Playwright Urges Abolition Of Widowhood Practices

The Artistic Director, National Troupe of Nigeria, Martin Adaji has called for the abolition of bad widowhood practices still being practiced in some Nigerian communities.

Adaji made the call on Sunday night at a stage performance of “Ojomolami” at the National Theatre, Lagos.

“Ojomolami’’ (God knows my cause in a middle belt dialect) was written by Adaji and directed by Josephine Igbaraese. The play dwells on the plight of widows in a typical African society.

Adaji said that many Nigerian communities punished widows in the name of culture.

“When a woman loses her husband, some family members bring up some crude cultures to deprive her of her rights.

“Men should not continue to punish women before it gets to the point of explosion or rebellion by women,” he said.

He said that it was barbaric to turn a woman into a second class citizen because she lost her husband, urging that the society should rather show compassion to such a woman.

The playwright said that while culture was relevant to any society, any culture that violated human rights should be abolished.

“I wrote the play five years ago because I saw what widows were going through in the area I come from; they are suffering a lot.

“The painful aspect of it is that the society will accuse them of killing their husbands,’’ he said.

He said that communities meted out such treatments to deny widows access to their husbands’ property, noting that widows who did not have a male child were worse hit by the menace.

“We need to continue bringing this issue to the fore so that it can be corrected.

“Widows should have access to their husbands’ property to be able to train their children,’’ he said.