GENDER AND PROPERTY RIGHTS IN IGBO BELIEF SYSTEM

Abstract

There is no gainsaying the fact that the post-modernist world is characterized by exploitation and marginalization, class struggle between the haves and the working class, racial tensions between whites and other races, religious intolerance between Muslims and Christians, cultural supremacy between the so called Superior Western culture and the cultural other, balance of terror among powerful nations of the world, reawakening of the feminist spirit against male domination. It is in line with this female reawakening that the Supreme Court of Nigeria made a ruling in favour of the women folk among the Igbo people of Nigeria as it concerns their right to inherit landed property. The court perceives the exclusion of women as a form of marginalization that must not be allowed to thrive in the 21st century. Irrespective of the plethora of reasons adduced by the court, the ruling is being challenged by the aggrieved male folks (Umunna) who see it as an affront on the culture and tradition of the Igbo. They want to continue perpetuating the exclusivist template handed to them by their forebears. Against the background provided, this paper examined why it is unjust, inhuman and exploitative to exclude woman folk from expressing her right to inheriting landed property. The paper made the point that, since wealth creation is not a special preserve of Umunna it will be wrong to marginalize other siblings on the basis of gender. The paper adopted the analytical, critical and reconstructive methods of philosophy to achieve its aim. While the method of analysis was necessary for the clarification of concepts employed in the research, the critical method subjected the issues raised to deep philosophical thinking aimed at arriving at plausible conclusions. The reconstructive method on the other hand interrogated hitherto held positions thereby making them less desirable. The paper found out that the denial of inheritance rights as practiced in Igbo culture was a corollary of a mythical mind set embedded in ancient traditions that must be addressed. The paper concluded that no human being should be discriminated against if Ndigbo desired to live in peaceful global communities anchored in reciprocity of needs, it would be necessary to rethink property rights for the female.