EVALUATION OF THE SUCCESSION RIGHTS OF WOMEN IN IGBO LAND; A REVIEW OF MOJ EKWU V IWUCHUKWU

This study focused on the succession rights of women in Igbo Land. Succession is the means through which asset passes from parents to children at death. Obviously, discrimination in succession with respect to gender inequality in Nigeria is at the apex in the contemporary era. Gender inequality is a socio-cultural phenomenon that divides people into various categories such as male and female with a very high bias placing one specifically less than the other. However, it is common in some societies including Igbo land that women and female children are deprived of the rights to inherit the landed property of their parents or husbands at intestate. The Igbo cultural practices that support or promote disinheritance of daughters, women and widows seem not to maximally encourage women development physically, intellectually, emotionally, socially and morally. The culture of the Igbo people with regard to women’s inheritance is somewhat discriminatory. It regrettably persists despite the global upsurge in women’s rights that culminated in the enactment of international and national treaties on women’s emancipation and empowerment. This study emphasizes that the discriminatory cultural practices of the Igbo people should be redressed on ethical and theological grounds. This work examined succession in Igbo Land as it relates to women. The study is aimed at reviewing discriminatory customary laws in Igbo land and their negative effects on women rights to success, examination of the consistency or otherwise of these laws with the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as it relates gender equality as well as to proffer the necessary remedies to the issues raise which are confronting women rights to succession. In achieving the stated aims and objectives, this work adopted doctrinal methodology and exploratory library research, where primary and secondary data sources were acquired which consist of data from journals, textbooks, newspapers, case laws, Acts and statutes from laws of the Federation of Nigeria and the following finding were made were detected: there is an age long cultural discriminatory practices against women which later become a custom in Igbo land and other Nigerian societies. This obviously can be blamed on our societal failure to embrace civilization and modern development in our cultural practices especially as it affects our societal laws and regulations guiding our human co-existence. Hence, the study recommends that enlightenment campaign should be raised to empower women on their rights in the society as well as encourage them to stand for same. Also, the judiciary should assist in protecting the rights of women in the society by upholding the provisions of the constitution on this regards.