Competencias profesionales docentes

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Etche woman accused of adultery is by custom forced to publicly dance naked round the village as punishment but the same punishment is not meted to the man. This is an obvious violation of her right to dignity of the human person.

The customary law of Etche precludes the girl –child from inheriting the father‟s property or the married girl-child who is widowed from inheriting the late husband‟s property especially where she does not have a male child. In the customary court at Egwi in Etche Local Government Area, in Agbam v Amadi¹⁹⁵a woman filed an action against her in-laws (the brothers of her husband who died intestate) for the property of her husband. The woman‟s only son had also died leaving her with four girls. She brought this action to restrain her in-laws from laying claims to her husband‟s estate. The court however held that under the Etche native laws and custom only a surviving male can lay claim to the estate of his father; and in the instant case the deceased had no surviving male child so the brothers were entitled. The custom of the Etche people therefore recognize the superiority of the male child over the female.

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Ogoni people. The region is administratively divided into for local government areas: Eleme, Gokana, Khana and Tai…¹⁹⁷

Among the Ogoni people specifically,the Bunubangha community in Khana Local Government area of Rivers State, the girl-child does not have a general right of inheritance of the father‟s property especially land. Land is key and material to every Ogoni man. The importance and the treatment of this specie of property is captured by Wifa ¹⁹⁸when he stated that:

Succession is patrilineal in nature. Where a man dies, the house where he lived with his family is usually inherited by the eldest son to the exclusion of his other brothers. The custom is still that where the eldest son predeceases his father, his son will step into his shoes and will still inherit his grandfather‟s house. Any other property the man had is inherited by his son. A man‟s married daughters cannot succeed to their father‟s land. Where a man dies living behind his widow without children, the custom of the Ogoni is that since she is answering her husband‟s name, she inherits his property to the exclusion of her husband‟s brothers. On the death of his widow, his brother will inherit his land.

Where a spinster who owned landed properties dies, her father succeeds to her properties. If her father is dead, her brothers succeed and if she had no brothers her mother will succeed to it.

Where a married woman who owned properties dies, her husband will succeed to her properties and if her husband is dead, her

197 See UNEP Report on Ogoni Land 2011 at p.23-24.

198 B M Wifa, „The System of Landholding in Ogoni‟ in J A Fiberesima, Indigenous Land tenure of Rivers People:

(Port Harcourt: Newsfair Communications Ltd, 1999) p.110-111.

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children and if she had no children, the brothers of her husband will succeed to it.

Where a man dies leaving no sons, if he had a daughter, the Ogoni custom is that she will not marry for the purpose of raising males in the name of her father, thus putting herself in the position of son. Such a girl is entitled to succeed to her father‟s land, to the exclusion of her uncles. If she has no sons, but has a daughter, the daughter will not marry and will step into the shoes of her mother and will succeed to her maternal grandfather‟s properties. At best, she can be allowed the occupation of the family house subject to her good behaviour. It is pertinent to add at this juncture that under the Ogoni system of land holding, matrilineal succession is unknown to the custom of the people. It must be noted that where a member of a family dies without marrying, his share of the family property is inherited by the surviving members of the family.

Also, where a man has children outside his marriage, such children cannot succeed to his property.

One aspect of inheritance under Ogoni native law and custom which is worth mentioning in addition to the above is the position that while the eldest child is given priority in the sharing of the deceased‟s properties, other members of the deceased‟s family will also benefit from the sharing. The eldest son will therefore not inherit the deceased‟s properties exclusively. These

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principles were highlighted in the case of Nyaara Aafaa v. Dimkpa Natom¹⁹⁹ where the court on inheritance and succession in Ogoni land stated that:

(a) If a man dies intestate his sons inherit the land in succession beginning with the eldest son.

(b) A brother may succeed in preference to a minor or younger child.

(c) Females have no succession rights and cannot inherit their deceased father‟s landed property, particularly upon marriage.

(d) However, a practice under “sira concept” would allow a sira (first daughter) who remains at home to inherit her father‟s properties including land in the absence of a male child in the family.

The position of customary law on the right of the girl-child to inherit her father‟s property was put to test in the Bori High Court in Salome Dezua & Anor. v. Ledon Dezua & Anor²⁰⁰ wherein the 1^st defendant counter claimed and sought for a declaration that as the eldest child and notwithstanding that she is a female, she is the person to be recognized as the heir and the head of late Chief Benjamin Dezua immediate family having not married out of the family. Against the background that the 2^nd claimant in the suit is a male child of the family, the court rejected the contention of the 1^st defendant that she is to be recognized as the heir and the head of late Chief Benjamin Dezua immediate family. While declaring the 2^nd claimant as the head of the said family, the court however held that the 1^st defendant should be considered for the sharing of the properties of the family since she was not married out of the family. It was observed that the fact that the 1^st defendant was not married weighed heavily on the mind of the court and swayed the court to the view that she should be considered and provided for in the sharing of the

199 (Unreported) Suit No. PHC/397/76 of 21/8/1980.

200 Unreported) Suit no BHC/587/2012 of 26/3/2014.

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property. The court however recognized the fact that there was a male child in the family hence the 1^st defendant though acknowledged to be the eldest child could not be declared as the heir and head of the Benjamin Dezua immediate family.

Though the decision of the court was not put to test by way of an appeal, it will follow from the said decision that in a family where there is a male child, the “sira²⁰¹” concept may not be accepted since the whole essence of the concept is merely to allow the female child to remain at home and procreate and also take the position of a son. The 1^st defendant in the said case pleaded and relied on the sira concept but the court refused to uphold same since the 2^nd claimant was a male child in the family. From this established custom, the girl-child declared to be a „sira‟

faces double jeopardy. She is made to be a „man‟ in her father‟s house against her will and the exercise of her right of liberty to marry; and having been denied this right, she is denied a further right of equal treatment with the men in the family.

In Ogoni land however a widow relatively enjoys better treatment than her counterparts in other parts of the Niger Delta as one significant feature of the Ogoni rules of inheritance is the right given to a widow to succeed to the husband‟s property to the exclusion of her husband‟s brother, though this is only for her life time. Under the Ogoni customary law a woman may not be allowed to get married. The ‘sira’ custom which insists that the first daughter should not marry is a violation of the girl-child‟s right to marry and enjoy a family life.²⁰² Usually, the first

201 The term „sira‟ explains a customary concept which allows families where there is no male child to turn their first daughter to a kind of male; and so requires a first daughter to remain unmarried and to take the position of a first son in the family. In Gokana, it is called “gbeabe.” It should be noted however that the sira concept is now dwindling on various grounds including religious beliefs but in any event, it has not been declared by any court so far to be barbaric, anachronistic and repugnant to natural justice, good conscience and equity and not even on ground of public policy. The sira concept is the same as the “ibietekhe” among the Ikwerre people, the Nrachi custom of Nnewi which has now been declared repugnant to natural justice, equity and good conscience as well as unconstitutional by the court in the case of Mojekwu v. Ejikeme [2000] 5 NWLR (PT. 657) 402.

202 See. Article 16 Universal Declaration of Human Rights which provides that “men and women of full age, without limitation of race, nationality or religion have the right to marry and form a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to the marriage and its dissolution.”

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daughter is not allowed to get married. She is seen as the one who will look after the family. She tends or cares for the family / ancestral gods. The extent of the violation of her right to marry and have a family life is that custom even permits the father to choose the man the sira should cohabit with although with the permission of the father she can choose her own sex partners and is entitled to have as many children as she wants from as many men as she desires²⁰³.. In Khana and Gokana, such a woman is called biake and gbeabe respectively. Her children belong to her family and not to their father's family. Thus, her children bear her maiden name. Her first son is called Deegbara while her first daughter is called Deenwa. Deegbara is seen as the Prince of the family.²⁰⁴

Women are allowed to attend family meetings. Although a woman may make her contributions respectfully though her husband or brother or directly when permitted by the men to do so. A biake must however attend and participate in family meetings as any other man. A married woman who is unable to bear children may marry another woman for her husband or for herself. A woman who is unable to bear children or male children may marry another woman and the woman so married is at liberty to have children from any man including the woman‟s husband²⁰⁵. The first son of a biake is respected by the family²⁰⁶ and has more authority than his cousins because he is seen as a permanent person in the family. In Ogoni land, the girl-child is however put through a lot of dehumanizing treatment. When her husband dies, custom demands that she mourns him for five years. Within these years she is only permitted to wear black cloth, lie on a mat and not on the bed, she is not to be seen laughing or smiling and of course not be

203Oral Interview conducted on Ms. Veronica Tuanee, an indigene of Kpean in Khana Local Government Area, Rivers State.

204 ibid

205 Ms. Veronica Tuanee, op.cit.

206Oral interview conducted on Elder Charles K. G. Wugate of Kpaen in Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State on the 10^th of January 2016.

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seen close to any man. At the expiration of five years she is made to undergo a cleansing ceremony at the community shrine before she can mix freely with society. This practice is a violation of her rights.²⁰⁷

The girl-child in Ogoni land does not enjoy the right of kingship. She cannot be made a chief or the paramount ruler as it is believed that a woman cannot pour libation and commune with the ancestors in the presence of a man. The Ogoni proverb ‘needam naawe le be sa neewa ba bee yor’ (meaning that a man will not be at home and a woman eats the head of snake) explains this cultural position. The only exception to this is the ‘gbeabe or sira’ that is, the girl-child turned to a man in her father‟s house upon the completion of customary rituals not required to be performed by men which may qualify her to do certain things. She does not also have a right to speak in any formal gathering unless she is invited for questioning; and when invited she must answer the questions with humility and avoid giving her opinion on the issue at hand or she may be fined. She is traditionally allowed to speak in public through the voice of a man.

In issues of divorce the girl-child has no customary right to divorce a man. It is the man who decides whether there will be a divorce or not, hence no matter how the woman feels about her marriage to a man, custom will not allow her to divorce the husband. Even where she wants to exercise her rights in the customary courts against the husband, it is her father or her male siblings who will sue the husband on her behalf. In Chief Maxwell Lekagha & 2 ors v Bealemabari Giima²⁰⁸ the claimant/petitioner was the elder brother of the respondent‟s wife and he instituted the case alongside the sister and on her behalf for the dissolution of her marriage.

The court granted the petitioner‟s request after hearing from the parties and their witnesses.

207 Article 5 Universal Declaration of Human Rights provides that “no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”

208 (Unreported) Suit No. CCK/26/2011.

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The Eleme customary laws equally show the various forms of discriminations and violations of the rights of the girl-child. A girl cannot inherit her father‟s building or land even in the absence of male siblings because she is expected to get married and leave the biological family according to the customary saying that‟ a girl can only know where she was born but cannot know where she would die and be buried.²⁰⁹ Furthermore the girl-child no matter her status in Eleme cannot speak and give evidence at an arbitration panel even if she is an eye-witness to the events discussed without permission and only upon invitation. Even where she is invited, she cannot stand while addressing the chief like her male counterparts but is by custom required to sit down or squat while giving her oral testimony. The girl-child under the custom of the Eleme people does not have the right to speak in the „egbere-oe’ or the community square.