Erica Okafor

ENG 112

Mrs. Bliss-Carroll

10/10/19

Plight of Widows among the Igbo tribe in Nigeria

The Igbo communities are located in the Southeastern part of Nigeria. In every Igbo

community, widows are called “Nwanyi Ajadu” (widow). Looking at the plight of widows

among the Igbo tribe begins by first understanding how the Igbo community is organized. “To

fully appreciate the Igbo way of life in relation to women in general and widows in particular, it

will be necessary to outline briefly some of the features of the socio-political and economic

system of the Igbo. The village is the basic political unit. Political authority was diffused among

the heads of the lineage and was exercised in a democratic and informal way. There was sex

differentiation in political roles but no female could be the head of a household or lineage or a

sub-lineage” (Korieh 9). Becoming a widow in the Igbo community is a very unpleasant

experience. For example; losing self-esteem, striving to survive her loss, dehumanization,

poverty, and rejection from her families, and the society. As there are many experiences to the

plight of widows among the Igbo tribe, it becomes important to understand these plights,

evaluate some of its ill cultural practices, their effects, and how to stop it from continuing.

These cultural practices which are fondly referred to as “rites” commence, as soon as the

news of the death of a man is heard and the ordeal of the widow begins as well. First, everyone

present at the time of the death is required to wash their hands. The house would be swept clean

items such as, mirrors, televisions, and pictures are either turned facing the wall or removed. It is
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believed that by so doing, the spirit of the dead cannot view themselves. A group of women

known as the “Umuada,” an organized group of women from the Igbo community ensures the

effective completion of the cultural rites. “The Umuadas are the daughters of the deceased

immediate and extended families married to other families. They enforce these rituals to the

letter against the widows “(Nwogu 81), for they are backed-up by the political men in charge as

the tradition requires. “More worrisome is the fact that the enforcement of these obnoxious

widowhood practices are insisted on and enforced on the widows by women too” (Nwogu). This

is true because the widows among the Umuada are involved in the shaving of hairs on the

widow’s head using a piece of a broken bottle, while the pubic and armpits are shaved using a

razor blade. The rationale here is to debeautify her for the rest of the mourning period.

Other rites the Umuadas are involved with are ensuring that the widow appear un-

attractive, by making sure she is identified by the standard color of outfit she wears. Some Igbo

communities/families required the widow to wear a white or black outfit for rest of the mourning

period. According to the author, “The widow is made to sit at a place on the chair or on the floor

from morning till evening” (Nwogu 81). The symbolic reason of this is to dethrone her, and to

ensure that she shows an act of mourning, and grief for the death of her husband through

continuous loud crying which could last for hours, and days. She is not allowed to cook, or clean,

and she is served food by another widow as she eats separately. She is also forced to neglect

personal hygiene for example, she does not take a bath for a required number of days. The

widow is also made to swear with her husband’s corpse to prove that she did not cause his death.

In a situation where the family believes that she caused his death, the swearing would be to

determine if she had killed him by either through witchcraft, or poisoning. “The situation could

be quite harrowing if a widow is suspected to have contributed to the death of her husband. In
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such a situation, she would be asked to drink the water with which the husband's corpse has been

washed. If the widow survives after drinking the polluted water, then she is declared innocent of

the accusation. But where she gets infected and dies, she is pronounced guilty” (Ojukwu).

Depending on the part of the Igbo community, the widow can be isolated for a number of days,

usually between 14-28 days depending on the family. At the end of the mourning period, usually

lasts for a period of one year, she undergoes some cultural purification rites after which she can

then discard or burn the white or black mourning outfit.

This ill-cultural practices to widows continue to be practiced as there are certain factors

that contributes to it. “A number of factors have contributed in sustaining the cruelty associated

with widowhood practices in Igbo culture” (Ohale). Factors such as, lack of no will on the part of

the man before his death, social status of the widow’s family (poverty) but if she is from a family

with high social status these rites would be minimal. Lack of education and lack of employment

on the part of the widow, no male child “most African cultures put a high premium on the male

child” (Ohale), and the traditional believe that without carrying out these rites the spirit of the

dead would not rest and would continue to wander.

However, there are long term effects of these dehumanizing cultural rites on widows

which includes, lack of finances (poverty) involving a situation where her husband’s properties

are forcefully taken by the husband’s relatives. Prolonged expensive funeral rites, and fines she

incurred from different accusations, social isolation, physical and health challenges, emotional

(depression) effects, psychological, and mental challenges. “Worse still, they have serious

physiological and psychological consequences which sometimes could lead to either mental

derangement or the death of the woman” (Ojukwu).

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Recommendations on how to eradicate some if not all these widowhood rites should

begin with everyone that has a mother, sister, and daughter. Emphasis should focus on educating

men or everyone on living a will behind, “Every couple needs to be counselled about “will”

writing that would aid the woman's support to a certain level after the death of her husband”

(Adebowale). Encouraging education, business, or skills for young women, empowering widows

both socially, and economically by increasing assistance to widows through involving NGOs,

churches, or other organizations that can help widows. Enacting strict governmental laws that

frown against mal treating any widow. Ensuring that widows have the right to own properties,

and also keep their husband’s properties. Most importantly, organizing group counselling among

widows where they can emotionally help each other during their difficult period. “Social work

group practice should be practiced whereby widows of the same age range having the same

problems being grouped in a therapeutic group” (Adebowale).

Eradicating the plight of widows among the Igbo tribe in Nigeria has become very

necessary as some people, and organizations are working very hard to put an end to it. “With

help from the government, and society by eradicating their plight would help to restore

humanity, dignity, and re-orientation of the Igbo widows” (Okafor). However, some people do

not to want to continue to allow such barbaric cultural rites as traditions are made to protect

every member of the community, and not to abuse widows. Some argue to continue to preserve

these cultural practices so as to not lose decades old traditions.

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Works Cited

Adebowale, Titilola A. "Counselling Intervention in the Provision of Psycho-Social Support for

Widows: Empirical Evidence from Nigeria." Ife Psychologia, vol. 23, no. 1, 2015, pp.

113-119. ProQuest,

https://login.proxy039.nclive.org/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/172678

8641?accountid=10163.

Korieh, Chima. “Widowhood among the Igbo of Eastern Nigeria.”

https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/e326/1d5d3fab5eff7b6aecc3517e75c01cc10c75.pdf.

Nwogu, Mary. “The Legal Anatomy of Cultural Widowhood practices in Southeastern Nigeria:

The Need for a Panacea.” Global Journal of Politics and Law research, Vol.3, No.1,

pp.79-90, March 2015.

www.eajournals.org/wp-content/uploads/The-Legal-Anatomy-of-Cultural-Widowhood-

Practices-in-South-Eastern-Nigeria-The-Need-for-a-Panacea.pdf.

Ohale, N Christine. “The Perpetuation of Injustice Against Women: Reflections on Widowhood

Practices in Africa And the Task of The Writer in Challenging The Status Quo.”

https://forumonpublicpolicy.com/vol2012.no1/archive/ohale.pdf.

Ojukwu, Chinyelu. "The Social and Economic Dimensions of Widowhood in Africa: A Critique."

Journal of Cultural Studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2003, pp. 320-331. ProQuest,

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https://login.proxy039.nclive.org/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/847122

665?accountid=10163.

Okafor, Erica. “Persuasion Map: Plight of Widows among the Igbo tribe in Nigeria.” October,

2019.