THE SUBJUGATION OF WOMEN IN OKPANKU, ANINRI ENUGU STATE

                        THE SUBJUGATION OF WOMEN IN OKPANKU

This write up is about a group in the society, whose number keeps rising by the day, but whose afflictions they could not stop or control. Talking about these women, some people regard them as women whose world has come to an end and who the society should dread and quietly avoid. These women are associated with tears and sorrow. No wonder Adebowale (2006) referred to them as stones at the base of a lake; followed all the time with suspicious gaze, while wicked gossips trail their movements. They are regarded as subjugated people of the world with no hope no security.

These qualifications however, are human and subjective. Nevertheless, some see widows as women of integrity and honour, women with great potentials and capabilities to contribute significantly to the development of their communities given the needed support. Evidence abounds that they have individually and collectively made their marks in the society. I will not talk about laboratory specimens and abstractions. Those are good, but I will now focus on life and human life experiences. I will reflect on these experiences to see to what extent they have impacted communities positively or otherwise.

Okpanku are mostly craftsmen, farmers and traders. Okpanku consist of seven villages, namely Amabiriba, Amaogudu, Amagu, Amaeze, Okpu, Ihuibe, and  Uhuezeoke.

We have three markets namely daily market it takes place at Ogwumabiri in Amaogudu. Four days interval (Afor Okpanku) it takes place at Okpu. Annual market, takes place at Amagu, during new yam festival.

The Okpanku prize their womenfolk, yet a woman in Okpanku culture is not accorded full social recognition no matter her status in life unless she is married and bears children or at least a child.

Okpanku women remain women of substance as long as their husbands are alive. If an Okpanku woman loses her husband to death, her story changes. Automatically, she becomes a murder. Suspect in some cases because death in most parts of Okpanku land is never deemed a natural occurrence. The widow is seen as unclean and unholy, and as a result of people’s perception of the widow, certain harmful widowhood practices are meted out to her. These practices arise from the culture of the particular Igbo community.

The culture includes various customs, practices and traditions of the people. It comprises of archaic practices as well as new concepts adapted into Igbo culture either through evolution or external influence. Odimmegwa (2010) submitted that in Igbo cosmology, community life embraces the living and the dead, and it is for these reasons that widowhood practices are put in place. The Igbo culture makes it incumbent on the living to respect the wishes of the dead, while the dead are compelled to protect the living. Widowhood practices are therefore integral part of the funeral rites accorded the dead. These funeral rites are aimed at guaranteeing the admittance of the dead people into the abode of the ancestors, who, they believe, will ultimately reincarnate into the community of the living. Widowhood practices are not only prevalent in Okpanku land; they are enforced in other tribes of Nigeria and also in most third world countries

 Okpanku women, is not excluded. Okpanku, is located at the Eastern part of Aninri L.G.A in Enugu state. Subjugation can never be over emphasised. Women have been subjugated in denial of the right to own land, preference of education of boys to girls, women regarded as inferior sex, ritual confinement of widows/widowhood rites, and exclusion of women from public leadership of family. Youngest boy in this community has more respect than the oldest woman.

Exclusion of Women from education

Wikipedia (2015) defined education as a process of teaching and learning skills and knowledge. It also means helping people to learn how to do things and encouraging them to think about what they learn.

Fadeiye and Olonegan(2001), viewed woman education as a process of enabling women to develop the capacity to actualize their potentials. It involves all efforts that are geared towards harnessing the hidden or untapped potentials in women. Women should thus be looked at as individuals that posses some hidden potentials to contribute to national development. They should, therefore, be encouraged to develop to their fullest potential through education. It is, therefore, important for educators to teach ways to find and use information. Unfortunately, one of the major areas where women are socially discriminated and suppressed with great consequences on their individual futures and that of the society as a whole is education. Despite the massive global sensitization on gender equity in the provision of educational services, some women in Aninri Local Government Area are still being discriminated in education.

Having, female children are like “tending other people’s vineyards while your own is unkempt”. (nwanyi bu, onu-mkpu onye ozo).

Therefore, the exclusion of these women from education due to culture and beliefs that women are intelligently weak, potential and future housewives and not major key players in society has created a negative mindset about female education which is supposed to be a reverse. They believe that if you enrol women it will be waste of resources. The woman you trained will be mindful of her husband’s family (ebe onye bi ka ona awachi) rather than his parents’ family.
                    BURIAL OUTFIT

Wearing of black or white mourning outfit:                                                                            

Black is often associated with evil and the widow is expected to wear this outfit first to be noticed as a widow and secondly as someone who has an evil omen. The Christian mothers now insist on wearing white instead of black. Whether it is black or white, there is no difference, since mourning outfits are the same because they have the same interpretation.

The only exception is if the woman has a living male child who can inherit part of his father’s property and through him the mother may benefit.

The incidence of the demise of the husband and evil machinations of the kindred falls squarely on the confused widow; does she have children, the plots against the tender growing fatherless aim at their mother like arrows on her ribs. The worst thing is that at meetings where the kindred will be plotting against or for the bereaved, culturally, no woman, not to talk of the widow will be allowed to attend. Rarely will the male offspring of the man be of age to talk even when permitted to be in attendance. In short, the widow is denied a voice. Assembling “umuada” if they be God-fearing unfortunately takes a time lag.

If any pregnant woman dies during delivery, she will be buried at the forbidden forest, it is a taboo. Thank God for Christianity most of the practices have been aborted now.

Exclusion of women in leadership

Female leaders are known or portrayed as; field dependent, context sensitive, connected to the environment, improvisational, receptive, non-linear, with lateral-democratic authority, interpersonal with emotional attachments.

Effectiveness of the leaders can only be understood in the context of the leaders’ ability to have the followers’ interests converge with the leaders’ style, given that the organisational objectives are a constant in this case.

Values and views held by followers; The reason for rejection is not because of whom they are, but what they are believed to be, or do and how they do it.

Personality and perceptions; too often perceptions are not the truth, but it is the perceptions that people act according. A product well advertised and seen regularly by the customers creates the impression of a reliable product. As long as there is a perception that militates against women and their personalities, it will always impact on their acceptability as managers.

Cultural prototypes; are the reality that people live with. There are certain acceptable norms, deriving largely from experience [or perpetuated perceptions], that may inform people about what to expect from a particular type of person. The cultural values we have inform the belief that people have; unfortunately it is a global phenomenon among both men and women that women cannot lead well, why?

Mutual trust and interpersonal relations; it is clear that the average person will like people that are warm towards them, or those who are kind. Depending on the task involved, interpersonal relations may not be good enough alone as a soft skill to warrant acceptance as a leader. Such a soft skill may work out as a nice-to-have in a person, but may not have what it takes given the task at hand.

Social Exclusion

Walker, (1997) and Duffy (1995), stress on the multidimensional nature of social exclusion. According to them, social exclusion relates not simply to a lack of material resources but also matters like inadequate social participation, lack of cultural and educational capital, inadequate access to services and lack of power.

Social exclusion theory refers to persistent and systematic multiple deprivation of individual or group resulting to empowerment and alienation and the way the resultant dynamics affect the individuals or groups in the society (Hills,1998).

 Father does everything from, scolding to severe beating to ensure that he removes any trace of womanish trait from his son. Traditionally gender stereotypes and how through informal education fathers groom their boys to grow up as men, bold, courageous, audacious and fearless. The boy is brought up to see himself as superior to the girls. The women on the other hand groom the girls to become soft, subservient, weak and gentle.

The silent but rigorous schooling into the patriarchal and matriarchal stereotypes was ingrained in the traditional institution of Okpanku. The men knew what was expected of them, and so did the women.

The men and the women seemed to have accepted their gender roles as a fate accomplish. Men and women were sensitized and indoctrinated in such a way that there were no conflicts or bad blood. Gender sensitivity was very high in Okpanku land. In virtually all spheres of life, boys and girls, men and women knew what was expected of them.

Another image carved out for the women folk in Okpanku traditional society is that of the enjoyer of the wealth of the men. Women are called “Oriaku”, that is, those who enjoy the wealth of their husbands. We have therefore two pictures that look seemingly opposed to each other – namely that of servitude and merriment. This picture though appears paradoxical is more real than fake. It is in these ironies that one appreciates the woof, waft and texture of the Okpanku traditional culture with the attendant pains and glories.

As the children begin to grow, the males and the females are socialized differently. The boys are made to see themselves as superior, stronger, more important and indispensable. The females are trained to see themselves as appendages of the men.

When women were under the men, we had fewer problems but today the excessive quest for liberty is turning everything upside down. It is therefore important to mention that there is need for a philosophical reappraisal of gender sensitivity in Okpanku culture. The general attitude today is for people to run to the Pentecostal churches to look for wives who will still maintain the institutional worth of womanhood, which will not desecrate womanhood on the altar of women liberation.

Women were subservient, subjected to some very dehumanizing treatment. We know what widows passed through; barren women were seen as scums and offscourings of the earth. Women were beaten, harassed and deprived of their rights. In all good sense, all these aspects of the traditional era were condemn-able and must be jettisoned completely. Man and woman are created in the image of God and they stand equal before God as human beings. But, then, equality does not mean abdicating God’s assigned roles. Today, we hear of surrogate motherhood, we hear of single female parents, lesbianism, etc. These are negative ways of responding to gender inequality.

Education will raise the consciousness of the women and equip them with the tools for wisely repudiating the negative overbearing tendencies of the men. To do this successfully, women must bear in mind the biblical counsel that “Every wise woman buildeth her house but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands” (Proverbs 14:1). God has made the man as the head for administrative purposes and not to lord it over her and use her as a mere object of pleasure or menial service. This, the men must know as well.

The enabling environment should be created to enable the women to aspire to any height without reneging on the sacred duties of wife-hood and motherhood. All atavistic and anachronistic limitations of the past must be bade farewell to and so must we do to the cantankerous, disorderly assertiveness of women as seen in the perversion of all things in our time. Sanity most rules the hearts of men and women as we continue to meaningful dialogue to affect a just social order.

During annual new yam festival, men will be making funny statement, jokes, but women are not permitted to laugh to those funny jokes. The victim will be punished via fine or any other means, after the festival.

Denial of the right to own land

If your husband is dead, you are not permitted to lease or sale her husband’s land. This is done by the brother or son of the deceased.

In Okpanku community a widow is expected to compulsorily mourn, with a stipulated mourning outfit for one year. It is a common belief that the beauty of a woman, is for her husband only. Her hair is therefore shaved to make the widow feel less complete or less womanly, Eight days after her husband burial since her duties as a wife are no longer useful. Most widows, on their own see it as an outward show of their grief and so majority of widows shave their hairs voluntarily. This shaving is often done leaving cuts in the scalp of the widow because it is roughly done. This contradicts Deuteronomy 14:1 which says: “Since you are the people of the Lord your God, never cut yourself or shave the hair above your foreheads for the sake of the dead”. Will be forced to shave her hair, she will be indoor for these eight days. This is an outward show of grief.

 She can be inherited by another man outside the family, for procreation, this is called (Nkuchi nwanyi). It is done if the woman has no male child or no child. If the woman likes the family, she is permitted to stay and procreate for the dead man, if otherwise she is free to remarry if not properly married, but if she is properly married and she want to remarry she will pay her dowry and remarry. If she bore children for the man she will leave her children for the family and remarry, the children are the gain to the family who will inherit their father’s property. If they are all females, one of the females especially the youngest, will be mandated not to marry to stay and inherit her father’s   property so that the name of the father will be remembered, it is known as (amaechina or amechi). She will be on her father’s house to procreate for his late father. She will join the kindred meeting, as part of the family.

The factors that place widows in position of vulnerability to abuse arise from cultural expectations and assumptions about women’s sexuality, which intersect with economic factors.

According to Young (2006), these factors place widows in a position of disadvantage, in which their dependence on the support and goodwill of their in-laws is very high. They are thus acutely vulnerable to abuse.

These factors however can affect a widow in different degrees.

Widows are more vulnerable to ill-treatment because of their comparatively lesser bargaining power in society. The way widows are treated is an expression of the lack of value accorded to women, both by the wider society and also by the two families to whom they have close ties: their natal family and their in-laws.

Daughters are often regarded as temporary members of their natal family, and wives are treated as secondary members of their husbands’ family. In such situations, the widow is no longer under the direct control of her husband, within the marital family, nor can she return to the status of a daughter in her natal family.

Poverty can also be a reason for negative widowhood practices especially in the area of disinheritance of widows. It has also been observed that even families that are well to do still get involved in the ill-treatment of widows. In that case, poverty will not constitute a reason for such ill-treatment. Superstition is a major factor. Most behaviour are controlled by people’s belief system.

Challenges, Widows Face.

The loss of a spouse is widely recognized as extremely painful and distressing experience associated with risks and many challenges. After bereavement, there are likely to be accompanying disruptions of widow’s social relationships, deteriorating health and physical capacity, as well as declining financial resources that compound the loss of a spouse. These risks and challenges are articulated hereunder:

1. Emotional Challenges:

The emotional symptoms manifested by a widow may include:

v   shock

v   grief and mourning

v   sadness

v   sorrow

v   anxiety

v   denial

v   fear

v   anger

v   guilt

v   loneliness

v   sleep disturbance (insomnia)

v  2. Physical challenges:

v   cold numbness or faintness

v   ringing in the ears

v   hunger may be forgotten

v   tiredness

v   weight loss

v   loss of appetite

v   boredom

v   hostility

v   depression

v   restlessness

v   frustration

v   confusion

v   bitterness

v   isolation

v   lack of concentration

v  or decreased reaction

v  time

v   tears

v   high blood pressure

v   low blood pressure

v   chest pain

v   dryness of the mouth

v   a lump in the chest or throat

v  insomnia (lack of sleep)

One widow summed it up this way:

I always feel sad… I’m not doing well… Lately I can’t join the living… No one needs me… No one seems to care.

It should be noted that psychiatrists have reported that there is a common thread linking grief, illness and death in new widows. This is because their immune system decreases significantly.

3. Sexual Challenges:

Widows have sexual needs. Sexuality is not just all about the act but the tenderness, warmth, touching, caressing by a husband. As long as a woman is healthy her sexual urges and abilities remain active. Age and physical health are important factors affecting woman’s adjustments to widowhood. The older the woman, the less active she becomes sexually contrary to widowers of the same age. Also the older the widows are, the more reluctant they become to accept non-marital sex than men are. Widows also believe that sexual activities should end with menopause and so should suppress whatever sexual urges they may have.

Many widows generally attach more significance to physical appearance than men do, so they are reluctant to expose their aging bodies to sexual relationship. There are men however who think that what a widow needs is sex. They pursue a widow and offer her their sexual services. They think she is anxious and so will be a pushover. Widows should know that there is no wayout of sexual immorality without consequences – abortion, STDs, HIV/AIDS etc.

As a result of changes in life especially after the loss of a spouse, widows sometimes sail smoothly and at other times encounter tempests and tidal waves. Sometimes they feel like giving up and at others that are encouraged. A widow needs God’s help to bring up her children God’s own way. It is the power of God that penetrates a child’s life when the mother prays. The continued permanent absence of the father places on the mother the principal responsibility for the child’s socialization especially in the face of bereavement. Unlike the child in the urban community, a child in the rural community has surrogate parents in the form of other adults. Kinfolk contribute to his socialization other than the mother and from her, he/she receives his first experiences of acceptance and love and also frustration and discipline.

The single parent child concentrates on the mother first before interacting with others. Because he lacks father figure, sextupling and sex identification may be lacking. The child may be less assertive and more dependent on peers. The single parent child is often at cross roads in terms of discipline because some widows are afraid of their child’s anticipated misbehaviour and tend to be too hard on the child, thus creating friction. Some other widows in contrast may be permissive.

In some cases, the child may feel rejected and develop inferiority complex. This may affect his academic achievement.

The child may also be aggressive because anytime others talk about their fathers, he/she becomes angry.

EFFECTS OF SUBJUGATION OF WOMEN

Dependency: Disinheritance of a widow makes it impossible for her to achieve her goal in life. Without inheritance right, a widow is automatically dependent on the seasonal charity of husband’s friends and the church.

Widowhood practices generate violent conflicts, hatred, intimidation and setbacks. Withdrawal of children from school: Enforcement of harmful widowhood practices can lead to the withdrawal of children from school, thus forcing them to engage in child labour, hawking, begging and sex work. These children are therefore denied the opportunities of contributing positively and significantly towards the development of their various communities.

Threat to children’s lives: Widowhood practices can cause the widows to feel the heartbreak of losing their young children to death due to their inability to earn an independent living. Their daughters, if they survive, may be forced into early marriage, thus stalling their prospects in life. Decline in family income implies the family having less of what they used to have.

Effects on children’s discipline: Lack of masculine influence can affect the children’s discipline and morality, thus making them nuisance in the community. The child’s social environment is less enriched and Saba (1997) pointed out that this could lead to lower self-esteem, economic insecurity and feeling of inadequacy in the children which are indicators of underdevelopment.

Reduced social status: For a woman, marriage to a large extent is perceived as a symbol of success, but in the event of the death of a husband, the widow is moved from the category of success to loss. Stillion (1998) pointed out that with the death of a husband, the social status of the widow is largely reduced and this will result to loss of self-esteem. No one who has lost her self-esteem can contribute meaningfully to community development.

Many widows who may have wished to play decisive roles in community development are denied this possibility by the continuing abuse and dispossession which deprive them and their children care and protection and they deprive the society of the contributions widows would have made.

Emergence of negative emotions: Women generally have greater potentials for community development but with their forced declining economic and social/psychological conditions, three major negative emotions emerge and they include; heightened anger, resentment and guilt. These three emotions are anti community development.

CONCLUSION

Finally I charge you, confrontation will fail us but lobbying and advocacy can subtly change the minds of all the stakeholders.

To ensure that knowledge of the law grows, selection committees of village leaders, local chiefs and clan heads should consider seriously the educated ones. This will enable them to gain knowledge of the law and put it into practice. Women education should be pursued vigorously to empower them with knowledge about how to assert their rights.

To change the plight of women requires a radical approach and this is where community development movement functions as a radical movement for social change.

To change the plight of widows requires a radical approach and this is where community development movement functions as a radical movement for social change.

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