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 Charity
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 wives 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.
Tags
Society