WIDOWHOOD CULTURAL PRACTICE AMONG THE URHOBO PEOPLE

ABSTRACT

Specifically, the paper discussed most of these harmful widowhood practices among the Urhobo society, the causes of the prevalence of such practices, the implications of the practices on Urhobo. Widowhood results from the death of a spouse which may be as a result of natural causes or human propelled factors. Natural causes of death include old age and various forms of illnesses. Human propelled causes of death include accidents, war or violent conflicts and outright assassination or suicide or even murder have been the major sources of widowhood since the last half of the 19th century. The 20th century has seen more wide spread civil conflicts of ethnic and religious inducement. In all of these has emerged the growing number of widows who form a special category of women with socioeconomic, psychological and health related problems as a result of their changed social status but which they have never found a place in social policy in Nigeria. Public policy on poverty alleviation must seek to address the concerns of widows as a special vulnerable group. One way of doing this is to raise awareness about the plight of widows and the fact that many more women at very young ages are becoming widows with many children to cater for with slim chances for a place in the marriage market.