Stop in practice, the abuses of widows Now!!!

We demand that the government take their said abolition of widowhood practices and rites right down to the citizens. Widows in our culture especially those in the hinterland are suffering under cultural practices and rites even as the government continues to state the abolition on air.

Widowhood has become a great merchandise, an instrument for political propaganda and philanthropic grandiosity, as they feed their ego and enrich their pockets; lives are being abused and destroyed. 

Do you know that as you read this today; in most villages, families across our nation; widows are being crowned the crown of sorrow and torture, with the following treatment;
She's being made to shave her hair.
She's being made to relinquish her husband properties as she suffers in poverty.
She's being made to cry at midnight.
She's being made to drink water washed from his body to prove her innocent.
She's being made to go to the forest at midnight to bath.
She's being made to cook and have the last supper with husband corpse...
She's being made to eat with same plate unwashed for days...
She's being ostracized or force to ostracize from family in her refusal of one obnoxious act or other..
She's being made to do more than this as her culture demands in her grieves….

After 24 years of widowhood, do you know, among the issues that are still prevalent that we must act to change now are;


A whole lot of violent practices are still so much a practice in our society especially to widows.
Adequate Information are not passed to educate the citizens, as such they carry on with our traditional practices that has instituted these violence as a norm.
Places of compliments are not available thus; victims do not complain and prosecution never attainable, thereby victims are made to suffer in silence while villain wax in victory making it seem an acceptable thriving practice.
Widows are humiliated, robbed and disenfranchised of their rights, dignity and sanity in theory and practices.

The absence of government responsibility has been filled in so many NGOs, while many can be said to be helpful to the few widows within them, most are exploiting their plight as they enrich their pockets.

Government must stop the conventional approaches to issues of widowhood with the emphasis for political agenda and NGOs ignoring the key elements of locals such as the local government, traditional rulers, religious organisations, kinship institutions, and other forms of community centres and association

The time has come for us to make the government of all states to UNIFORMLY take up the eradication of these issues of widowhood, and to achieve it, we demand that the collaboration of the;
Minister of women affair
Commissioners of women affairs
Local government headquarters
Traditional rulers and community at large including the churches.

The ministry of women affairs, youth development and social welfare should be FUNCTIONALLY structured with these department; The Prevention (Information Centre), Prosecution (Complaint Center) and Rehabilitation (Counselling & Support),
They should provide the services that will directly take care of the widows using the local government headquarters, the traditional rulers, as well as other community centres and groups.

The Prevention department whose duty will be starting from federal ministry of women affair is to make sure policies that are enacted passed down to the citizens, using;
Mass literacy campaign;
In schools, citizenship education should be a compulsory curriculum in schools where children are taught the old and new culture properly as they relearn to form a new mental culture
The local government and secretariat must be co opted with these PPR departments created at every headquarter.

In communities They should place BILLBOARDS containing these enacted policies with complaints centres addresses both in English and their local languages at the Local Government headquarters, traditional rulers palace, religious houses, town halls and every strategic positions in every community.
All grants available to widows should publicised at the various LGA headquarters.

The Prosecution centres
There should be a compliant centres, the traditional rulers should be made the "Primary Help Centre", being the nearest to the community where widows can take there compliments; the local government headquarters and state ministries of women affairs.
With the liaison of the police when needed on every complaints…
There legal them can comprise NYSC lawyers on their yearly assignments… as the FIDA chapter of each states, with registered and humanitarian lawyers who will like to offer pro bono services. The Judiciary should be made cooperate to all legal matters by making it less cumbersome.
A time limit for every legal case of widowhood violations should be created to reduce the cost and trauma on widows.

Rehabilitation centre
Each local government secretariat should have counsellors where widows can be counseled right, mentored and empowered using these NGOs as resource persons.

They should be properly educated on the various grants available and means of accessing them.

Our great grand, grand and mother suffered it and we are suffering it. Let us save our widows of today, and the other women and girls by putting an end to the downward transmission of these cruelty to the next generation by signing this open letter to the President, Governors of all States, Minister for women affairs, State Commissioners for women affairs, youth and social development, religious leaders, traditional rulers, age grade organisations, women groups
Let's wake our government to act proactively.

Do you believe that If everyone in our various villages are informed of the above opportunities for widows, most perpetrators will be deterred, more widows will be empower as all widows are liberated?

Don't wait to experience it to understand the urgency in the need, even in your personal empowerment as a metropolitan widow, in your victory the ostracism of one family has it's emotional deprivation.
Hence the real victory is to end it, as a culture we learn to live in love and respect giving each dignity and respect as a cultural practices.

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