The Impact of the Practice and Administration of Customary Law of Inheritance on Gender Equality in Contemporary Igbo Society, Nigeria

Abstract

The topic for this study was the impact of the practice and administration of customary law of inheritance on gender equality in contemporary Igbo society. The objectives of the study were, a) to examine the economic status of the women of Igbo society b) to examine the two types of laws which are used in Nigeria on matters of inheritance c) to look at the practices and administration of the above laws in the cases of inheritance d) to establish the impact of the negative inheritance practices on women in Igbo society e) to establish what could be done in order to support women during the cases of inheritance. The major findings of the study indicated that, inheritance of property, especially land was of great importance in the Igbo society. A woman’s ability to inherit may depend on her marital status and most importantly her ability to bear a male child. Young Igbo women have no rights to inherit their fathers’ property unless they remain unmarried and bear a male child in family. Igbo women, especially the traditional women were very hard working in their agricultural activities where they pulled resources and produce together with their husbands without seeking separation of possessions. However at the demise of their spouse, the pieces of land they had laboured on are taken away by kinsmen and the fate of the women are left hanging on the goodwill of the kinsmen. There was physical, psychological, social as well as economic humiliation during the time of mourning the husband and thereafter. The duplicity of laws, being, the English common law and the customary laws further complicated any chance a woman had to claiming inheritance. The constitution on the other hand, was overriding the international treaties that Nigeria has ratified, which could have supported the rights of women. From the point of view of the study, the Nigerian government needs to revisit the constitution to amend it and also to examine some of the customary laws that leaned strongly on traditional beliefs and practices.