CAPÍTULO II. ENERGÍAS RENOVABLES
6. Energía del mar
There is a prevailing cultural belief in many parts of Nigeria that married women are properties of their husband.151 This belief finds expression in many ways that
men tend to control their wives, which includes but not limited to beating. As mentioned earlier in this chapter, there was a study by Abiola et al., on the perception of Nigerian men on domestic violence, especially wife battery, which was based on the 2008 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS).152 In the
study, seven reasons were listed from which men were asked to state their opinion whether a man is justified in hitting or beating his wife.153 The reasons listed include:
1. If she goes out without telling him. 2. If she neglects the children.
3. If she argues with him.
4. If she refuses to have sex with him. 5. If she burns food.
6. If she does not cook on time.
7. If she refuses to have more children.
151 Joy Ezeilo (n 114).
152 Fadeyibi O Abiola, et al., ‘A quantitative assessment of the perceptions of Nigerian men on domestic
violence in the 2008 Nigerian Demographic and Health Survey’ (Paper presented at the 6th African Population Conference – African Population, past, present, and future. Ouagadougu, Burkina Faso, 5 -9 December 2011).
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The analysis of the survey shows that majority of men perceive wife beating as justified if a woman disobeys or argues with her husband on most of the reasons listed above.154 The result may not surprise many people that grew up in some parts
of Nigeria given the cultural belief that men own their wives and have the right to control them. This cultural belief is one the reasons that prompt some men to engage in the attitude of controlling their wife’s earnings, her social life/relationship with other people, including her family members, religious affiliation, choice of profession, and participation in politics, amongst others. Some men stretch this belief too far, by demanding that their wife accounts for every expense she made, her whereabouts whenever she goes out, and the type of dress she wears. This belief is reinforced and embedded in the women subconsciously through some traditional axiom in many parts of the country. For example, this Igbo adage: “agwa wu nma nwayi” which means that a woman’s beauty is measured by her degree of obedience. Hence, no matter how beautiful a woman may be, if she is not obedient, she is not beautiful.
This sense of obedience inculcated in the mindset of women appears to be one of the reasons some of them perceive beating by their husband as “normal and justified”.155 In one of the visits to my fiancé’s house before we got married, we
saw a married woman, who happens to be their neighbour that was battered by her husband with bruises all over her face. The sight of her prompted us to start conversation on the issue of wife battering; unbeknown to us, a married woman nearby overheard our discussion and approached us. What she said, surprised me. She said that women have the habit of drifting out of order and need to be occasionally beaten by their husbands, to bring them back to order. Her reasoning aligns and corroborates another popular traditional maxim in many parts of Nigeria, that “to beat a woman is bad, but not to beat them at all is the worst”. This belief is behind one of the traditional folklores in Nigeria, A couple went to court to seek divorce and the issue of how to share their properties arose. The trial
154 ibid.
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judge asked them to list their properties, and the woman listed the family house and car as her private property because she bought them devoid of her husband’s financial contribution. When the man submitted his list, his wife was the first item on the list. In delivering judgment in the case, the Judge told the woman that though the family house and car belonged to her, since she was the property of the man, all that belongs to her automatically belongs to her husband.
Furthermore, the feeling of the sense of ownership appears to be behind some customary practices in some parts of Nigeria, like that of the Tiv in the Middle Belt area of Nigeria. There was an alleged customary practice among the Tiv people, whereby if a man visits his friend from a distant place, the host usually offers his August visitor his wife (though, it has recently been contested that it was their female slave and not their wife that they offer to the visitor) to keep him company at night. In the morning, the host will enquire from his visitor if the woman satisfied him, a negative answer may portend trouble for the woman. Hence, she would do her utmost best to satisfy the guest to avoid incurring the ire of the man.156 As the debate continues whether it was their wife or female slave
that they offer to their guests and/or whether the custom is a myth or reality; the issue is that, if such a practise ever happened, it was caused by the man’s feeling of sense of ownership of the woman.
4.2.6 Bride Price
Many commentators have blamed the traditional practice whereby a man pays a bride price to the family of the bride as one of the reasons, which ‘led to the idea of ownership of the woman’.157 The proponents of this school of thought regard
156 Regina O Arisi and Patrick Oromareghake, ‘Cultural Violence and the Nigerian Woman’ (2011) 5 (4)
African Research Review 369; John Akevi, ‘Misconception About Tiv Hospitality’ (Pointblanknews 31 July 2014) <http://pointblanknews.com/pbn/articles-
opinions/misconception-tiv-hospitality/> accessed 29 July 2017.
157 Adebayo Waheed et al., ‘Nigeria: Is Bride Price Still Relevant to Marriage?’ Leadership (Abuja, 26
January 2014) ‘A clergyman, Pastor Lazarus Ufomba of the Salvation Ministries, …blames the culture of marriage practice in Igboland as being responsible for late marriages in the region. He laments the high bride price levied on intending grooms there, describing it as callous’.
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‘the exchange of bride price being evidence of a commercial transaction’.158
Conversely, some argue that the institution of bride price wherever it is practised in Nigeria was never conceived to be a commercial transaction, whereby the family of the bride exchanges their daughter for a certain sum of money.159 There is an
emerging notion that the payment of bride price is to compensate the bride’s family for their expenses and efforts in nurturing her. This perception is reinforced by how expensive it is to get married in many parts of Nigeria, especially in the South of the country. According to Ilobanafor, a Christian from the Southeast of Nigeria, the ‘payment of dowry is an African culture. It is like having cultural access to such a person. And immediately the dowry is paid, the woman becomes your property’.160 In many towns in the Southeast region of Nigeria, many eligible
suitors remain unmarried for many years as they cannot afford the cost of getting married.161 And for those who can afford the cost, after spending huge quantum of
money trying to meet the demands of the bride’s family and kin, the idea of complete ownership of the woman starts to take hold in their mindset. Hence, as Adewunmi and Sunday assert, ‘In modern times…, the bride price symbolizes sale of the girl and ownership by her husband and his family’ and ‘due to this misinterpretation of customary law, the woman is regarded as the property of the man who is entitled to discipline her as he thinks fit’.162
Overcoming this belief of sense of ownership will assist the men to realise that some of their actions toward their wife are cruel, inhumane, and constitutes domestic abuse. Furthermore, it will assist the women to realise they are being abused and acquiescing to these practices in ignorance. Therefore, instead of clinging to this cultural sense of ownership, couples should endeavour to nurture
158 Yetunde Adebunmi Aluko, Aluko-Arowolo and Sunday Olusola, ‘The Silent Crime: A Sociological
Appraisal of Gender-Based Violence Experienced By Women In Yoruba Culture Of Nigeria’ (Paper presented at The Fifth African Population Conference, Arusha, Tanzania 10-14 December 2007).
159 J Akande, ‘Women and the Law’ in A O Obilade (ed) Women in Law (Democracy in Africa
Publication 1993).
160 ibid. 161 ibid. 162 ibid.
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respect and love for each other. Respect for one another is the key to a fulfilling relationship devoid of violence of any kind.
4.3 Conclusion
The chapter traced the development of domestic violence awareness in Nigeria. The prevalence of domestic violence as indicated in many researches carried out in the country shows the seriousness of the issue and its devastating effect. In chapter two, I argued that perceptions and attitudes of many Nigerians toward domestic violence emanate from their belief, practice and reverence to culture, tradition and religion. I further argue that the influence of these beliefs and practices account for the high prevalence rate of domestic violence in the country. The most worrying is that majority of people are ignorant of the acts that constitute domestic violence, which is one the reasons that victims acquiesce to the crime. Similarly, I argue that cultural, traditional and religious considerations appear to be the main reason behind the reluctance in enacting human rights laws in the Nigeria. They are also behind the delay in passing the VAPP Act and the lacklustre attitude in domesticating international human rights treaties. Thus, I recommend the involvement of traditional and religious leaders in the effort in creating awareness and tackling domestic violence in the country since they exercise a profound influence on their subjects.
In the next chapter, I will appraise the efforts of the State and Federal Governments in tackling domestic violence in Nigeria.
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Chapter 5
Domestic Violence in Nigeria: Legal and Institutional
Response
This chapter contains four sections:
Section one explores Nigeria government’s structure and legal system. The political, economic, religious and social landscape of the country will be examined to comprehend how their interaction impacts on efforts to promulgate and enforce human rights laws in the country.
Section two examines the State Government’s response to domestic violence. Nigeria has thirty-six states and a Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The State laws against domestic violence will be examined and a commentary will follow on why only five out of the thirty-six States have outlawed domestic violence.
Section three considers the Federal Government’s response to domestic violence. The Federal law against domestic violence (VAPP Act, 2015) will be evaluated to ascertain its conformity with established international standard against domestic violence legislation. Furthermore, discriminatory laws against women in the Northern region of Nigeria will be highlighted and a commentary will follow on the restriction of the VAPP Act to have effect only in the FCT.
Section four explores the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice (Community Court or ECOWAS Court) of the Economic Community of West Africa (ECOWAS) on domestic violence. This discussion became necessary following the Court’s recent decision on a domestic violence case against Nigeria. The decision has the potential to create a fertile ground for litigation that may rapidly generate evolving case-law on domestic violence in the region.
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Section One
5.0 Introduction
The purpose of this chapter is to evaluate the legal approach to tackling domestic violence and the existing laws against it in Nigeria. The chapter also aims to evaluate domestic violence awareness campaign in Nigeria and the attitude of the law enforcement agencies in ensuring its implementation and enforcement. Furthermore, the chapter discusses the difficulties of enacting human rights laws in Nigeria. Lastly, I highlighted a conflicting and discriminatory law against women in the Northern region of Nigeria. The first section of this chapter adopts a descriptive approach to enable the readers to have a good understanding of Nigeria and her executive, legislative and law enforcement institutions.
This chapter enables the comprehension of the existing laws against domestic violence in Nigeria. Nigeria is the country of origin of the participants in this study. Therefore, it is pertinent to understand the customs, legal, and religious background in which the participants lived before migrating to Ireland. These factors, to a considerable extent, influence the perceptions and attitudes of the people on many issues such as domestic violence.1 The aim of this chapter and
chapter 6 is to give a holistic understanding of the two jurisdictions, Nigeria and Ireland, which are the origin and the host country of the research participants.
I will commence the discussion in this chapter by giving a description of the powers and functions of the executive, legislative and judiciary arms of both the Federal and State Governments. Furthermore, I will give a brief overview of the population of Nigeria, including its ethnic makeup as well as a brief account of the social, economic and political challenges that Nigeria is currently facing
1 Tony Cassidy, Environmental Psychology: Behaviour and Experience in Context (1st edn, Hover &
New York, Psychology Press 1997); Matt McGue and Thomas J Bouchard Jr, ‘Genetic and Environmental Influences on Human Behavioral Differences’ (1998) 21 Annu. Rev. Neurosci. 1–24; Elizabeth D Hutchison, Dimensions of Human Behavior: Person and Environment (5edn, USA Sage Publication 2015).
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