λIn Plateau, old, negative traditions giving way to new practices

From  Jude Dangwam, Jos

Traditional rulers and stakeholders in Plateau State have recommitted themselves to a review of some inherited but unpleasant cultural practices that negate the rights of women and girls in their respective domains and spheres of influence.

Among those piloting the initiative are the traditional rulers of Riyom communities in Jos East and Pankshin local governments, who are working in concert with a non-government organisation, Women for Women International Project. The project, funded by Ford Foundation, is focused on, “Mobilising Community-Led Solutions for Addressing Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in Northern Nigeria”

Daily Sun gathered that the project, spanning from January 2022 to December 2024, was handed over to the respective traditional rulers in these LGs and their communities for further actions and sustainability, having established various mechanisms by which it would be sustained.

Some of the identified unwholesome customs and traditional practices are denial of inheritance to women, relegation of women in community decision making process, confiscation of their family properties upon the death of their husbands, a situation that leaves them with the children in poverty and lack, forceful marriage, early marriage and rampant cases of school dropouts among the girl-child.

Traditional rulers and other community leaders in the LGs acknowledged the prevalence of these cultural practices, while admitting that these cultures were unwholesome and no longer fit in today’s world.

They observed that the project has contributed immensely in addressing its set objectives and redirecting the people, hence the need to sustain it at the local and community levels in the focused LGs and the state in general.

District Head of Riyom, Samuel Jok, expressed concern about these practices and urged for desired changes in the lifestyles and culture of the people even as he admitted that these changes are unlikely to be automatic as they are being resisted by some members of the society.

“Truly, Women for Women International Project has done a lot to reduce gender based violence in my community. Before now a man would batter his wife over trivial matters. But we have less and less of this sort of cases today because of the project in our community.

“With the coming of this project, we ensure that all village heads and ward heads get back and pass the same advocacy to their subjects. “Practices such as domestic violence and early marriages must stop! 

“Because they were marrying young girls that are not yet matured. Once they are married, their education is automatically truncated. We have been able to reduce that one too. There is a lot of reduction in the dropout of our young girls from school.”

Adagwom Nyam Daniel Ajiji is a village head in Fubur District of Jos East LG. He noted that the fight against old and harmful customs and tradition has not been easy, remarking that part of the difficulties originated from the fact that these practices are related to the belief system and customs of the people:

“It is very hard to change behaviours that are related to the belief system of the people. This project has been a success in my community, because we had a series of problems based on what we inherited from our forefathers. 

“Things like the custom of inheritance. Women don’t inherit their father’s property. They also don’t inherit what belonged to their husbands in the event their husband’s death. We have made remarkable progress in this regard.

They can now inherit their husbands’ and their fathers’ property. We have also included them as part of the traditional council. In those days, they were not given the opportunity, but with the coming of Women for Women International Project, we have recorded changes.

“I have taken this upon myself as a fight against the old practices we inherited from our fathers, so that women will have a sense of belonging and dignity as well as be in a position to contribute to the growth of the society.”

District Head of Pankshin, Nde Moses Yilsu Dimlong, admitted that the project had brought remarkable transformation in his community while expressing readiness to sustain the initiatives.

Country Director, Women for Women International Project, Bukola Onyishi, explained that the objectives of the project were to transform the social norms that drive gender based violence (GBV) in the three target communities. She said at the end, stakeholders were able to adopt more targeted interventions that address the various forms of violence experienced by women in their communities.

Twenty-seven traditional rulers and 24 religious leaders were trained in addition to 60 change-making agents, 20 of whom were drawn from each local government.

Onyishi the project positively impacted lives of more than 579,000 women worldwide, helping them thrive in the face of adversity: “Today’s event is an opportunity to share the experiences, results and recommendations from this inspiring and challenging three-year journey.

“Our change agents monthly survey data shows a reduction in GBV, particularly in intimate partner violence, change in perception and norms towards denial of female inheritance, participation of women in decision-making, and girl-child education. 

“The proportion of community members who disagree with the harmful social norms that trigger in the community at the end line is very low compared to the baseline survey. Some of the traditional leaders are beginning to include women in decision-making through participation in some traditional council meetings.

“Legal actions have been taken against parents who are involved in child trafficking and perpetrators of GBV such as rape and wife battering.”