Tackling customary practices that impinge family rights

Some of them include disinheritance of women, wife inheritance, wife battery, harmful widowhood rites and parents indiscriminately giving out their children to people to mention a few.In April this year, the Supreme Court gave judgment in favour of Mrs Gladys Ada Ukeje and affirmed her right to inherit her father’s property in spite of being […]

Some of them include disinheritance of women, wife inheritance, wife battery, harmful widowhood rites and parents indiscriminately giving out their children to people to mention a few.
In April this year, the Supreme Court gave judgment in favour of Mrs Gladys Ada Ukeje and affirmed her right to inherit her father’s property in spite of being a woman.
The judgment was on the appeal filed in 2004 by Mrs. Lois Chituru Ukeje (wife of late Lazarus Ogbonna Ukeje) and their son, Enyinnaya Lazarus Ukeje, against Ms. Gladys Ada Ukeje (the deceased’s daughter).
 Gladys had earlier sued the deceased’s wife and son before the Lagos High Court, claiming to be one of the deceased’s children and seeking to be included among those to administer and inherit their deceased father’s estate.
The Court of Appeal, Lagos to which Mrs. Lois Ukeje and Enyinnaya Ukeje appealed, upheld the decision of the trial court, spurring them to appeal to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court in the judgment held that the Court of Appeal, Lagos was right to have voided the Igbo’s native law and custom that disinherit female children.
Justice Bode Rhodes-Vivour, who read the lead judgment, held that  no matter the circumstances of the birth of a female child, such a child is entitled to an inheritance from her later father’s estate.
He said the  the Igbo customary law, which disentitles a female child from partaking in the sharing of her deceased father’s estate is breach of Section 42(1) and (2) of the Constitution, a fundamental rights provision guaranteed to every Nigerian, and dismissed the appeal.
Last week  the Nigerian Bar Association Abuja Branch’s Section on Legal Practice  in collaboration with the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA)Abuja branch  held a one day conference with the theme “Family Rights: Contemporary issues under our legal system”. The lawyers reviewed the judgment which many see as a welcome development for gender equality in the country.
Chairman NBA Abuja branch, Mr Desmond Yamah said the conference was aimed at drawing the public’s attention to the collective ills of the society especially rights of women and children.
“The Ukaje case is used as a landmark during this conference because it exposes some of the traditional practices that are repugnant to natural justices. The decision of the Supreme Court that the female child has the right to inherit the father’s property is a timely decision and needs to be examined, and it advises Nigerians not to indulge in practices that are injurious to members of the society,” he said.
Yamah said even people that are educated deprive women of several of their rights, saying women are seen as property to be inherited in some places and disinherited of their property to mention a few.
He said the judgment which gives women victory needs to be pioneered  saying the case proved that she is the daughter of Mr Ukaeje and is entitled to the letter of administration with her other siblings.
Chairman Section of Legal Practice (SLP) NBA Abuja Branch , Agada Elache  on his part said the conference helps throw light on issues that discriminate against women and children particularly the girl child , adding that “it brings to the fore current issues on family rights and those that affect women and children in particular, adoption processes in Nigeria and implication for trafficking in persons.”
He said the issues  were brought to the discussion table so that they can create better awareness that many of these issues are entrenched in our cultural practices and wouldn’t go overnight. He said they hope that legal practitioners and the public will become aware of the issues.
He explained that SLP is the intellectual angle of the Nigerian Bar Association saying it is a professional association which gives members of the association opportunity to deepen their knowledge on the intellectual context as far as specialized areas of the law are concerned.
Chairperson of FIDA Abuja Branch, Amina Suzannah Agbaje said the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Bill (VAPP) when passed into law will help tackle issues of rape , trafficking,  and violence against women in the country.
She said the judgment will help women from the South-East part of the country who could not before now inherit, adding the judgment showed that women now have rights to inherit in their father’s house despite the fact they are married.
Chief Judge of the High Court FCT, Justice F. M. Bukar  said many Nigerians are still not aware of the Child Rights Act  and it is hoped that the forum will help Nigerians aware that children in Nigeria are guaranteed rights under an existing law. “We have seen children begging , not going to school, and abandoned, without protection . This conference is geared towards making the society to appreciate that there is a law in existence,” he said.
Executive Secretary of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and Other Related Matters (NAPTIP) said the customary practice of parents giving their children to people to foster has given some people room to traffic them. She recommended the following:
There is the need for the government through its relevant information dissemination agencies to create awareness on the provisions of the Child Rights Act.
 Nigerians should be encouraged to approach the relevant ministries of Women Affairs for proper guidance on how to legally adopt children adding “This is because some people have the wrong notion that it is cumbersome to go through the approved child adoption process.”
 “The relevant regulatory agencies of government should strictly monitor the activities of Orphanages and Motherless Babies’ Homes to ensure that they do not engage in practices that encourage the illegal adoption of our children, sometimes even by non Nigerians,” she said.