The Challenges of Widowhood in Nigeria

The Cambridge Online Dictionary defines a widow as “a woman whose husband has died and who has not married again”. The United Nations set aside June 23rd of every year to be observed as International Widows’ Day, for the purpose of addressing the poverty and injustice faced by millions of widows and their dependents across the world, and to generate awareness of the issue of widowhood.

Although the Chinwe Bode Akinwande Foundation, estimates that there are over eight million disadvantaged widows who cater for over 21 million children in Nigeria, accurate statistics on the number and demographics of Nigerian widows are hard to come by. There is, however, a considerable volume of literature on their condition and challenges. All of them agree on one thing: the death of their husbands often leave widows holding the short end of the stick. They are invariably disadvantaged in every possible way. In this connection, it appears that the experience of Nigerian widows, is somewhat worse than those of their counterparts across the world. Accordingly, it would be appropriate to review the situation globally, before coming closer to home.

Widows Across the World

In a review by the United Nations (https:// www.unwomen.org), the world body reports that “apart from the feeling of trauma, grief or loss following the death of their husband, widows often face economic insecurity, discrimination, stigmatisation and harmful traditional practices, simply because of their marital status. In many countries, widows do not have equal inheritance rights, they may be stripped of their land, evicted from their homes or even separated from their children. Furthermore, they may be denied access to inheritance, bank accounts and credit, which can have significant financial impact on them, their children and future generations”.

The World Body estimates that, globally, one in ten widows lives in extreme poverty. Continuing, it says that “women are also much less likely to have access to pensions than men, so the death of their husbands can lead to destitution for older women. On the other hand, child widows (aged under 18 at the time of marriage) often experience multiple rights violations and have to cope with (sometimes for life) the impact of premature marriage and widowhood. At least 1.36 million out of the approximately 258 million widows worldwide, are child widows”.

The Report adds that “in addition to facing economic insecurity, widows may be subject to stereotypes, prejudices and harmful traditional practices with severe consequences. They may face restrictions on their dress, diet and mobility, long after the death of their husbands”. It goes on to say that “in certain contexts, widows may be perceived as “carriers” of disease and forced out of social structures entirely, or subjected to “ritual cleansing” practices involving forced sex or bodily scarring that can have life-threatening health consequences. Sometimes, widows are forcibly “passed on” to or “inherited” by a new designated partner, such as the brother or other relative of her deceased husband, denying her of her rights to safety, bodily autonomy, justice and dignity in life after loss”.

The Report goes on to review how widowhood intersects with other forms of discrimination, making the following observations: “when a woman’s value is contingent on having a spouse, widowhood can force women out of familial and social structures, making them particularly vulnerable to poverty, isolation and violence. These challenges may be compounded by struggles that widows face on account of other intersecting identities, such as black and indigenous women, members of LGBTQI+ communities, women affected by conflict, women with disabilities, women of young and older ages, women living in poverty or rural areas and other marginalised identities”.

In Africa and Nigeria

In a post published on September 11, 2018 in http://blogs.worldbank.org titled, “Religion and Widowhood in Nigeria”, Dominique Van De Walle opined that “African widows often face considerable disadvantage relative to married women in their first union”, adding, however, that “how much so depends on the society they live in, with pronounced hardship in some contexts . . . In the absence of effective policies, their situation depends on the socio-cultural norms applying to women following widowhood”.

She posits that the major religions – Islam and Christianity – differ markedly in their prescriptions in the event of what she calls “marital rupture”. According to her “Islamic inheritance law stipulates a better treatment of widows, than does customary family law which often applies to Christians. Islam as practised in West Africa, provides a semblance of a safety net to women who have suffered marriage dissolution, through high, and socially expected, remarriage rates facilitated by the continued practice of polygamy”. She further postulates that “among Christians, widowhood is associated with worse nutritional status, while the opposite (is the case with) Muslims”. Crucially, she adds that, “Christian widows report a higher incidence of cruelty and violence at the hands of in-laws and consistently inferior inheritance outcomes, including significantly higher rates of dispossession than do Muslim widows. The greater acceptability and ease of remarriage through the practice of polygamy, also favours widowed Muslims”.

She, then, observes that, even though the incidence of widowhood among Muslim and Christian women is virtually equal, however, “once it happens, cultural and religious norms combine with a woman’s reproductive history and attributes to determine a widow’s welfare and life outcomes”. She, then, concludes that, overall, “Muslim widows fare better (than their Christian counterparts), despite (the former’s) worse overall endowments”.

The Law

Nigerian law guarantees equality of the sexes, and forbids discrimination between them under any circumstances. See MOJEKWU v MOJEKWU 1997 7 N.W.L.R. Pt. 512, where the Court of Appeal struck down as discriminatory, a custom among the Igbos of South-Eastern Nigeria, which allowed the son of the brother of a deceased male person to inherit his property to the exclusion of his female children. See also Section 42(1) of the 1999 Constitution and Article II of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights. Both Codes also guarantee the right to individual ownership of property, regardless of status (single or married) or circumstances (such as widowhood).

See Article XIV of the Charter and Section 44(1) of the Constitution.

This appears to be the pattern across the African continent. Regardless of this, however, as Marie Albertine Djuikom and Dominique Van De Walle observe in “Marital Shocks and Women’s Welfare in Africa”, page 6, “there continues to be a considerable chasm with actual practice. Civic law has been largely ineffective, in displacing customary law which often denies women’s rights. Two pillars of family law – inheritance and marriage – are still overwhelmingly controlled by customary law”.

Notwithstanding the overall superior post-marital rupture outcomes of Muslim widows, both Van de Walle and Djuikom cite traditional Islamic law “as typically practiced in Africa” which “dictates that daughters inherit half of what sons inherit, and that husbands are the sole owners of family property. Widows receive one-eighth of the inheritance, to be shared among many co-wives. Customary law also excludes women from property ownership and inheritance, in much of the rest of Africa. In the case of . . . widowhood, the rights are lost . . . in all marital ruptures, women run the risk of losing custody of children”.

Conclusion

In order to safeguard and advance widows’ rights, the World Bank suggests a range of actions that governments, policy makers and each of us can take. They are as follows:

i. “Adopt(ing) social and economic reforms to improve widows’ access to inheritance, land pensions and other social protections.

ii. “End(ing) discriminatory laws and patriarchal systems that have long disadvantaged women. Women cannot inherit equally as men in 36 countries, cannot be heads of households or families in 31 countries and cannot have a job or pursue a profession in 17 countries. Such discriminatory laws rob widows of property, shelter, income, social benefits and opportunity.

iii. Empower(ing) widows to support themselves and their families and (to) live with dignity by ensuring access to education and training opportunities, decent work and equal pay, and by reversing social stigmas that exclude, discriminate or lead to harmful and violent practices against widows.

iv. Collect(ing) gender data, that is, better quality demographic information, broken down by age and gender, to ensure that widows are counted and supported, now and in the future”. The World Body suggests the inclusion of “widow and not remained” among marital status categories when collecting census data.

v. Support(ing) international efforts and advocacy to uphold and expand the rights of widows, as enshrined in international laws and conventions.

vi. On International Widows’ Day, (to) learn and share stories and experience of widows and support their rights”.

(Culled from https://www.unwomen.org accessed on 22nd June, 2022 at 1400hrs).

To this, we can add Dominique Van de Walle’s belief in “the important role that policy could play in protecting often young women who experience the misfortune of widowhood” (published in “Religion and Widowhood in Nigeria”, Sept. 11, 2018, www://blog.worldbank. org, accessed on 23rd June, 2022 at 1100hrs).

“Christian widows report a higher incidence of cruelty and violence at the hands of in-laws and consistently inferior inheritance outcomes, including significantly higher rates of dispossession than do Muslim widows.The greater acceptability and ease of remarriage through the practice of polygamy, also favours widowed Muslims”