The Catholic Church and Obnoxious Widowhood Practices in Nanka, Nigeria

In every society, couples get into marriage with excitement and high expectations. However, losing a partner to death cuts short such high hopes. the death of a husband not only robs the bereaved woman of expectations in marriage, but also exposes her to some obnoxious practices which seem to be a c...

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Main Authors: Ekenedirichukwu Eze, Sandra Mmachukwu Umeh
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Department of Religion and Cultural Studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka 2024-05-01
Series:Nsukka Journal of Religion and Cultural Studies
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.njrcs.org/eze-umeh-2024/
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author Ekenedirichukwu Eze
Sandra Mmachukwu Umeh
author_facet Ekenedirichukwu Eze
Sandra Mmachukwu Umeh
author_sort Ekenedirichukwu Eze
collection DOAJ
description In every society, couples get into marriage with excitement and high expectations. However, losing a partner to death cuts short such high hopes. the death of a husband not only robs the bereaved woman of expectations in marriage, but also exposes her to some obnoxious practices which seem to be a cultural norms and socially accepted practice in Igboland. These obnoxious practices are drinking the water used in washing the corpse, shaving of hair, ritual seclusion, crying at interval, disinheritance if without a male child, etc. This paper therefore attempts an expository study of some of these obnoxious practices in Nanka. it is a theoretical paper that analyses the role of the Catholic Church in eradicating these widowhood practices. the method of data collection is in-depth interview with 15 respondents who are between the ages of 50-80, and also analysis of existing literature that relates to the study area. The findings of this paper is that some of the obnoxious practices are still in existence in Nanka. The paper recommends ethical teaching and involvement of Faith Based Organization (FBO) in the fight against the widowhood obnoxious practices.
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spelling doaj-art-c32bbea56b7a469988c6484ef0071e772025-08-20T01:49:20ZengDepartment of Religion and Cultural Studies, University of Nigeria, NsukkaNsukka Journal of Religion and Cultural Studies2277-01862024-05-0112118The Catholic Church and Obnoxious Widowhood Practices in Nanka, NigeriaEkenedirichukwu Eze0Sandra Mmachukwu Umeh1University of Nigeria, NsukkaUniversity of Nigeria, NsukkaIn every society, couples get into marriage with excitement and high expectations. However, losing a partner to death cuts short such high hopes. the death of a husband not only robs the bereaved woman of expectations in marriage, but also exposes her to some obnoxious practices which seem to be a cultural norms and socially accepted practice in Igboland. These obnoxious practices are drinking the water used in washing the corpse, shaving of hair, ritual seclusion, crying at interval, disinheritance if without a male child, etc. This paper therefore attempts an expository study of some of these obnoxious practices in Nanka. it is a theoretical paper that analyses the role of the Catholic Church in eradicating these widowhood practices. the method of data collection is in-depth interview with 15 respondents who are between the ages of 50-80, and also analysis of existing literature that relates to the study area. The findings of this paper is that some of the obnoxious practices are still in existence in Nanka. The paper recommends ethical teaching and involvement of Faith Based Organization (FBO) in the fight against the widowhood obnoxious practices. https://www.njrcs.org/eze-umeh-2024/widowhoodpracticesobnoxioustradition and culturenankanigeria.
spellingShingle Ekenedirichukwu Eze
Sandra Mmachukwu Umeh
The Catholic Church and Obnoxious Widowhood Practices in Nanka, Nigeria
Nsukka Journal of Religion and Cultural Studies
widowhood
practices
obnoxious
tradition and culture
nanka
nigeria.
title The Catholic Church and Obnoxious Widowhood Practices in Nanka, Nigeria
title_full The Catholic Church and Obnoxious Widowhood Practices in Nanka, Nigeria
title_fullStr The Catholic Church and Obnoxious Widowhood Practices in Nanka, Nigeria
title_full_unstemmed The Catholic Church and Obnoxious Widowhood Practices in Nanka, Nigeria
title_short The Catholic Church and Obnoxious Widowhood Practices in Nanka, Nigeria
title_sort catholic church and obnoxious widowhood practices in nanka nigeria
topic widowhood
practices
obnoxious
tradition and culture
nanka
nigeria.
url https://www.njrcs.org/eze-umeh-2024/
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