The Realities of Gender and Property Rights in Igbo Land
Property can be referred to as any item that a person, group, community or organisation has legal title over. Property can be tangible or intangible items that carry the promise of future worth. A person that has property has exclusive authority to determine how such property is used. What sex or age is entitled to such inheritance whether that property is owned by government or by individuals is also a determinant of society. Today each society approves the uses selected by the holder of the property right with governmental administered force. In Igbo land there is on-going contestations against women denial of property rights under the Igbo traditional common law due to westernization. This paper examines the patterns of this denial, factors that create and sustain them, and the consequences of the denial for women empowerment and development.
Through a cross sectional survey of the 5 states in Igbo land, data was generated from 500 respondents and analyzed using SPSS tools. Results of analysis reveal that marriage, divorce, customs and non-participation of women in socio-cultural and governance of their communities create and sustain different forms of the denial. It further reveals that the women’s denial generates socio-economic and political consequences that subordinates and under-develop them and the society at large. The paper among others, recommends the modernisation of property rights law and socio-cultural reforms in Igbo land.
