Widowhood and Property Inheritance among the Awori of Ogun State, Nigeria

The subservient position of women and the level of di scrimination that accompanies ·widowhood practices and property sharing is an acknowledged social problem f n many societies, widowhood ~esulting from sudden death gives ~room for a will or other preparations. Thus, property inheritance becornes a big challenge. Most stud ies on widowhood practices in Nigeria for in stance, focus on the Southeast and Northern part of the country. The gap detected in the litera ture and research on the subject as it re lates to the Awori sub-ethnic group of the Yoruba race is what this study intends to fill. Against this background, th e study examines the traditional practice of widowhood and property inheritance among the Awori of Ado-Odo/Ota Loca l Government Area of Ogun State, Nigeria. Thi s study was carried out in six selected Awori communities: Agbara, Atan, Jju, Ilogbo, Igb~sa and Ota. The study was anchored on two th eoretical platforrns: tructural Functionalist Theory and the Feminist Political Economie Theory. Using a triangula tory proces , both quantitati ve (s urvey method) and qualitative ( lDls/KI Is, FGD and case studies) were used in co ll ecting the primary data. Widows, widowcrs, rn arri ed men and women, se nior c itizens, trad itional ru !ers and rel igious leader (in the stu C: y are a) const ituted the study popul at ion. The purpos ive and snowball sarnp ling techn ique were adopted usin g a 65-item questionna ire containing bath open and closed ended questions. The personal interview method wa...the in strument to Awori widows of different age categories and religions. Of the 997 copies administered, 982 were du ly compl eted and returned, rep rescnting 98 .5 percent completion rate. 942 were adjudged usa ble fo r analys is, ernploying frcquency di stribut ion, impie percentages, cross tabul ations, and linea r regress ion ta va lidate the three hypoth eses formulated for the stud y. For hypothes is 1, the independent variable wh ich include: (age, eduation. occupation, incarne and type of marri age(personal attrib utes of widows)were te ted again st widowhood practices and property inheritance. The result frorn the rcgress ,on analysis revcal. th at educati on of widow is signilïcantly and negative lyrclated ta widowhood rit e at ap value of. This was...by wiJows with tert iary education who dcclined from ob erving widowhood rites cornparcd to thcir counterpan without schoo ling...