Don Calls On State Govts To Educate Communities On Dangers Of Demanding High Dowry

By Daniel Dafe

Professor Omerionwan Kingsley Edu has called on state governments to sensitise and educate communities on the dangers of demanding high dowry payment.

Edu, a Professor of Law at the Delta State University, DELSU, Abraka, who made this call on Thursday while delivering the 110th inaugural lecture of the institution, said many women have had to bear the pains of an oppressive marriage because they did not have the wherewithal to refund the dowry paid on them.

The inaugural lecture who hinted that the practice of high dowry mainly occurs in the eastern parts of the country, said all the synonyms used to depict dowry such as marriage payment, purchase price, bride price, bride-wealth, marriage token or marriage symbol, do not convey the true meaning or significance of the customary practice.

He said: “One thing that is clear is that the customary practice is not and does not envisage sale of the bride.”

Continuing, he said: “In traditional societies, dowry payment comprises services rendered by the intended bridegroom for the bride’s parents, gifts of cows, goats, yams, kolanuts and other farm produce and a small amount of money. The services rendered by the intended husband are given to reciprocate the kind gesture of the parents for bringing up and training the bride as well as for valuable consideration of conjugal and other services rendered or that will be rendered by the intended bride.

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He said “payment of dowry elevates the value placed on the bride as a wife and legalizes her value under the marriage contract.”

Prof. Edu said further: “Payment of dowry may, however, be waived. It is not compulsory in some places. While in many communities including the Urhobos, Isokos and Itsekiris the quantum of dowry has not increased appreciably, it has been reviewed upwards in some other communities especially in the Eastern part of the country owing to inflation.”

According to him, “what was meant to be a symbolic gesture, or a token is now beyond the reach of the average man in those communities.”

He added: “The quantum of dowry payable for the bride may be influenced by such considerations as the beauty, elegance, educational qualifications, social status, family connection and the status of the bride in some communities.”

Speaking further, he said that “when one considers the elements of haggling and bargaining and negotiation leading to the actual amount that is payable together with the above factors aforementioned which have effect on the amount paid as dowry one cannot but say that a commercial element has been imported into dowry in some communities.”

Meanwhile, he said that “in the communities where dowry is very high there is a tendency for married women to remain in undesirable marital relationships owing to fear that their parents may not be able to refund the dowry as a result of impecuniosity and also because they are unable to fend for themselves or their children.”

He continued: “If the father of the woman is dead and she has no reasonable means of livelihood she remains in the abusive marriage until either party to the marriage dies. This is not the end of it. If she survives the husband, she is given the option to marry from the husband’s family and where she elects not to marry from the husband’s family she will have to look for a man that can pay off the dowry to the family of her late husband, or she has to source for the money to free herself.”

“High dowries have deprived some ladies the choice to marry the love of their life,” he opined.

Professor Edu who however clarified that he supports dowry payment although it appears to have been commercialised in some communities, he would not recommend the abrogation of the payment of dowry as that would amount to throwing away the baby with bath water.

“Payment of dowry as has been noted was designed to appreciate the parents for bringing up and training the bride. This is as an aspect of our law that must not be thrown away. Section 21(1) of the Constitution enjoins the State to protect, preserve and promote Nigerian cultures which enhance human dignity. Payment of dowry enhances the dignity of the Nigerian woman,” he said.

He recalled that in an attempt to curtail the commercialisation of dowry, several regional governments and local authorities enacted laws pegging the amount of money that can be paid as dowry, but said these laws have been observed more in the breach.

Thus, he recommended sensitisation and education of those communities that have commercialised dowry.

In his words, “when the people are properly educated as to the dangers and backlash of exorbitant dowry on intended brides they would have a rethink,” saying:  “There is therefore the need for government at the state and local levels to establish institutions to educate the public not just about pitfalls of exorbitant dowry but also about the dire consequence of anachronistic orientation toward the womenfolk.”