By Fred Nwaozor
On June 23, the world over commemorated the annual International Widows’ Day
as stipulated and observed by the United Nations (UN). The International
Widows’ Day is a UN ratified day of action to address the poverty and injustice
faced by millions of widows and their dependents in many countries. The event
invariably takes place on every day of June 23.
The day was established in 2005 by Raj Loomba whose mother
became a widow on June 23, 1954, and the bereaved woman experienced the social
intolerance and financial adversity that can befall widows. The establishment
was made under the aegis of The Loomba Foundation to raise awareness of the
issue of widowhood, which was thereafter formally adopted and duly approved on
December 21, 2010 by the United Nations’ General Assembly under the leadership
of the present UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon. The proposal for the approval
was tendered by President Ali Bongo Ondimba of Gabon.
In Nigeria
for instance, on the average, a widow regardless of her status, is severely
molested, intimidated as well as humiliated. The major plight faced by a widow
in this part of the world is deprivation of her late husband’s property or
possessions by her teeming in-laws. In this case, she could be banned from
making use of anything belonging to the deceased, thereby making her appear
like a mere slave in her matrimonial home.
In many
cases, the widow in question could be accused of being responsible for her
husband’s demise without minding the severe psychological pains and agony she
is passing through. In some quarters, to prove her innocence, the poor widow
would be mandated by the accusers to drink the water used in washing her late
husband’s corpse; a practice that obviously seems highly irrational and
barbaric.