Nigeria: Follow-up to NGA35236.E of 28 August 2000 regarding the inheritor of the property of a widow with no children upon her death
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 29 September 2000 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | NGA35621.E |
| Reference | 2 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Nigeria: Follow-up to NGA35236.E of 28 August 2000 regarding the inheritor of the property of a widow with no children upon her death, 29 September 2000, NGA35621.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3df4be7ac.html [accessed 20 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
The following information was provided by a Staff Attorney at the Center for Reproductive Law and Policy in charge of sub-Saharan Africa, in response to questions about who would inherit the property of a widow upon her death:
State laws and customary laws on the subject vary. To complicate matters further, since 1999 more than seven states in Northern Nigeria have adopted Islamic legal codes (Sharia), which may conflict with the state and common law on inheritance.
While overall, state laws and common law provisions governing intestate inheritance rights do not discriminate against women, customary laws dictate that widows are to be excluded from inheriting property in their own right. Let us assume in this case, that the widow was able to inherit property from her husband pursuant to state laws. The fate of the widow's property upon her death depends on the laws in force in her home state. For example, if the widow was from the Eastern part of Nigeria, or if she was Igbo, her property would be expected to go to her husband's family. On the other hand, if she was a Yoruba woman, upon her death her property would go to her own family. If she had children, they would be eligible to inherit.
As you can gather from the above, much depends on the particular circumstances of each case (2 Oct. 2000).
The following information was provided during a 27 September 2000 telephone interview with an Associate Professor of Anthropology at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Her research interests are: "symbolic and historical anthropology; cosmology, gender, and space; Igbo ethnography; West Africa. She stated that she is not a lawyer, but believes that the family of a childless widow's late husband would make a claim to the property of the widow upon her death. She said they would likely be "watching big-time" for a chance to get the widow's property, probably feeling they had "lost" the property to the widow. The Associate Professor said they could attempt to secure the property by going to a traditional court which would likely support the husband's family. Actual possession of property is often important and, as such, the husband's family could attempt to move into, or take, the widow's property upon her death.
An important issue, however, would be which court had "primary jurisdiction" on the case. If a civil court had previously ruled that the widow was entitled to the property, the case for the family of the widow would be considerably strengthened as the civil court would feel it had jurisdiction and that its previous ruling in favour of the widow extended to her family. The Associate Professor explained that civil and traditional courts are somewhat competitive with respect to jurisdiction, but particularly so in cases involving property. If the widow left a will "legal weight" would be added to the case(s) of her designated heirs. The Associate Professor added however, that the will would likely not "count for much" if the case were being handled by a traditional court.
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
Associate Professor of Anthropology, Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. 27 September 2000. Telephone interview.
Center for Reproductive Law and Policy (New York). 2 October 2000. Correspondence from Staff Attorney, sub-Saharan Africa.
Additional Sources Consulted
IRB databases
LEXIS-NEXIS
REFWORLD
Resource Centre. Nigeria country file. September 1997 - July 2000.
World News Connection (WNC)
One non-documentary source contacted did not provide information on the requested subject.
Unsuccessful attempts to contact one non-documentary source
Internet sites including:
Center for Reproductive Law & Policy (CRLP).
Empowering Widows in Development
Keesing's Record of World Events [Cambridge].
