International Journal of Media, Journalism and Mass Communications (IJMJMC)

Volume 4, Issue 2, 2018, PP 19-28

ISSN 2454-9479
http://dx.doi.org/10.20431/2454-9479.0402003
www.arcjournals.org

The Place of Local Radio in the Eradication of Harmful

Widowhood Practices in North Central Nigeria
Prof. Okoro Nnanyelugo1, Ogwo, Comfort Ajuma2*
1
Department of Mass Communication, University Of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria
2
Department of Mass Communication, Kogi State University, Anyigba, Kogi State, Nigeria

*Corresponding Author: Ogwo, Comfort Ajuma, Department of Mass Communication, Kogi State
University, Anyigba, Kogi State, Nigeria

Abstract: Development is impracticable in the face of discrimination. Harmful widowhood practices against
women amount to a denial of women’s rights. This study examined the place of local radio in the eradication
of harmful widowhood practices in North Central Nigeria. It investigated the extent of practice, their
exposure to local radio, the extent to which the radio programmes address the issue and its influence on the
attitude of the people towards its eradication. The study was anchored on the agenda setting theory and the
social responsibility theory. It employed the survey method and used the questionnaire to elicit data from
selected elders, community leaders and widows. Analysis of the data collected showed that widows are still
subjected to some harmful practices, that the local radio airs programmes that are geared towards its
eradication infrequently and that these practices affect widows negatively. The study recommends that
concerted efforts must be made by the government, NGOs, agencies and programme producers to produce
and air programmes that will lead to the eradication of harmful widowhood practices in North Central
Nigeria.
Keywords: Local Radio, Widowhood Practices, North Central Nigeria, Women’s Rights

1. INTRODUCTION
The long sought world development cannot be achieved when human rights are trampled upon. The
issue of discrimination against women‟s rights has been a long standing phenomenon that has defied
several attempts at elimination. Anaeme (2012, p.1) states that “gender discrimination and violence
against women are global phenomena as old as human history”.
Women in the entire Nigerian society experience one form of gender discrimination or the other.
Gender discrimination includes the following: child marriage, female genital mutilation, nutritional
taboos, harmful widowhood practices, domestic violence, sexual freedom for husbands, bias land
tenure systems and pattern of inheritance, lack of access to credit, family preference for sons, lack of
participation in public decision-making, discrimination in housing and employment, discriminatory
legislation, discriminatory religious practices, rape, battery, trafficking in women, murder, kidnapping
and induced prostitution (Onyeukwu, 2014).
Harmful widowhood practices refer to a situation whereby widows are subjected to degrading
humiliation, fetish discriminatory and traumatic practices when they lose their husbands. Some of
such practices include drinking the water used to bath the corpse of their deceased husbands,
compulsory shaving of hair, sitting and sleeping on bare floor throughout the mourning period, crying
out at intervals, false imprisonment, sleeping with the corpse of the deceased husband, staying for
some days without bathing, wife being inherited by the husbands‟ brother, denial of custody of her
children and family property and in some places the widow must not take bath for some days and
must not change her clothing. It is worthy of note that these practices are more prevalent in the rural
communities. Unfortunately, rural women are ignorant of their rights and cannot question the
rationality of these beliefs and practices and consciously or unconsciously endorse the perpetuation
and ultimately infringement of their economic, social and cultural rights (Onyegu and Essiet 2002;
Lockwood, 2006; Anaeme 2012). The men too, who are expected to give women their full rights,
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The Place of Local Radio in the Eradication of Harmful Widowhood Practices in North Central Nigeria

seem to be ignorant or better still not persuaded to change their attitude on the excuse that they are
cultural practices.
The issue of harmful widowhood practices has defied various measures by both local and
international organizations at curbing it. Internationally, one attempt to eradicate discrimination
against women was the Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination against Women
(CEDAW) which was adopted by UN General Assembly in 1979. The Convention spelt out areas
wherein women are exposed to discrimination and committed countries to amend their law construct
gender policies and create institutions to deliver them. Locally, among other instruments employed by
the Nigerian government is the enactment of the Violence against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act
which protects against harmful widowhood practices and other forms of violence or maltreatments
against persons. In spite of these efforts, such harmful widowhood practices are still in practice
especially in rural areas.
Radio has been adjudged the reliable medium for informing, educating and sensitizing rural populace
on various issues. Its ability to bring attitudinal change among a group of people has been established.
Despite the establishment and operation of local radios in North Central and its programmes, the issue
of harmful widowhood practices still persists and this is blamed on ignorance. Is it that the radio is not
airing programmes that are persuasive enough or that the people are not exposing themselves to such
programmes? This investigation sought to establish the extent to which local radio has influenced the
people‟s attitude towards widows and to equally suggest ways local radio can be made more effective
for the eradication of harmful widowhood practices in North Central Nigeria.
This study covers the North Central Nigeria. North Central is one of the geo-political zones in
northern Nigeria comprising Niger State, Benue State, Kogi State, Plateau State, Kwara State,
Nassarawa State and the Federal Capital Territory. The current population of the region is 27,911,749
and it covers a surface area of 261,425 km2 (“List of Nigerian states”, 2016). Its people practise
Christianity, Islam and Traditional religion and are ardent observers of culture and tradition. (“The
Violent Road: Nigeria‟s North Central”, 2013).
1.1. Objective of the Study
This study set out to investigate the role of local radio in curbing harmful widowhood practices in
North Central Nigeria. To achieve this, the research sought to answer the following research
questions:
 To what extent do people in North Central Nigeria have access to local radio?
 To what extent are harmful widowhood practices enforced in North Central Nigeria?
 Do local radios in North Central Nigeria have programmes that focus on the eradication of
harmful widowhood practices?
 To what extent has local radio programmes influenced the eradication of harmful widowhood
practices in North Central Nigeria?
1.2. Review of Related Literature
Harmful widowhood practices refer to the situations where women are subjected to dehumanizing
experiences at their husband‟s death. To further explicate the issue of harmful widowhood practices,
Ifemeje and Umejiaka (2014) noted that under the Igbo culture, widows are subjected to all manner of
degrading treatment. They are often the chief suspects on the death of their husbands and therefore
were expected to go through fetish rituals in order to absolve themselves from complicity in their
husbands‟ death. For instance, some Igbo customs demand widows to drink the water that was used to
bath the corpse of their deceased husbands. This needless to say, compounds the psychological trauma
widows are already passing through in consequence of their husbands‟ death. Other dehumanizing
widowhood practices often meted out against widows include: compulsory shaving of hair, sitting and
sleeping on bare floor throughout the mourning period, crying out at intervals and finally false
imprisonment (the widows movement is usually restricted within the house, she is banned from
trading within this lengthy mourning period, as a mark of respect for her deceased partner). Men
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The Place of Local Radio in the Eradication of Harmful Widowhood Practices in North Central Nigeria

under our custom are not subject to any of these degrading treatments. A wife could be inherited by
the brother of her deceased husband.
Lending voice to this, Lewu (2011, p. 227) stated “in some cultures also, widows are shaved and
cannot bathe until seven days after their husband‟s death. Besides, water used to wash the husbands‟
corpse has to be taken by the widows to prove that they were innocent of the men‟s death. It is not the
case with widowers”. She further noted that under the three systems operating in Nigeria, statutory,
customary and Islamic, women face discrimination in matters of inheritance. A widow is entitled to
one third of her late husband‟s property if there are children but if there are no children, she is entitled
to half of his estate. However, this is far from the practice. Many widows with or without children
have been dispossessed of their late husband‟s property by family members. Wife inheritance and
other forms of widowhood malpractices practised in many parts of Nigeria debase women by
reducing them to common property. In certain communities, widows are forced to drink water used in
washing their husband‟s corpses to prove innocence and non complicity in husband‟s death. There is
no national legislation on this but States like Edo, Anambra, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Enugu and Imo have Laws
prohibiting this. But again none has been prosecuted and news of such wicked maltreatment
constantly inundates our media (Opaluwa, 2013).
Eradicating the issue of harmful widowhood practices requires packaging radio contents that will
inform and spur key participants, that is, the women and community leaders to take the issue
seriously.
Lewu, M. A. Y (2011) conducted a research titled “Discrimination against Women in Nigeria: An
Overview”. The study examined the reasons for discrimination against women in Nigeria by
highlighting the various ways discrimination manifests and their consequences. The methodological
approach employed was the qualitative research method adopting interview and written works. It was
discovered that social, cultural, political and economic factors account for the discrimination against
women in all spheres of life. The paper concluded that for Nigeria to achieve democracy,
development, growth and good health for her people, women must have maximum opportunities to
realize their optimum potentials. The paper recommends that the public should be enlightened through
programmes at all levels of government to stop harmful cultural practices through radio, television
announcements, plays and dramas. Legal instruments should be provided to prosecute offenders.
Religious organizations should promote morality and the dignity of womanhood, NGOs and CBOs
promoting women‟s rights should be encouraged by the government, gender studies should be
included in school curriculum and excessive use of drugs should be discouraged,
Ngambouk & Mathias (2016) conducted a case study on “the social context of widowhood rites and
women‟s human rights in Cameroon”. The study examined the social logic of superstitious beliefs and
associated fears sustaining the dehumanizing practice of widowhood rights and practices (WRP). The
study combined ethnographic field work on harmful traditional practices and participant observation
was concluded between October and December, 2009 in the Balengou community. Through
systematic and purposeful sampling, 39 women and 8 male elders were interviewed. The findings of
the study showed that the rites have negative effect on the women and therefore suggested that there
be the strengthening of women‟s rights through gender-neutral marriage, succession and inheritance
legislation based on notion of equality and social justice between the sexes and the harmonization of
WRP.
A global study commissioned by the Loomba Foundation on widows in both developed and
developing countries including Nigeria revealed among other things the extent of unfair treatment of
widows in those countries. Seventeen countries were surveyed, twelve of which reported at least 40%
of unfair treatment of widows in comparison with other women. The question asked to respondents
drawn from the general public was, “to what degree are women who are widowed in your country
treated worse than other women?” To a great deal, some, a little or not at all? On the average, only
29% of the respondents answered „not at all‟. The remaining 71% admitted that there was at least a
little degree of unfair treatment of widows in their country. The result showed that unfair treatment of
widows, including harmful traditional practices is in existence across several regions, societies and
cultures in the world. (The Loomba Foundation, 2015). A summary report of the findings of the study
is shown below:
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The Place of Local Radio in the Eradication of Harmful Widowhood Practices in North Central Nigeria

Source: The Loomba Foundation, 2015

1.3. Theoretical Framework
The theoretical anchors for this study are the agenda-setting theory and the social responsibility
theory.
Agenda setting theory was propounded by Maxwell Mccombs and Donald Shaw in 1972/1973. They
argued that the media may not be successful in telling us what to think, but they are stunningly
successful in telling us what to think about and how to think about it. According to Folarin (1998,
p.68) agenda setting theory implies that the media predetermined the issues to think about through
headline, display pictures and layout in newspapers, magazines, films, graphics or timing on radio or
television. This theory is relevant to this research because the issue of women‟s rights and war against
harmful widowhood practices when set as agenda by the local radio will become an important issue
for the people to think about which will foster a change in perception and action.
The second theory is the social responsibility theory of the press. This theory of the press has its
origin tied to the Hutchins Commission of 1947 where stakeholders gathered to discuss the tenets of
the libertarian theory of press, with emphasis on press freedom. This theory is relevant to this study
because it places the media in a position to accept and fulfil certain obligations to society and in doing
that, objectivity must be adhered to and attention must be given to the diversity of the society. This
implies that the media (local radio) should accept and fulfil the obligations of objectively placing
before the people the evils of discrimination against women rights and should be able to give the
diversity of the society attention. This is to be seen and taken as a social responsibility for the media
and such responsibility should be accurately handled.
2. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
2.1. Research Design
The research design for this study is the survey. Survey is chosen because it gives opportunity to the
researchers to conduct a realistic inquiry into media-audience relationships in terms of their
disposition or attitude to issues. The study combined descriptive and analytical survey.
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The Place of Local Radio in the Eradication of Harmful Widowhood Practices in North Central Nigeria

2.2. Population of the Study

The population of this study comprises the entire North Central Nigeria. The population of the
individual states in the North Central Zone from the 2006 National Population Census is as follows:
Benue - 4,253,641, Kogi - 3,314,043, Kwara - 2,365,353, Nasarawa - 1,869,377, Niger - 3,954,772,
Plateau - 3,206,531, FCT - 1,406,239, making a total population of 20,369,956 (National Population
Commission, 2006). Based on a projected growth rate of 3.2%, the current population of North
Central Nigeria is 27,911,749.
2.3. Sample Size
The sample size for this study is 384. This was arrived at using the Chochran‟s formula for calculating
sample size for a large population as shown below:
𝑧 2 𝑝𝑞
𝑛0 =
𝑒2
Where
𝑛0 = 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑧𝑒
𝑧 = 𝑧 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑕𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑓𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑙
𝑝 = 𝑑𝑒𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑣𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑
𝑒 = 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑙𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛
2.4.Sampling Procedure
This study adopted the multi-stage sampling procedure. The existing stratum of states was maintained.
North Central Nigeria comprise Niger state, Kwara state, Kogi state, Nassarawa state, Benue state,
Plateau state and the Federal Capital Territory. Two of the states were selected using the ballot system
(Kogi State and Niger State). A local government each was then randomly selected from the two
states (Olamaboro Local Government in Kogi State and Suleja Local Government in Niger State) and
finally, a community each was purposively selected from the two local governments (Ogugu in
Olamaboro Local Government of Kogi State and Angwan Rimi in Suleja Local Government of Niger
State). These communities were selected based on the fact that they are rural communities and as such
still maintain high regard for traditional and cultural practices. In each of the two communities, 192
copies of questionnaire were then distributed to purposively selected widows, community leaders and
elderly ones.
2.5. Research Instrument
The research instrument for this study is the questionnaire. The questionnaire comprises two sections.
The first section covers the demographic characteristics of the respondents while the second section is
the body of the questionnaire covering questions on the subject matter. The Responses to the
questionnaire were used to answer research questions and to prove the hypothesis.
2.6. Validation of Instrument
The pre-test and validation of the research instrument was done in one week. Twenty respondents
were involved.
2.7. Reliability Test
The test – retest method was adopted to establish the reliability of the instrument. The questionnaire
was administered to the same group of 20 respondents from the population of study on two occasions
in an interval of two weeks. The results were collated and the correlation coefficient of the two sets of
data was computed. The value of the Spearman‟s rank correlation coefficient for the two sets of data
was 0.9607. This shows that there is a high level of association between the two sets of data and hence
shows the reliability of our instrument.
2.8. Method of Data Collection
The researcher in company of two research assistants self-administered the questionnaire over a
period of three days in each of the two communities and retrieved them immediately.
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The Place of Local Radio in the Eradication of Harmful Widowhood Practices in North Central Nigeria

2.9. Method of Data Analysis

Data collected about the demography of respondents is presented and analyzed using pie charts. Other
data collected from the questionnaire were analysed using the Likert‟s scale. A five point Likert‟s
scale was used and the responses were combined into two categories: “accepted” and „rejected” based
on the value of the weighted mean for each response.
3. RESULTS & DISCUSSION
3.1. Demographic Characteristics of Respondents

Chart 1

Chart 2

Chart 3

Chart 4

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The Place of Local Radio in the Eradication of Harmful Widowhood Practices in North Central Nigeria

Table1. Extent of access to local radio

S/N Items Strongly Agree Undecided Disagree Strongly Weighted Decision
Agree( (A) (UD) (D) Disagree Mean
SA) (SD) (WMS)
1. I have access to a local radio 319 65 0 0 0 4.8 Accepted
2. I listen to the radio 279 105 0 0 0 4.7 Accepted
3. I often listen to the radio 160 118 18 50 38 3.8 Accepted
Table2. Extent of harmful widowhood practices in North Central Nigeria
S/N Items Strongly Agree Undecided Disagree Strongly Weighted Decision
Agree (A) (UD) (D) Disagree Mean
(SA) (SD) (WMS)
4. Widows are subjected to some 283 101 0 0 0 4.7 Accepted
harmful practices in my
community
5. Widows are made to shave 184 81 30 16 73 3.7 Accepted
their hair at the death of their
husbands
6. To prove their innocence, they 61 30 152 31 110 2.7 Rejected
are sometimes compelled to
drink the water used to bath
their husbands
7. Widows are compelled to sleep 203 91 36 36 18 4.1 Accepted
on the floor during the period
of mourning
8. Widows are inherited by late 65 50 101 57 111 2.7 Rejected
husband‟s brothers
9. Widows don‟t carry out 155 88 55 65 21 3.8 Accepted
economic activities during the
period of mourning
10. Widows are denied their 155 121 37 50 21 3.9 Accepted
husband‟s properties
11. Sometimes, their children are 85 76 162 40 21 3.4 Accepted
taken away from them
Table3. Local radio programmes that focus on eradicating harmful widowhood practices
S/No Items Strongly Agree Undecided Disagree Strongly Weighted Decision
Agree (A) (UD) (D) Disagree Mean
(SA) (SD) (WMS)
12. The local radio airs programmes 82 53 101 66 82 3.0 Accepted
that focus on the eradication of
harmful widowhood practices
13. The programmes are aired often 23 36 120 131 74 2.5 Rejected
14. The programmes are aired in 51 56 151 85 41 3.0 Accepted
the local language
Table4. Influence of the radio programmes on the eradication of harmful widowhood practices in North Central
Nigeria
S/No Items Strongly Agree Undecided Disagree Strongly Weighted Decision
Agree (A) (UD) (D) Disagree Mean
(SA) (SD) (WMS)
15. The programmes have influenced 39 71 94 100 80 2.7 Rejected
the harmful widowhood practices
in my community
16. There has been great reduction 20 33 71 220 40 2.4 Rejected
in the adoption of such harmful
widowhood practices as a result
of the radio programmes
17. Harmful widowhood practices 205 30 26 93 30 3.7 Accepted
have negative impact on the
women folk.
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The Place of Local Radio in the Eradication of Harmful Widowhood Practices in North Central Nigeria

4. DISCUSSION
Based on the analysis of data gathered, it is evident that harmful widowhood practices still exist in
North Central Nigeria because all the respondents accepted that widows in their communities are
subjected to one form of harmful widowhood practice or the other.
The responses to questions targeted at research question two as presented in Table 2 indicates that
widows are still subjected to some form of harmful practices which are dehumanizing at the death of
their husbands. This agrees with Ifemeje & Umejiaku (2014, p.20) where they have this to say:
...this harmful widowhood practice is an infraction of the widow‟s right to dignity of human
person. Furthermore, the restriction of the widow‟s right to movement is a breach of her right to
movement and amounts to false imprisonment. Finally, it is equally a serious infraction of the
widow‟s right to freedom from discrimination in the sense that these obnoxious traditional
mourning rites target only women.
This study also revealed that respondents have access to local radio and that they are highly exposed
to it. Responses to questions under research question one as presented in Table 1 clearly reveals that
the people have access to local radio and they often listen to it. This implies that radio as a medium is
still relevant in disseminating information to rural dwellers in North Central Nigeria.
Findings from this research also showed that the local radio air programmes that focus on the
eradication of harmful widowhood practices and this is done in the local language but not at all times.
Also, these programmes are not aired often. This is evident from responses to questions presented in
Table 4 above. The fact that these programmes are not aired often reduces the prominence given to
such a delicate and serious matter. It reveals why these practices have persisted in North Central
Nigeria. The simple reason is that the prominence that should be given to the issue by frequency of
broadcast and timing was not given to it. This is contrary to how the radio was used in Malawi and
Uganda in their fight against child labour. In Malawi, apart from CRECOM, the story workshop, an
educational and creative centre for community sensitization joined forces with the government of
Malawi and donors to set up the fight against child labour through a new episode radio soap opera
titled “Tilitonse Tisazunze Ana” (Don‟t exploit children). (Anonymous cited in Asogwa & Ogwo)
In Uganda, to achieve the elimination of child labour in tobacco growing, the radio was used to create
awareness through different radio spots aired over 1000 times on Masinidi Broadcasting Service
(MBS) and Radio Kitara. Messages were aired mainly during the peak season of planting, harvesting
and marketing. Five radio programmes were developed and broadcast. Four radio drama performances
were conducted, three talk shows were aired, phone-in-programmes were conducted and 756 spot
messages were broadcast in four languages. About 9000 communities were reached to an estimated
listenership of 2 million people and as a result of the radio programmes, farmers with the knowledge
of the law prohibiting child labour drastically increased from 36% in 2006 to almost 80% in 2009.
(ECLT Foundation cited in Asogwa & Ogwo)
The records above give explicit information on how the radio is a powerful medium that can be used
to inform, sensitize and create behavioural change among rural communities and by implication, the
issue of harmful widowhood practices in North Central Nigeria can be reduced to the barest minimum
if not totally eradicated using the local radio.
Responses to questions targeted at unveiling the influence of local radio on the eradication of harmful
widowhood practices in North Central Nigeria as presented in Table 5 shows that the radio
programmes have not influenced the eradication of harmful widowhood practices in any significant
measure.
5. CONCLUSION
This study investigated the place of the local radio in the eradication of harmful widowhood practices
in North Central Nigeria. Its findings revealed that some humiliating practices are meted against
women when they lose their husbands and that the radio which is a strong weapon for educating the
people is not maximally utilized as they do not have enough programmes on the issue and the local
languages are not used for all programmes, making it difficult for rural dwellers who are majorly
illiterates to understand. Hence, no significant influence of the radio programmes on the people‟s
action towards widows.
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The Place of Local Radio in the Eradication of Harmful Widowhood Practices in North Central Nigeria

The study therefore concludes that the radio be put to full utilization in the fight to eradicate all
harmful practices against the widows in North Central Nigeria as its persistence will hinder
development.
RECOMMENDATIONS
To achieve the eradication of all forms of harmful widowhood practices in North Central Nigeria
through the radio, the following are recommended.
 Government should sponsor public enlightenment programmes through local radio
announcements, drama, soap-operas and phone-in programmes that will give room for the
people‟s participation in issues that touch them.
 Local radio programme producers should set agenda for the issue of eradicating harmful
widowhood practices in North Central by the selection of programmes, use of local language,
frequency of airing and the time of airing.
 NGOs should also collaborate with the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs to sponsor
publicities, public enlightenments and advocacy on radio.
 Persuasive public interest advertisements should be aired on radio for the eradication of
harmful widowhood practices by governmental and non governmental agencies.
 Community radio listening centres should be organized by the government focusing on
eradicating harmful widowhood practices.
 Radio stations should package spot messages in local languages as this will create
understanding and compliance.
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Citation: Prof. Okoro Nnanyelugo, Ogwo, Comfort Ajuma. “The Place of Local Radio in the Eradication of
Harmful Widowhood Practices in North Central Nigeria". International Journal of Media, Journalism and
Mass Communications (IJMJMC), vol 4, no. 2, 2018, pp. 19-28. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10. 20431/2455-
0043.0402003
Copyright: © 2018 Authors. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original author and source are credited.

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