that, in the native law and customs of some people in Nigeria, that a wife could not inherit her husband’s properties since she is like a chattel to be inherited by a relative of her husband. In other words, in most cases, the widow’s brother in-laws go further to assume their late brother’s personal relationship with his wife and when she says no, her problems become complex. No wonder, Bernard Jessie (1995:633) says that “it is women who get the worse deal out of marriage.

Eweluka (2002) also noted that the customary law permits and perpetuates discrimination on the basis of gender especially in family relations. Women experience and suffer marital frustrations and depression than men and these continue even at the demise of the husband, where a woman will have to face series of dehumanizing treatments from the in-laws, with the claim that, she killed her husband. Olakitike (2009) expressed that these widowhood practices vary from one place to another and many of these practices violate a woman’s human right. This is because from time memorial, societies across the globe have been male dominated and still remains so especially in Africa. Hence, Nwosu (2007) opined that the disorganizing and traumatic experience which accompanies death of husbands, tends to be greater on women than that of men when they lose their wives. For instance, while the wife immediately becomes the primary suspect for her husband’s death, the man is immediately offered an appropriate substitution to comfort him upon the loss of his wife. According to Nwanegbo (1996) in some places the widow will be taken to an isolated place where she will have her food in broken earthern pot, while her hair will either be left unkempt or be completely shaven off; while in some other places, ten men will have to lie with the widow after her husband’s death and she has to cry very early each morning and call her husband by his name, this she will do for one month. Thus, this paper focuses on widowhood practices in some Nigerian societies, reasons for the prevalence of widowhood practices, its implications on Nigerian widows and offer viable suggestions and recommendations tailored towards tackling the predicament of the widows.

WIDOWHOOD PRACTICES IN SOME NIGERIAN SOCIETIES: A RETROSPECTIVE EXAMINATION

Chapters: 1 - 5
Delivery: Email

Number of Pages: 75

Price: 3000 NGN

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