Indeed the church set up the standard that anyone wishing to be initiated should follow but it is still noticed that even up till date there are some deviants. Infact there are some traditional rituals associated with Ozo that look ‘paganistic’. Despite that teachings of the church and the efforts made to take Ozo in Christian way failed and most Christians in Ogidi still continue and persist in ‘traditional form of Ozo title taking. This is only a tip of the iceberg of historical dynamics of interactions of Christianity with Ozo Institution not entreating inside the rank and file of Ogidi with the effect that it has not taken deep root.
However, the Christian interaction with Ogidi traditional institution is still on going and the processe is on in Ogidi till today.
degrading when widows are subjected to untold hardship and maltreated by in-laws and by the society in general. Their situation is quite awful, they are poor and uncared for by people who are supposed to give them succor and help.
However, the status of the widow under the law depends on the type of marriage in question. There are about four types of marriage contract in Nigeria, namely, that of Court Registry marriage based on government law, traditional customary based on the traditions or customs of the people under question, Christian marriage based on Christian beliefs and Principles and Islamic marriage based on Islamic beliefs and principles.
The principles of law applicable to each of these marriages differ considerably. For a woman married under the Marriage Act, her rights after the death of her husband are spelt out , without a valid will. A widow under customary law is not entirely without right in her husband’s estate, she has a legal right to retain the use and possession of the matrimonial home subject to the good behaviour of the widow.
But it is a well known fact that the native law and customs of some people in Nigeria that a wife could not inherit her husband’s properties since she is like a chattel to be inherited by a relative of her husband. In other words, in most cases the widow’s brother in-laws go further assume their late brothers personal relationship with his wife and when she says no, the problems becomes complex.
Eweluka (2002) also noted that the customary law permits and perpetuates discrimination on the basis at gender especially in family relations (p.37). Women experience and suffer marital frustration and depression than men and those continues even at the demise
of the husband, where a woman will have to take series of dehumanizing treatments from the in-laws, with the claim that she killed her husband.
Olakikike (2009) expressed that these widowhood practices vary from one place to another and many of these practices violate a woman’s human right (p.43). This is because from time immemorial societies across the globe have been male dominated and still remain so especially in Africa. Hence, Nwosu (2007) opined that the disorganizing and traumatic experience which accompanies death of husbands, tends to be greater on women than that of men when they lose their wives (p.29). For instance, while the wife immediately becomes the primary suspect for her husband’s death, the man is immediately offered an appropriate substitution to comfort him upon the loss of his wife. Nwanegbo (1996) said that:
in some places the widow will be taken to an isolated place where she will have her food in broken earthen pot while her hair will either be left unkempt or be completely shaven off, while in some other places, ten men will have to lie with the widow after her husband’s death and she has to cry very early each morning and call her husband by his name, this she will do for one month. (p.62)
4.2.1 Widowhood practices in Ogidi
Widowhood, traditionally, is a long established religious and sociological practice observed in different societies by women that lost their husbands. A woman becomes a widow
practices start. Nwoye (1996) opined that these practices are sets of expectations as to actions and behavior by the widow and rituals performed by or on behalf of the widow from the time of death of her husband. Women all over Igbo-land dreaded widowhood because of the rituals which widows were forced to undergo.
Before the advent of Christianity and even now that Christianity is taking root in our soil. In Ogidi, some widows were forced to drink the water that was used in washing their dead husbands as a mark of proving their innocence of the death. Some widows were not allowed to see the dead bodies of their husbands. Alor episode of trying to deny a widow of the husbands business is a typical example. In some places the widows were forced to sleep on bare floor with ordinary mats for months. The widow’s movement was restricted. Even when she was going to ease herself one of the female relatives of the deceased husband must accompany her. In other places, the widow would be led naked to a shrine at night by men where she would be made to undergo rituals which would make her actually “Ajadu Nwanyi”
or “Ifeajana”. Before the shrine, the woman will pledge her loyalty to the land. That she will not abandon her children and will remain obedient. She will finally swear by that shrine. This ritual is enough to instill fear on “ajadu”. In that shrine they were addressed violently and intimidated because of the feeling alleged that any widow is responsible for the death of her husband. In some towns, the widow might be forced to eat and drink from old rejected plates and cups..
In some places, the widow would not be allowed to wash her body for months. In some other places, while the dead man was still lying in state, the widow would be assigned to another man who would have sexual intercourse with her as a part of ritual. If she refused, it would be counted as abominable; and the sanction would be ostracism. In some places, the