EXPANDING WOMEN’S RIGHT TO INHERIT IMMOVABLE PROPERTY IN IGBOLAND BEYOND THE LIMITS OF UKEJE V. UKEJE

Abstract

The traditional beliefs in patriarchy and male primogeniture in Igboland place women as inferior and subordinate to men. They promote a custom of inequality of the sexes which, among others, disentitled women from inheriting immovable property under customary law. However, in the 2014 case of Ukeje v. Ukeje, the Supreme Court of Nigeria invalidated that custom for failing the repugnancy test and contradicting relevant fundamental rights provisions on equality and non-discrimination in the Nigerian Constitution. It literally reversed the custom and granted women equal right to inherit immovable property with the men. This paper argues that salient gaps in the judgement may, technically, defeat or impede its essence. Most rural folks are also skeptical of this ‘change’ and stick to the old custom. This paper concludes that the judgement alone cannot, except with some form of expansion, guarantee full acceptance and institutionalization of the new concept of women’s right to inherit property in Igboland. It therefore recommends, among others, legislative action, broad sensitization by locals, and the joinder of traditional rulers as co-defendants in litigations for breach of the new right, as options for bridging the identified gaps and expanding Nigerian women’s property rights beyond the frontiers of Ukeje v. Ukeje. This paper contributes to existing literature on Nigerian women’s property rights but its scope does not cover the salient extra-patriarchal issue of women contributing to their own lack of access to land.