Knightingale wants women considered in inheritance allocation
By Chima Azubuike
The need for women to inherit under the customary law has been emphasised, especially within Kaltungo, Shongom Local Government Areas of Gombe State.
According to Barr. Japhet Maida, beneficiaries should be encouraged to activate their constitutional rights to benefit from deceased’s estate.
He made this disclosure to our correspondent on Friday shortly after a training on Will writing organised by Nightingale Women Health Initiative with support from ActionAid Nigeria .
Maida said Will writing was expected to be a hand written or typed, adding that it would ensure peaceful co-existence after the demise of the breadwinner.
Our correspondent reports that Will is a legal document that distributes estate to beneficiaries after the demise of the deceased. However, alot of persons still consider it elitist although research shows that it ensures peace especially when the benefactor is away.
He said, “The communities involved practice customary law and it is against women as they don’t inherit under the law. So, it becoming a problem then the need to remedy the situation and there has been no attempt to challenge it.
“The training is for them to activate their constitutional rights, freedom against discrimination. The fact that you are a woman should not be a reason to be discriminated against. It can be challenged to supreme court.”
Maida said it was cheaper to make a will than to seek for letter of administration, while urging the participants to step down the training.
According to him, selected counsels should be persons of impeccable conduct, adding that witnesses were required for proper adjudication.
“If you die intestate (without writing a will), beneficiaries will have to approach a registry to apply for letter of administration, but when you write a will there will be no need for letter of administration.
“All you need to do is to activate the will, the cost is cheaper aside will being cheaper it solves the challenges of who inherits what, it is the administrator that determines who gets what,” Maida added.
Also speaking, Executive Director of Knightingale Women Health Initiative Lois Yerima, explained that the training became rife over the increasing cases of discrimination against women in distribution of property.
Yerima said, “This is part of our collaboration with ActionAid on Strengthening Local Organisations right to combat violence against women and girls. So, we had many cases in this regard previously, there was this culture of silence, alot of cases on denial of inheritance.
“When will is written misunderstanding will be reduced. We expect the religious leaders to forget about culture and step down the training.”
On her part, Asabe Malami, Director Social Development Gombe State Ministry of Women Affairs lamented the challenges faced by women, after the demise of their spouses.
She said, “We felt that it was high time we called on our spiritual fathers to give their own support about the biblical injunction concerning what a woman should be given. In the holy Quran it is spelt out but in Christendom it doesn’t have what a woman should be left with.”
