Opinion
Pains Of Widowhood
Women are the inherent part of our society who cannot be
neglected, not withstanding their less power and authority. Roles of womanhood in the society is one that can never be ignored by any individual.
Women are so important and indispensable that they cannot be confined to their houses. This is moreso as they have in recent times, proven themselves to be active members of the society in many areas of endeavours.
In order for a society to be progressive, both men and women should think, dress and behave in ways that allow pure thoughts and actions to dominate the ways of life and create a social lclimate conducive for the achievement of the real goal of life.
It is on this bases that I bring to the fore the ordeals faced by women upon the death of their husbands despite al l they go through as women in homes and the society as if they were no longer humans.
Bereavement is a social fact in any culture, but reactions and practices relating to this vary from culture to culture.
Many people never ponder over what happens to a man who looses his wife to the cold and of death? Why is it that cruel practices are not meted on widow and nobody hears of any thing like custom and tradition when a man looses his wife? Are all these still pointing to the world being that of men?
There is something called widowhood rites in most parts of Africa and may be in other parts of the world too. These are specific things that the wife of a deceased man has to fulfill, but there is no such thing as widower rites. If anybody knows of any that fellow should indicate.
When a wife dies, society sympathises with the widower. When a husband dies, the community starts questioning the circumstances surrounding the death of the man and examine invincible motives that his wife may have to kill him. Without any proof or trail, widows are accused of killing their husbands. It becomes mandatory to show public display of emotions so that people will see how distressed the widow is. Widows who do not cry (screaming and shouting) are considered heartless and unconventional. But it is forgotten that shock sometimes make people unable to cry and that the level, height and magnitude of the wailing do not ascertain innocence or magnitude of pain.
In certain parts of Nigeria, the maltreatment of widows is common so do other African countries in-laws and the community subject them to physical and emotional abuses such as being made to sit at the back of the door and on the floor, being confined from a month to one year, having their hair literally scrapped off with razor or broken bottles, not being allowed to observe personal hygiene; being made to routinely weep in public; being forced to drink the water used to wash their husbands’ corpse among other atrocities, then crowned by the loss of inheritance rights and eviction.
When a woman s loses her husband, a civilized society should rally round to support her and her children, not the reverse. Causing her more pain than she is already going through at the death of the bread winner is just plain evil.
There are many reasons why widows go through this problem, but it is hardly ever for justice. Some families use it as a strategy to get back at the widow especially if they did not approve of the marriage and also if it is perceived that the woman was a hindrance to partaking in their brother’s wealth, they take away the property that the deceased left behind regardless if he had children or left a will. In other communities, it is just mandatory to go through the process because it is considered a thing of shame to lose your husband.
Widowhood in the traditional African context is a religio-cultural symbol that canhave profound spiritual implications for the widowed. Other levels of reality that widowhood symbolises include the awareness that African Society is oppressive, impoverishing and violent towards widows. As seen when relatives of the deceased husbands commit atrocities in the name of tradition against widows and the widow herself may encounter destructive emotional problems such as fear and anger coupled with health deterioration.
Most women lack the knowledge that it is their right to report such matters to the police, others lack the money to follow procedures, but most often they fear the consequences of trying to report this violation of their human rights because most times the police do send back cases like this to be handled by the family by describing it as a family matter or customary. What will be such a woman’s fate?
Women in power like the Permanent Secretrary, Rivers State Ministry of Women Affairs, Dr Justina Jumbo, during this year’s International Widow’s Day celebration had advised women all over the world never to be idle, but equip themselves by having a means of livelihood, irrespective of their status, to be economically stable in the society. Facts have it that 115 million widows in the world live in poverty, suffer stigmatisation and economic deprivation as a result of their husbands’ demise.
Communities generally, men and boys specifically must be assisted to recognise and understand the widows disadvantaged istuation in order to be aided to take steps to help them overcome it. Through social widowhood education, men and women can be enabled collectively and individually to take full control over their lives and situations so as to overcome problems of irrational beliefs, superstition, ignorance, illiteracy and psychological suppression.
In order for widows in Africa to be integrated into the support systems of their communities, they need a friendly culture which specifies dignified ways in which the community expects them to behave and how they should be treated by their kin and those of their deceased husbands.
Culture, tradition and law have been identified as the bane of safe widowhood practices in Nigeria, which, if not adequately addressed , are capable of undermining the realisation of some goals in Nigeria.
Let me borrow from Senator Helen Esuene’s speech: Cultural and traditional practices constitute more than 70 per cent of the problems of widows in Nigeria. Even where marriages were contracted under the ordinance, cultural practices will be experienced especially where the widow is ignorant of her right or is financially incapacitated to fight the legal battle. Unfortunately, it is the conflict in the marriage law that is the root of the inheritance problem to widows.”
State Houses of Assembly should speed up actions on all legislations to remove legal obstacles to social justice for women. Appeal also goes to traditional rulers and elders of communities to take a closer look at evil widowhood practices with a view to amending or eradicating them.
In the light of the foregoing, men should set their homes in order by writing legally viable wills before their deaths and wives attaining some type of economic independence from their husbands. Also, there should be legal backing that is, enactment of laws for widows’ protection. Women should in the same way try to be in good terms with their husbands and family members as it is often the extended family members who engineer the execution of the harmful practices.
Women groups, NGOs and government wings for women should carry out sensitisation and awareness campaigns in communities, meet with community heads and elders. Re-education cam[paigns for women because it is women that carry out the outrageous practices on their fellow women. Provisions should be made for suffering widows, empowerment for women so as to stand up for themselves and challenge particularly cruel and unjust rituals and cultural practices.
Issues around mourning, remarriage, inheritance, status in the household and society should be given serious attention.
Solving the problems of widows in Africa means addressing the inequitable power regimes characterised by vulnerability, stigma, discrimination and suffering.
Widows should be celebrated and encouraged at all times that victimized. Celebrate them always especially every 23rd June as International Widows’ Day.
Ogbonda is an intern with The Tide.
Igechi Ogbonda
Opinion
Respecting The Traditional Institution
The traditional institution is as old as human society. It predates the advent of modern organised society. Before the emergence of modern justice system of dispute resolution and political system of administration, the traditional institution has existed long ago. In fact, it was so revered and regarded as sacred because of the mythological conviction that it was the “stool of the ancestors”. Consequently, judgment given was deified as many people especially the traditionalists believe it was the mind of the gods revealed. Perversion of justice , in the pre-modern justice system was alien and considered uncommon. Chiefs and traditional rulers though may not have generated knowledge formally (through the four walls of a classroom), yet they embody and exemplify knowledge. They hold fast the virtue of integrity and honour, fairness and relative impartiality, partly because they believed that the stool they occupy was ancestral and traditional as act of indiscretion can court the wrath of the gods at whose behest they are on the traditional saddle of authority.
The Compass of Life stated unequivocally that “the throne is preserved by righteousness”. Where righteousness, integrity and honesty are savoured,and valued, perversion and miscarriage of justice is an anomaly. The judgments of traditional rulers and chiefs were hardly appealed against because they were founded on objectivity, fairness, truth and facts beyond primordial sentiment and inordinate interests or pecuniary benefits. Judgments were precedent. Traditional rulers and chiefs, therefore carved a niche for themselves, earning the respect of, and endearing themselves to the heart of their subjects. Is it the same today? Some traditional rulers and chiefs are administering their communities in exile; they are diasporic leaders because they have lost the confidence of the people through self-serving, raising of cult group for self-preservation, land grabbing and other flagrant corrupt practices.
When truth is not found in the traditional institution that, in my considered view, constitutes the grassroots government, then crisis is inevitable.In most African societies before advent of the Christian Faith, and consequent Christening of the traditional stools in many communities in recent times, ascent to the traditional institution was a function of a traditional method of selection. It was believed that the gods make the selection. And whoever emerges from the divination processes eventually is crowned as the king of the people after performing the associated rituals.Whoever lacked the legitimacy to sit on the throne but wanted to take it forcefully, traditionalists believed died mysteriously or untimely. Traditional rulers wielded much influence and power because of the authority inherent in the stool, the age of the person designated for the stool notwithstanding. The word of the king was a law, embodied power. Kings so selected are forthright, accountable, transparent, men of integrity, did not speak from both sides of the mouth, could not be induced with pecuniary benefits to pervert justice, they feared the gods of their ancestors and were consecrated holistically for the purpose dictated by the pre and post coronation rituals.
Some of those crowned king were very young in those days, but they ruled the people well with the fear of the gods. There was no contention over who is qualified to sit or who is not qualified to. It was the prerogative of the gods. And it was so believed and upheld with fear.Kings were natural rulers, so they remained untouchable and could not be removed by a political government. If a king committed an offence he was arrested and prosecuted according to the provision of the law. But they have immunity from sack or being dethroned because they are not political appointees. However, the people at whose behest he became king reserved the power to remove him if found guilty of violating oath of stool. The traditional institution is actually the system of governance nearest to the people. And kings were the chief security officers of their communities. So indispensable are the roles of kings and traditional rulers to the peaceful co-existence of their people, ensuring that government policies and Programmes were seamlessly spread to the people that many people are clamouring for the inclusion of definite and specific roles in the Constitution for the traditional institution.
Traditional rulers are fathers to every member of their domain. So they are not expected to discriminate, show favouritism. By their fatherly position traditional rulers, though can not be apolitical, are also expected to be immune from partisan politics. This is because as one who presides over a great house where people of different political divide or interest belong, an open interest for a political party means ostracisation of other members of the family which could lead to disrespect, conflict of interest, wrangling and anarchy. Traditional rulers are supposed to be selfless, preferring the interest of their people above their personal interests following the consciousness that they are stewards whose emergence remains the prerogative of the people. The position is essentially for service and not for personal aggrandisement and ego massaging. So they should hold the resources of the people in trust. However, in recent past the traditional institution has suffered denigration because of unnecessary emotional attachment to political parties and political leaders. Some traditional rulers and kings have shown complete disregard to the principle of neutrality because of filthy lucre and pecuniary gains, at the expense of the stool and people they lead. Sadly some traditional rulers have been influenced to pervert justice: giving justice to the offender who is rich against the poor.
Traditional leaders should be reminded that the “throne is preserved by righteousness”, not by political chauvinism, favouritism, or materialism.Traditional rulers should earn their deserved respect from political leaders by refusing the pressure to be subservient, beggarly, sycophantic and docile. Traditional leaders have natural and permanent leadership system, unlike the political leadership that is transient and tenured.They should be partners with every administration in power and should not be tied to the apron string of past leaders whose activities are aversive to the incumbent administration and thereby constituting a clog in the development of the State and the community they are to woo infrastructure development to. It is unpardonable error for a traditional ruler to have his conscience mortgaged for benefits he gets inordinately from any government.It is necessary to encourage kings and traditional rulers to not play the roles of stooges and clowns for the privileged few, political leaders. Political leaders are products of the people, even as every government derives its legitimacy from the people.
No doubt, the roles of traditional rulers are so necessary that no political or military government can operate to their exclusion. This is why the 10th National Assembly mulled the inclusion of Traditional institution in the proposed amendment of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.Traditional rulers and chiefs should, therefore, be and seen to be truthful, forthright, bold, courageous, honest and people of integrity, not evasive, cunning, unnecessarily diplomatic and economical with truth.The time to restore the dignity of the traditional institution is now but it must be earned by the virtuous disposition of traditional rulers and chiefs.
Igbiki Benibo
Opinion
Periscoping The Tax Reform Bills (1)
The Tax Reform Bills, presented by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to the National Assembly for passage since October, 2024, have continued to stir hot debates both at the National Assembly and within the wider Nigerian society. A quartet of presidential proposals comprising; the Nigeria Tax Bill 2024, the Nigeria Tax Administration Bill, the Nigeria Revenue Service Establishment Bill, and the Joint Revenue Board Establishment Bill; the bills present the most audacious overhauls in revenue collection laws ever proposed in Nigeria. The Nigeria Tax Bill (NTB) promises to be a comprehensive piece of single legislation that streamlines tax administration in the country.
Currently, national taxes and revenue collections are being administered through more than 11 different direct/indirect laws, and collected through numerous agencies, often times without inter-agency co-ordination, transparent accountability and timely remittances. Recent reports exposed a recurrent setback of the status quo, when in January, 2025, the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) accused the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) of withholding N13.763 trillion. According to FAAC, out of the N27.28 trillion payable to the federation accounts from sales of domestic crude between 2012 and 2024, only N13.524 trillion had been remitted, leaving a balance of N13.763 trillion. Such accusations are weighty, and no doubts, justify the need to streamline revenue collections in the country.
Going by its current proposal, the NTB aims to repeal 11 prevailing laws – Capital Gains Tax Act, Casino Act, Companies Income Tax Act, Deep offshore and Inland Basin Act, Industrial Development (Income Tax Relief) Act, Income Tax (Authorised Communications) Act, Personal Income Tax Act, Petroleum Profits Tax Act, Stamp Duties Act, Value Added Tax Act and Venture Capital (Incentives) Act. These repeals would trigger a cascade of consequential amendments on numerous other enactments, encompassing the Petroleum Industry Act, the Nigerian Export Processing Zones Act, the Oil and Gas Free Trade Zone Act, the Petroleum (Drilling and Production) Regulations of 1969, the National Information Technology Development Agency Act, the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (Establishment) Act, the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (Establishment) Act, the Customs, Excise Tariffs, Etc. (Consolidation) Act, the National Lottery Act, the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act, the Nigeria Start-up Act, the Export (Incentives and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (Establishment, Etc.) Act, and the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc.) Act.
A key reality is that NTB’s axing blows would scrap the laws that established Federal Inland Revenues Service (FIRS), and in its place establish the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS). The NTB proposes vesting upon the NRS, unlike in the FIRS, the powers to collect all taxes in Nigeria, including excise and import duties currently reserved for the Nigerian Customs Service, and oil revenue royalties which presently is the exclusive privilege of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC). The NTB would be empowering the NRS with a supremacy clause which provides in part that, “this Act shall take precedence over any other law with regard to the imposition of tax, royalty, levy, excise duty on services or any other tax. Where the provisions of any other law is inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, the provisions of this Act shall prevail and the provisions of that other law shall, to the extent of the inconsistency, be void.”
If passed, the emergent laws would have far-reaching reverberations across revenue generating and collecting interests across Nigeria. The new laws would phase-out or drastically shrink the powers of institutions that by their strong-holds on the proceeds of national resources, had detected the pace of the Central Bank of Nigeria and even those of governments. Proponents of the tax laws say the new reform is to increase revenue collection efficiency and reduce collection costs, considering that revenue agencies deduct commissions as collection charges even as their staff are employees of government, paid salaries for same job. However, the closing of every economic order may create losers and usher-in new set of winners. It is therefore no wonder that the tax reform bills have continued to generate much heated debates in Tinubu’s administration than no others.
Worrisome however, is the trend of the ensuing arguments which, tending towards a rather North Vs South polarising dimension, have concentrated solely on the sharing formular for Value Added Taxes (VATs), while politicians appear to be neglecting numerous other issues that bear more on the generality of Nigerians. It is also disappointing that much attention is not being paid to the blocking of revenue collection loopholes. How that Nigeria’s commonwealth is equitably harnessed and distributed to care for every Nigerian, should have been the crux of revenue arguments. As the NTB proposes a progressive VAT that would jump from 7.5per cent to 10per cent in 2025, then to 12.5per cent from 2026 to 2029, and culminate to 15per cent in 2030, it implies there is no plan to tame the current inflation burdens currently inflicting Nigerians…. (To be continued)
Joseph Nwankwor
Opinion
Nigeria Police And The “Miscreants” Theory

The “withdrawn” reaction of the Rivers State Police Command to public condemnation of the police antagonism to a recent peaceful protest in Port Harcourt, tagged #Take-IT-Back Movement organised by Civil Society Organisations, the Niger Delta Congress and other concerned groups, leave much to be desired. The Police Public Relations Officer of the Rivers State Command, Grace Iringe-Koko in what seems a brilliant defence to the action of the unprofessional and inordinately ambitious conduct of the policemen had described those whom the police threw cannisters of teargas at, as, “miscreants and thieves”. To say the least, the Channel Television Reporter, Charles Opurum, Allwell Ene of Naija FM, Soibelelemari Oruwari of Nigeria Info, Ikezam Godswill of AIT and Femi Ogunkhilede of Super FM who were among those tear-gassed while discharging their legitimate duties of covering the peaceful protest, could not have been “miscreants” and “thieves”. Such practice of giving people a bad name to whip up public sentiment and hate and give a cosmetic treatment to an exceedingly ugly incident, seems the antics of some men of the Nigeria Police.
Some years ago I remember a trigger- happy police officer had rhetorically asked me, “Do you know I can shoot you here and brand you a criminal”? The question that readily came to my mind was, if a public officer and a professional journalist of several years of practice could be so threatened and branded a criminal, what is the fate of common citizens in society. That lends credibility to the fact that some victims of police brutality and extra-judicial killings are innocent. They are mere victims of circumstances. It is also common experience that men of the Nigeria Police swoop on scenes of crime, arrest some innocent residents of the area, brand them suspects and hurl them in detention for more than 48 hours. Nigeria Police should be more professional enough in their operations, so that innocent people will not suffer humiliation, incarceration and financial losses for bail. Agreed that it is within the statutory obligation of the Public Relations unit to launder the image of its organisation, but it should be done with discretion, and not with utter disregard and disrespect to the sanctity of human lives. Refutal must be factual and truth based.
The public relations or image making service if not done conscientiously can dent the credibility and integrity of a practitioner. No doubt the viral video clips on the police hurling teargas cannisters on peaceful protesters cannot be described as a figment of imagination or an attempt to “incite public anxiety and create unnecessary tension within the State” as stated by the Police Public Relations Officer in her reaction to public condemnation of the action of her colleagues. Though the able and Media-friendly Rivers State Commissioner of Police has apologised to the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Rivers State Council and the assaulted Journalists, for the unprofessional conduct of the policemen who were involved in the Journalists’ brutality, the conduct was, according to the leadership of Rivers State Council of Nigeria Union of Journalists, “barbaric, inhuman and a flagrant disrespect to the rights of the assaulted journalists. Recall that the Rivers State Police Command had described as false, unfounded and baseless, reports that police officers fired teargas on unarmed protesters in an attempt to disperse them.
In the words of the Police Public Relations officer, “Upon receiving intelligence regarding the protest, our officers were promptly deployed to the specified locations. “On arrival, a group of miscreants was observed engaging in criminal acts, including the theft of mobile phones and other valuables from unsuspecting members of the public. “Our operatives responded swiftly, dispersing the individuals. This baseless story appears to be a deliberate fabrication by mischief makers seeking to incite public anxiety and create unnecessary tension within the state.” However, it is time Nigeria Police realised that the right to peaceful protest is legitimate and fundamental. It is enshrined in International rights instruments, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and domesticated by Nigeria. Section 40 of Nigeria’s Constitution guarantees every citizen the right to assemble freely. The right to peaceful protest is the beauty and a function of democratic governance. It offers the masses the opportunity for self expression and calling erring or a failed government or leadership back to its statutory obligation.
It allows people to publicly voice their concerns, challenge injustices, and participate actively in the democratic process. Protests serve as a vital mechanism for holding leaders accountable and ensuring that government actions reflect the will and needs of the people. The recognition and approval of the right to protest is one action that makes a great difference between a truly democratic government from a repressive, dictatorial and despotic administration. Protest is evident and inevitable in every human institution or organisation from family to school, work places etc, if the heads or the administrators abuse their position and treat with contempt the people on whose prerogative they (leaders) were elected. Some children have also protested against their parents, students protest against wrong administration etc. Protest is therefore, a corrective mechanism, it is expression of a dissenting position against anti-people policies and programmes. The distinctiveness of the Democratic governance over the Military is unreserved and unalloyed respect and regard for the Rule of Law. If the Rule of Law and its implications are undermined, then there is inevitable transition to dictatorship, a military regime in the garb of a civilian administration.
However, the calamitous consequences during the #EndSARS protest and #EndBadGovernance protest show that the respect for the rule of law and its implications remain a far-cry to constitutional requirement. The losses incurred during such protests cannot be consigned to the dusbin of history in a hurry. What is the outcome of the #EndSARS protests and brutality? Nigeria Police and other security agencies should tread with caution on the issue of peaceful protests and treating journalists and innocent members of the public as “miscreants”, and “thieves”.
By: Igbiki Benibo
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