Abstract
Background
The Igbos of South-eastern Nigeria purport to place an immeasurable value on the idea of having children and, on that basis, welcome all children that come their way, irrespective of their source. However, their discriminatory attitudes towards children legally adopted by childless couples and interested singles among them in core issues in society negate this claim.
Objectives
The two-pronged aims of the study are to determine the ontological status of legal adoptees in Igbo society as well as the rationale behind the Igbos continued overt discrimination against statutory adoptees and their onward rejection of statutory adoption, while pretending to openly endorse it.
Participants and Setting
While the South-eastern Nigeria comprising of five Igbo-speaking states constitutes the setting of the study, the participants include men and women drawn from the five states.
Methods
An exploratory qualitative approach was used to understand the core reason(s) behind the Igbos hypocritical acceptance of statutory adoption. Data were collected via face-to-face in-depth and key informant interviews.
Results
Findings revealed that (1) in the Igbo hierarchy of beings, the legal adoptee enjoys the same social status as an osu (slave); and (2) absence of dowry and blood relationship with the statutory adoptees are the core reasons for the lack of their seamless acceptability and integration in Igbo society.
Conclusions
Given that adoption challenges border on human rights and personhood, more studies are needed to hand mark a better way of making the phenomenon of statutory adoption more acceptable to the Igbos.
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Notes
In this paper, “dowry” and “bride price” were used interchangeably, even though their meanings are ordinarily not the same.
“Arua” in Nsukka part of Igbo land is the name given to the symbol of a community’s authority, like a scepter, being handed over to the next eldest man in the community upon the death of the earlier one. It is a kind of staff of office. The holder of an “arua” at any point in time is the eldest man in the community. It is the symbol and embodiment of the community. And the spirits of the community’s past ancestors (otherwise called spirits of the land) are believed to be resident in the “arua.” The “arua” is considered so sacred that non-true sons of the land are not allowed to touch it, even upon becoming the eldest person in the land.
Child’s Rights Act 2003 is an act to provide and protect the rights of a Nigerian child; and other related matters. It came into effect on 31st July, 2003.
In Nsukka part of the Igbo land, this form of sharing is called ike ihe n’ekwu, n’ekwu (sharing things on the basis of the number of divisions or wives a man has). Its opposite is ike ihe na mkpuru amu (sharing things according to the number of male children). Accordingly, if a man who has three wives dies and his children thereafter want his property shared among them, it will be shared in three equal measures. It does not matter whether the man has thirty sons and that twenty-nine out of the thirty came from two of the wives, while the remaining one came from the third wife. If the man’s properties are thirty in number, they would be divided into three. The eldest male child from each block will collect his share and share same with his own male siblings. In a situation where the son of the woman with only one male child is an adopted child, one can now see where the jealousy and anger will come from. How can somebody that is not even of their blood have such a large share at their own expense? Your guess is as good as ours. It is instructive to note that the sharing formula or mode differ in other parts of Igboland.
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Acknowledgements
This study is the outcome of concerted efforts cutting across different scholars, interviewees of diverse backgrounds, and data sourced from body of existing literature on adoption, especially statutory adoption. We, therefore, appreciate both the human and material sources that helped us in bringing this work in its present shape. We specifically thank Professor Michael O’ Rourke of the Michigan State University for his eye-opening suggestions and contributions at the various stages of writing this paper. We also thank our colleagues, Professors Ike Onyishi of the Psychology Department, UNN, Marcellus Ikeanyibe of the Public Administration, UNN, and, of course, Dr. Tochukwu Omenma of the Institute of African Studies, UNN, for their insightful suggestions. Finally, we are greatful to all the participants who formed our IDIs and KIIs for offering us the opprtunity to interview them and sift their rich ideas on the subject of the study.
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Asogwa, N.U., Asogwa, U.S. & Asogwa, C.I. Beyond the Law: Challenges of Statutory Adoption in Igbo Society. Glob Soc Welf (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40609-022-00261-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40609-022-00261-8