"No Son, No Share: The Nigerian Daughter's Birthright"

How customary law still writes daughters out of their fathers' wealth.
Every girl child has a right, either first born or last born, but the ideology of Igbo culture has made it hard for the girl child. No matter what it may be, the girl child must not be left out of the picture and in the society.
Back in the day, when a girl child is given birth to, at the time of her birth, she is betrothed to her husband. Most Northern states still practise this till date. They do it in a way of agreement between families like a contract, strengthening alliance, settling debt, and honoring friendship. The girl child with full dreams and potential will grow up to a particular age, and boom, her husband's people will come for her to take her home.
In the Eastern part, which is my part, the girl child is not betrothed, but they are deprived of their right as a first child. The ideology for the female child is "All female children will end in their husband's house." This isn't just cultural memory, it has been documented in literature too. Buchi Emecheta's semi autobiographical novel Second Class Citizen captures exactly this dynamic: a girl child valued for marriageability rather than her right to education, property or autonomy. This is really alarming because it makes the girl child feel so less valued and unappreciated.
This brings me back to the story of a young girl who lost her dad. She has only two siblings who are also girls. She was the first child and first daughter. Don't forget, in the Igbo culture the male child is prominently important because of the sale of property. Two years after her dad died, her father's people came back for her dad's property (the only piece of land the father left with them). It was an uncompleted building. He couldn't finish the building before he died.
Do you know why they came back for the property?
Alright, I will tell you. They came back because the man doesn't have a son that would inherit his property (Igbo culture) and they succeeded in collecting it. It was really disheartening hearing such a scenario. They left the woman and her children with nothing.
According to the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria, Section 43 and 44 state respectively that every citizen has the right to acquire and own immovable property anywhere in Nigeria. They later state that the Constitution protects citizens from having their property taken away without proper compensation. Most importantly, Section 42 states that the Nigeria Constitution guarantees freedom from discrimination based on gender, on either male or female.
The Constitution has guaranteed that every citizen has the right to own property. Yet under most customary law, a daughter can be the first and inherit nothing. Every girl child has a voice and that voice must be heard. Nigeria's constitution already promises equality. Our current court has already disinherited daughters from being invalid.

By Awulonu Stella