Women’s Inheritance Rights Marginalised In Igboland, Advocacy Boss

The Supreme Court of Nigeria, in 2015, invalidated the Igbo customary law that discriminates against female children’s right of inheritance to their late fathers’ property. According to the ruling of the apex court, the Igbo customary law, aside being contrary to natural justice, equity and good conscience, also violates sections 42 (1) and (2) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as altered). In this interview with CHINEDU AROH, Ogechi Ike, the Executive Director, Citizens’ Centre for Integrated Development and Social Rights, demands domestication of the law at state levels. Excerpts.

What is the percentage of women in Igboland that are abreast of their equal rights with their male counterparts towards inheriting their late fathers’ property?

I don’t think it is up to thirty percent. There are matrilineal societies in Igboland, such as Afikpo and Ohaofia, where women have full capacities to own lands and inherit property. But in other Igbo societies, such as Anambra, Imo and Enugu states, it is predominantly male because of their patriarchal nature. It has not really been fair, except for few traditional leaders and stakeholders who have understood these basic human rights, and who are gender-friendly. Such traditional rulers listen to women when such problems are brought to them for deliberation. But generally, it has not been fair, inasmuch as the Supreme Court has voided the Igbo law and custom that forbid women from inheriting their late fathers’ estate or husbands’ property.

What does you agency do towards sensitizing women on this all-important issue?

First, we try to do more strategic advocacy, by involving women to understand that it is their rights, and the need to make positive noises about it, especially when they are denied such rights. We further try to push for the already-Supreme Court verdict to be passed into law in various states, including Southeast states, because it has been signed into law by the Jonathan administration in 2015. Up to 12 states of the federation have adopted it. The law also gave room for the eradication of widowhood and other traditional practices detrimental to women, such as forceful ejection from homes and landed property. We try to move the advocacy to a higher level. The states have been mandated to domesticate this law. For civil society organizations and various non-governmental organizations, especially those of us in Imo State, we try to make our women and indeed everybody aware of this because it requires collaborative efforts. Enugu and Ebonyi states, I believe, have adopted it. We want the women to understand that it is their right to inherit their late fathers’ property alongside their male counterparts. Most people in rural areas do not understand this at all.

Must states domesticate it before it becomes effective?

It has to be passed into law at the state level. We need to have a policy framework to back up every policy that is being brought up. So long as some states have not domesticated it, whatever you bring up won’t be binding on them individually. Anything that has become law becomes operational. With that, the CSOs can then assist people whose rights have been violated. They can be brought up to agencies that can bring justice to it. The instrument of the law is the enabling framework. We have the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights. This one is solely for women. These are among the instruments that back up women that want to affirm their rights. We don’t have to keep quiet.

What message do you have for parents towards the success of this sensitization?

We need to begin to sensitise our daughters. Women need to read up the laws, like we have in the Convention on Elimination of Discrimination Against Women. Women need to understand that there are basic instruments that Nigeria has signed into law to protect their rights. Without understanding such, even parents won’t know. Parents should educate their children about their equal rights towards inheritance to avoid later complications. Why should a daughter grow up in a family, and her father’s property is shared amongst her male counterparts, leaving her to wallow in uncertainties? The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that all human beings are born equal, both in dignity and rights, including the girl-child. Girls should also make demands when necessary, and rise up whenever they see infringements on their rights. I encourage them to donate their voices. Gone are the days that women keep quiet when their toes are being stepped upon. You may not fight the person, but indicate that you have the statutory right on those issues backed by the law. Back your statement up with the enabling laws. If you don’t have such instruments, you have yourself to blame.

What is your take on the incessant rape cases in the country today?

Anybody that goes as far as putting out such a wicked act deserves a grave punishment. It is wickedness. Whatever punitive measures to serve as a deterrent in check-mating potential and serial rapists should be adopted. Beyond that, CSOs, traditional rulers, churches, parents, everybody should have their hands on deck. We need to keep sensitizing people. In Nigeria, we don’t focus our attention on mental health. We don’t look into mental health disorders in this country. People talk about the girl-child all the time. I run a girl-child initiative as a faith-based organization. It is not enough to focus on the girl-child alone. We need to include the boy-child because the boy is the change-agent. Boys, at the family level, like their sisters, should wash plates. When they are reoriented early enough, they will become better men. Focusing on the girl alone gives less attention to boys who may be having some mental issues. When you place a death sentence on rape, you have not changed the narrative. No. The Amnesty International will tell you that it is wrong to put a death sentence on somebody. However, any law to checkmate rape is welcomed. It disrupts and disfigures a woman forever. It requires a grave punitive measure to curb it.