Nollywood actor and member of the Lagos State House of
Assembly, Desmond Elliot has teamed up with another actress, Mercy Aigbe to
headline a national campaign initiated to draw attention to the plight of
widows in Nigeria with a view to ameliorating their suffering.
At a press unveiling organized in Lagos, Friday by
the Felix King Foundation, Elliot and Aigbe spoke strongly against many
cultural and behavioural practices in many communities in Nigeria that tend to
limit the rights of widows, disinherit them and treat them following the demise
of their husbands and vowed to continue speaking out until there is a social
movement towards the direction of not just protecting widows but creating an
environment of economic and social inclusion that would enable them deal with
the pains of their losses much more easily.
Speaking on the plight of widows in many communities in
Nigeria, Elliot wondered why it is usually convenient for men to blame women
for the deaths of their husbands and spoke of the need for government and all
layers of society to work towards a total change of attitude towards these
vulnerable members of the society.
"We live in a society where women are blamed each time a man
dies. But no one ever thinks of the pains they have to bear in bringing up the
children left behind," Desmond said and called for legislations across the
states of the federation that will criminalise maltreatment and disinheritance
of widows.
He also called on men to prepare for the eventualities of
their death by writing their wills as a means of protecting the future of their
children and the comfort of the women they very likely will leave behind.
Adding her voice to the challenge, Mercy Aigbe also called
for a general change in attitude by society towards widows while also not
leaving out the cultural practices that form the foundations of the
dehumanization of widows in Nigeria.
“We need to deal with some of these cultural issues that are
generally skewed against women. We need to abrogate them and ensure that the
rights of these widows are protected. We live in a society where economic power
still rests with the men. This is why we need to talk to community leaders,
especially in the rural communities where these victims, most of whom are poor
and uneducated, are found so that the change can be effective, starting from
the grassroots upwards,” Aigbe said.
Earlier in his address, Founder of Felix King Charity
Foundation, Mr Felix King, expressed sadness over the continued maltreatment of
widows in many societies in Nigeria and spoke of the commitment of his
Foundation to end it in all its forms and manifestations in all parts of
Africa.
He said the Foundation, founded in 2016, organized the first
ever International Summit for Widows in Nigeria and has since then, made
several interventions in the quest to ease the suffering of widows.
“Our interventions to make life easier for widows have been
designed to create an environment of inclusion for these suffering women,
empower them to be financially independent, enable them feel and experience the
love of society one more time and create a healthy environment for their
equally deprived children to be integrated into society through education and
other enabling welfare interventions,” he stated.
While appreciating the support being provided my Desmond
Elliot and Mercy AIgbe on the projects, My King revealed that his Foundation
will host an International Widows Summit in Benin, capital of Edo State, during
the International Widows Day of June 23, 2017 to further highlight
the need to protect the rights of widows in Nigeria.
He said the Foundation is already on the quest to raise one
million signatures across Nigeria in support of the need to abolish all
negative widowhood practices in Nigeria and Africa.
“We intend to collect at least one million signatures of
Nigerians and Africans in support of the abolition of these negative practices.
We are also hoping to forward these signatures and a Bill to the Edo State
House of Assembly for a law that will criminalise the maltreatment of widows in
the State. We are hoping that after this first step, same effort will be
replicated across the other 35 states of the Federation and Abuja and by so
doing, make this needed change happen.
Admitting the task is onerous and cannot be successfully
undertaken by one person, he expressed the belief that with the two popular
Nollywood actors joining voices with one million signatories to the petition,
Nigeria will be rid of prejudices and other negative practices against widows
in a very short time.
0 Comments