The Role of the National Human Right in Dealing with the Widows Social Exclusion in Anambra State, 2010 – 2020

Across different cultures in Nigeria, there exist harmful traditional widowhood practices which have attracted the attention of the global struggle in general on violence against women. This study employed the survey research method. Questionnaires were administered to 400 respondents. The findings among others includes: there is existence of social exclusion in Nigeria and this grossly affects the Nigerian democracy and the fundamental human rights;  Widows in Nigeria face lot of challenges and ill treatment; The National Human Right Commission plays active role in addressing widow’s right;  In as much as the NHRC tries in their fight against widows’ right violation, they faces several challenges. Base on the findings, the work recommends among others that; The federal government should look into all level of social exclusion in Nigeria and develop policies and programmes that will help in addressing these social irregularities in the country;  The government should accommodate the widows through policies and programmes that will help to empower the widows in Nigeria.The federal government should ensure independence of the NHRCN so that the commission can perform actively without fear and favour, etc.

Across different cultures in Nigeria, there exist harmful traditional widowhood practices which have attracted the attention of the global struggle in general on violence against women.This study employed the survey research method.Questionnaires were administered to 400 respondents.The findings among others includes: there is existence of social exclusion in Nigeria and this grossly affects the Nigerian democracy and the fundamental human rights; Widows in Nigeria face lot of challenges and ill treatment; The National Human Right Commission plays active role in addressing widow"s right; In as much as the NHRC tries in their fight against widows" right violation, they faces several challenges.Base on the findings, the work recommends among others that; The federal government should look into all level of social exclusion in Nigeria and develop policies and programmes that will help in addressing these social irregularities in the country; The government should accommodate the widows through policies and programmes that will help to empower the widows in Nigeria.The federal government should ensure independence of the NHRCN so that the commission can perform actively without fear and favour, etc.

INTRODUCTION
Nigeria can be briefly described as a federation consisting of thirty six (36) states and seven hundred and seventy seven (774) local governments harboring over 180 million people who are either indigene by birth, by registration or by naturalization (Akujobi, 2019).The level of poverty in Nigeria has been proven with more than half of the populace leaving in abject poverty.Similarly, Nigeria has been ranked 152 out of 188 on Human Development Index, showing the level of poverty in Nigeria in relation to the rest of the world (Thompson, 2019;World Bank, 2018).According to DFID (2015), "poverty is driven by increasing inequality and divergence of geo-political zones, low output agriculture and significant food security, chronic and acute under-nutrition, poor health and education outcomes, and social exclusion".
The term social exclusion is regarded as a process or scenario whereby individuals are unable to participate completely in political, economic, social and cultural life.Even though everyone might be potentially at risk of being social excluded, some certain attributes or characteristics increase the risks.Certain groups are predominantly at risk of social exclusion in Nigeria, such as: people without official identification, people with disabilities, women and girls, ethnic and religious minorities, children and younger people, older people, migrants and internally displaced people, sexual minorities and people living with HIV.Also, location of people can make them to experience social exclusion.According to Akujobi (2019), "social exclusion is experienced as a result of complex and intersectional factors that combine to reduce their participation in society".It has been indicated that most women and girls are faces with a range of formal and informal barriers to social inclusion.Some of these barriers could be are seen in the level of restricted access to education, employment, legal rights, public participation, health services as well as gendered social norms that restricted the position of women and girls as wives and caretakers while men and male child are the breadwinners and final decision makers.Also, disable persons in Nigeria also face level of attitudinal, environmental and institutional barriers to social inclusion.
In identifying social exclusion in Nigeria, ethnic and religious identities are often intertwined.The minority religious groups in Nigeria often times face political, social and economic exclusion, ranging from discrimination from other religious groups, and the level ofrecognition and treatment by state and federal government."Horizontal inequalities by ethnic group remain persistent for wealth, access to public services and education" (Akujobi, 2019).Also, certain persons who are classified as non-indigenes are not allowed to own land or even stand in an elections; they also faces poor or restricted access to education, public sector jobs and social protections.The Internally displaced people (IDPs) in Nigeria also face certain level of social exclusion.In addition, groups such as pastoralists, migrant farmers and fisherfolk also face social exclusion in Nigeria.

Statement of the Problems
In Nigeria, most cultures and traditions has persistently carries out certain practices against the fundamental human rights of widows.These practices has draws the attention of global struggle on fight against violation of women"s rights.Some cultures have encouraged gender based violence upon a woman on the demise of their husbands.Substantial evidence pointed out that widowed women are severally affected psychologically, financially, sexually and socially the severe effects of widowhood in Nigeria are rooted in cultural and traditional practices as well as the socialization processes that condition women to passivity and dependence".These conditions have made situations difficult for women in socialization and economic activities upon widowhood."The debilitating conditions of women are worsened by societal factors that instrumentally feed into the situation ranging from loss of livelihood upon widowhood and the fact that widows are less likely to remarry than widowers" (Stillion, 2011:285).The widows face lots of inhumane treatments rather than being sympathized.Some of the inhumane treatments melted against widows include traditional ritual rites and practices such as solitary confinement, disinheritance, defacement, a relatively long mourning period of limited but active socio-economic activities and outright ostracisation.The effect of these inhuman practices and violence against widows are acute stress and depression, deepening poverty, loss of identity and self-esteem.The widowhood conditions expose women to psychological and physical abuse as well as a whole range of health related problems including HIV/AIDs Most widows has experienced unpleasant treatment in some communities in Nigeria such as barbing of widow"s hair without her consent, bathing widows with water used in bathing the late husband"s corps, extorting and forceful remarriage of the widow by the husband"s brother, forceful collection of the widow"s late husband"s property, and so on.As Nigerian widows continue to suffer right abuses, Akujobi (2019) noted that "the country has continuously been threatened with ultimate demise or collapse due to conflicts and reactions that emerge as a result of widow"s right abuse which could be fatal sometimes".These have caused tensions and conflicts situations, sometimes wars situation, which threaten the sustenance of democratic principle and values, stability and peaceful coexistence between the widow and her husband family and national security at large.
The establishment of the National Human Right Commission of Nigeria was done in an attempt to control widow"s right abuses in Nigeria and to protect widows and their right.Notwithstanding, these abuses are still rampant in the country and in most Nigeria state and in Anambra in particular.

LITERATURE REVIEW
The Concept of Human Right Human right is a concept that has been, constantly, evolving throughout human history.It has been tied to the laws, customs and religions throughout the ages".Human rights are the rights a person has as a result of his or her existence as a human being.In theory, the human right ought to be held by every person, equally, without any discrimination."All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhoodhuman rights are associated with the basic rights and freedoms to all humans.Examples of rights and freedoms, which both represent human rights, include "civil and political rights, such as the right to life and liberty, freedom of expression, and equality before the law and social, cultural and economic rights, including the right to participate in culture, the right to food, the right to work, and the right to education" (Freeman, 2013: 78).

National Human Right Commission and Human Right in Nigeria
According to the National Human Right Report (2018), "the National Human Rights Commission of Nigeria is established by the National Human Rights Act of 1995, as amended in 2010 for the promotion and protection of all human rights".Particularly, the National Human Rights Commission of Nigeria has the mandate to "deal with all matters relating to the protection of human rights in Nigeria as guaranteed by the Nigerian Constitution, the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, the United Nations Charter, the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and other international treaties to which Nigeria is a party".The 2010 amendment gives the Commission a quasijudicial powers to summon persons, acquire evidence, award compensation and enforce its decisions.The commission also has the power to visit any place of detention with aims and objectives of ensuring that the rights of detainees are not abused or violated.
Widow's Right Widows rights has be recently draws recognition round the world.In 2005, the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples" Rights which emphasized substantially on the rights of women in Africa pays careful attention to the abuse of women and widows precisely.This move is not a big surprise noting the fact that widows in Africa suffers ill treatment and abuse more than any other continent.Article 20 of the Protocol states as follows: (i) that widows should not be subjected to inhuman, humiliating and degrading treatment; (ii) that a widow shall automatically become guardian and custodian other children unless it is contrary to the interest and welfare of the children and (iii) that a widow has the right to remarry and to whomsoever she chooses.
On the right to inheritance, the protocol in Article 21maintains that "a widow shall have the right to an equitable share in inheritance of the property of her husband, to continue to live in the matrimonial house, if remarried, she has the right of ownership of property belonging to her in her first marriage".

Anambra state and the Plights of Widowhood
Anambra State is one of the thirty six (36) states in Nigeria which is located in the southeastern part of the country.Anambra State has approximately over 33 million residents (National Population Commission, 2006).The state was formed in 1976 from the former East Central State.Anambra State derives its name from Anam, one of its clans.Awka is the state capital of Anambra state while Onitsha and Nnewi are the major commercial cities in the state.The state was nicknamed and refers to as the "Light of the Nation".
The Anambra state is one of the smallest states in land mass, but the state is very populous in Nigeria, Africa and the world.The states has been proven to habour lot of early civilization sites such as the ancient Kingdom of Nri, whose capital was the historic town of Igbo-Ukwu within the state.Igbos are predominantly residents of Anambra State.
Some traditional societies in Anambra state tend to believe that "when a man dies, it is because his wife is an unlucky woman whose ill-luck has caused her husband"s death" (Agboli, 2017:12).In some communities in Anambra state, they believe that certain ill treatment should be given to a woman who lost her husband to death.In these communities, "there is a strong belief that such a woman is likely to bury a second and a third husband that is if she can find one" (Agboli, 2017).To prevent this calamity, a widow must eliminate from herself all the ill-luck that has befallen her."The period for such eradication differs from one society to another, but what runs through most of the widowhood rites is that the woman must be put through a certain amount of discomfort" (Oduro, 2017 andSossou, 2012).If she is not liked by her in-laws, "the sisters-in-law, in particular, make it their duty to generally make life miserable for her, especially if they believed their brother had been extremely good to her and as a result had neglected them while in some cultures, she is normally not supposed to sleep in the bed until after the fortieth day of the death of her husband, and so she sleeps on a mat on the floor" (Dolphyne, 2015:23).
During the first forty days, "the widow is confined to the house, usually that of the husband"s family, unless special permission is given for her to continue with the widowhood rites in her own house.She cannot engage in any economic activity for a considerable length of time, and she may have to wait for six months or even a year before going about her normal business, especially if she is self-employed" (Akujobi, 2019:56).
According to Dolphyne reports (2015), a widow will "on the first anniversary of the husband"s death, discards her mourning clothes and starts a normal life again while in some communities, there is an end of widowhood ceremony at this time involving the slaughtering of a sheep and feasting".It is an abomination or taboo for a woman to discard her morning clothes until all the necessary ceremonies must have been performed."If she cannot afford a sheep, drinks and other things needed for the ceremony on the anniversary of her husband"s death, she continues in mourning clothes until she is able to do so" (Dolphyne, 2015:112).
A look into some of these acts shows a violation or abuse of widows rights which needs to be addressed.Some of the violation of widow"s right includes: a. Forced Levirate Marriage b.Disinheritance c. Defacement and Dethronement

Consequences of Widows' Rights Abuse
The major consequences of widows abuse is psychological trauma.According to Von (2011) "the fear and stigmatization associated with being a widow create some sort of emptiness in the widows, which sometimes, leave them perpetually wounded, also, the ridicule, accusations, deprivation, sexual harassment and defacement continually have psychological effects on them".These psychological effectsare exactly what the Declaration on the Elimination ofViolence against women tries to avoid.Another important effect of the practice is that it exposes widows to all form of diseases and health problems."Being forced to sleep on the bare ground, to stay for many days without having a bath, irrespective of whether they are having their menstrual cycle at that moment simply make them very vulnerable to infections, also, the practice of widow inheritance (levirate marriage), with all the gimmicks that go with it, has been pointed out as one of the reasons for the spread of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria and Africa as a whole".

Political Economic Theory
The Political Economic Theory has be proven to be reliable in explaining phenomena that are related the realities of the specific economic, political and social matrix of both colonial and post-colonial Africa.The political economic theory explains therelationships and interaction between indigenous social framework and foreign economic and political institutions which have cause several changes in the African society social structures.The theory of political economy derives its origin from the Marxist hypothesis "economy determines political attitudes".Thus, this theory "gives primacy to the material conditions, particularly economic factors, in the explanation of social life, it assumes a dialectical relationship between and among different elements of social life including economic, social, political structure and the belief system".The political economic theory as a macro-structural theory of economic, political and social structures has been successful in provisions of conceptual framework for exposing and explaining different structures of marginalization, exploitations and dominations such as seen in gender relations in Africa and some other continents.The theorists argues that, "the rise in economic inequality is accompanied by political relations of domination and subordination which are often achieved by the development of institutionalized repression necessary to control the demand of the economically disadvantaged for redistribution" (Afonja 1979;Ladipo, 1981).
Feminist Political Economic Theory Ritzer and Goodman (2004:471) opined that "feminism is developed to better understand, and transform inequalities between women and men in societies".In its broadest sense, feminism constitutes both an ideology and a global political movement that confronts sexism, a social relationship in which men as a collectivity have authority over women as a collectivity The feminist theorists postulated that "nearly all the gender differences we see in the roles of men and women are of cultural origin and have been socially constructedthe feminist theories have in common a focus on the everyday world of women, work with methods appropriate for understanding the very lives and situation of women and understanding as a means for changing the conditions studied, feminism examines the position of women in society and tries to further their interests.One of the main theme in feminist political economic analysis is the gender issue.Gender is defined as "a set of socially and culturally constructed roles and expectations for women and men in a given society".The role of gender is not fixed.These roles defer from society to society and are capable of changing over time."Gender roles and expressions are created by and embedded in social institutions, they are found in implicit rules, customs, traditions, culture and practices that operate to achieve social and economic ends in a given society" (Giddens, 2001:23).The inhumane act on widows and the rites rigorously and painfully carried out by the widows in some societies are marginalizing and discriminatory practices against women because; men on the loss of their wives do not observe such indulgent rites (HDI, 2015).An example is the aspect in which widows stay a compulsory long time mourning their husbands while in the side of men who lost their wives, they may not stay up to that lengthy period of time.Some scholars have argued that "the basis for the discrimination is rooted in the physiological differences between the male and female sexes which have caused society to assign differential roles to men and women" (Giddens, 2001).Similarly, "male roles are adjudged to be superior and so highly valued by the society, while female roles are generally undervalued" (Banmeke, 2018:34).

Research Hypotheses
The following hypotheses are posited to guide the research study H1: Widows has suffered social exclusion in Nigeria to a large extent H2: The National Human Right Commission plays active role in addressing the widow"s right in Anambra state H3: The National Human Right Commission face challenges in addressing the widow"s right H1: Hypothesis one and so on here

METHODOLOGY
In order to provide answers to the research questions.This study engages both primary and secondary sources of data collection used in this research study.

RESEARCH RESULT Steps to test your results here
In this section, you should describe each step taken to complete your research.You should not include too many descriptive statistical results here; on the other hand, it should be summarized in a more readable table or graph.You should never forget the numbers for each table and chart presented in your paper.
Out of the 400 copies of questionnaire distributed, 350 copies were returned while 50 copies were not returned.The 350 questionnaire returned represented 87.5% of the total questionnaire distributed, thereby is adequate to represent the total sample size of the study.The table 2 above illustrate that 110 which constitutes 31% of the respondents were male while 240 which constitutes 69% were female.This is because more of widows were considered among the sample of the population and they tend to have more information as regards to the ill treatment against them after the demise of the husband.Table 3 shows that the researcher shared the participants in four age categories.The categories includes; 18 -24 years, 25 -30 years, 31 -35 years, 36 years and above.The results showed that 20number of participant representing 5.7% of the participants are within the age range of 18 -24years.45 number of participant representing 12.9% is within the range of 25 -30 years; 239 number of participant representing 68.3% is within the range of 31 -35 years; and 46 number of participant representing 13.1% is within the age of 36years and above.

Accept
Source: Researchers" field survey 2023 Table .6:Shows the distribution of the subjects on the constraints and challenges facing widows/women in the exercise of their rights in Anambra state.The responses showed that widows in Anambra state suffer some ill treatment and denial of their rights.This is supported by a mean score of 3.75.Widows are often accused of killing their husband.Support to this response is backed by a mean score of 4.97.Widows are often forced to drink water used in washing their dead husband"s body.This response is supported by mean score of 3.94, Widows are often forced to be married to the brother of the deceased husband against her wish.This response is backed by the mean score 3.90.Widows are most time deprived from having access to the late husband"s properties.The mean score is 3.81.Lack of awareness of widow"s rights makes then to face challenges in exercise of their rights.This was supported by a mean score of 3.12.Poverty and lack of finance makes the widows to face challenges in exercise of their rights.This response is supported by mean score of 3.94.Subjection of widows to custom which most times are against the right of the widows.This response is backed by the mean score 3.90.This infers that the subjects responded firmly to the fact that the National Human Right Commission has embarked in so many strategies and ways in other to help in addressing the challenges of widows" right denial in Anambra state.
Table 7 .8shows the opinion of different respondents as well as their mean score on the challenges that hinder the National Human Right Commission in addressing the widow"s right.From the responses, inadequate facilities and mobility to enable proper investigation and site visits is a challenge.This is supported by a mean score of 3.75.Inadequate funding of the commission causes poor performance and inability of the commission to meet the desired need of human rights promotion and protection.Support to this response is backed by a mean score of 4.97.Also, lack of adequate fund renders the commission vulnerable to the dictates of the government or those in power.This response is supported by mean score of 3.94.Irregular and inadequate implementations of decision/order/advice or recommendation are a challenge.This response is backed by the mean score 3.90.Lack of independency of the commission is also a challenge.The mean score is 3.81.
Research Hypothesis one: H0: Widows has not suffered social exclusion in Nigeria to a large extent.H1: Widows has suffered social exclusion in Nigeria to a large extent.
Table .9answers hypothesis 1 tested at 0.05 level of significant.

Social Widows in
Sources: SPSS version 20.0 Table .9shows that the widows in Nigeria surfers social exclusion in Nigeria, to a high extent.The result indicated 0.78 level of correlation coefficient which shows that social exclusion has an effect on the widows in Nigeria, and this is significant.The result was tested at 5% alpha level of significance and found that the correlation coefficient value 0.78 is greater than the 0.05 alpha level of significant.The hypothesis one which says that widows has not suffered social exclusion in Nigeria to a large extent is hereby rejected.Therefore, we concluded that widows has suffered social exclusion in Nigeria to a large extent.
Testing of Research hypothesis 2 H0: The National Human Right Commission plays no role in addressing the widow"s right in Anambra state.H2: The National Human Right Commission plays active role in addressing the widow"s right in Anambra state.Sources: SPSS version 20.0 Table .10shows there is a significant contribution of the National Human Right Commission in addressing the widow"s right in Anambra state.The result indicated 0.83 level of correlation coefficient which shows that NHRC makes a positive effect on addressing the widow"s right, and this is significant.The result was tested at 5% alpha level of significance and found that the correlation coefficient value 0.83 is greater than the 0.05 alpha level of significant.The hypothesis one which says that the National Human Right Commission plays no role in addressing the widow"s right in Anambra state is hereby rejected.Therefore we conclude that the National Human Right Commission plays active role in addressing the widow"s right in Anambra state.
Research Hypothesis three: H0: The National Human Right Commission does not face any challenges in addressing the widow"s right.H3: The National Human Right Commission face challenges in addressing the widow"s right.The result above shows that the calculated SPSS shows that the National Human Right Commission face challenges in addressing the widow"s right., and this are significant.The result was tested at 5% alpha level of significance and found that the correlation coefficient value 0.83 is greater than the 0.05 alpha level of significant.The hypothesis three (null hypothesis) which says the National Human Right Commission does not face any challenges in addressing the widow"s right is rejected.Therefore we conclude that the National Human Right Commission face challenges in in addressing the widow"s right.The findings show that: 1.Widows has suffered social exclusion in Nigeria to a large extent 2.The National Human Right Commission plays active role in addressing widow"s right 3.In as much as the NHRC tries in their fight against widows" right violation, they faces several challenges such as inadequate facilities and mobility to enable proper investigation and site visits; inadequate funding of the commission causes poor performance and inability of the commission to meet the desired need of human rights promotion and protection; lack of adequate fund renders the commission vulnerable to the dictates of the government or those in power; irregular and inadequate implementations of decision/order/advice or recommendation and lack of independency.

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
From the findings, it is apparent that social exclusion is an inherent issue in Nigeria which speak ill of the level of observance of fundamental human rights and the Nigeria democracy in general.This has bedeviled the system.The widows has been an inherent factor in the issue of social exclusion in Nigeria.More so, the National Human Right Commission has actually been active in addressing the widows" right but they faced some critical challenges which crippled the commission from fully achieving its objective and vision.Based on these factors, the following recommendations were posited The government should accommodate the widows through policies and programmes that will help to empower the widows in Nigeria.The government should provide basic structures for educating the women and helping them to achieve a good standard in the society, thereby reducing the number of challenges they faced at widowhood.The federal government should ensure independence of the NHRCN so that the commission can perform actively without fear and favour.The NHRCN must be given complete independence legally, operationally, financially and in the modes of appointment and composition to ensure greater effectiveness.
The NHRCN should establish branch offices in all 774 the local government areas of Nigeria.This will bring them closer to the people and the people closer to them.Also, creation of State Human Rights Commissions and Human Rights Courts should be made.This will help the commission to be able to implement their orders and recommendations.Also, the federal government should ensure that the NHRCN are adequately financed and equipped.

ADVANCED RESEARCH
This research still has limitations so further research needs to be carried out regarding the topic "The Role of the National Human Right in Dealing with the Widows Social Exclusion in Anambra State, 2010 -2020" to perfect this research, as well as increase insight for readers

Figure 2 .
Figure 2. Sex of the Respondents

Figure 3 :
Figure 3: Age of respondents

Table 1 .
Administration of Questionnaire

Table 2 .
Sex of the respondents

Table 3 :
Age of respondents

Table 4 .
Educational qualification of subjects Field work, 2023Table 4 indicate that 0 number of the participant consisting 0% of the respondents are illiterate; 64 number of participants consisting 13.1% of the respondents are First School Leaving Certificates holders; 128 numbers representing 36.5% of the respondents are SSCE/WASSCE/NECO holders while 158 numbers representing 45.1% of the respondents are ND/HND/BSc and above, holders.
Sources: Field work, 2023Table 5 above depicts the profession of the respondents.It shows that 54 number consisting 15% of the respondents are public staff (staff of NHRC); 20 number consisting of 5.7% of the respondents are public staff (Others), 126 number consisting 36% of the respondents are private staff; 102 number consisting 29.1% of the respondents are from traders; while 48 number consisting 13.7% of the respondents are jobless.Figure 5. Profession Table .6:Mean response to research question 1 Table .7showsthe opinion of different respondents as well as their mean score, on the ways National Human Right Commission has helped in addressing the widow"s right in Anambra state.Creation of widows" right awareness.This is supported by a mean score of 3.55 which shows that it is accepted by the majority of the respondents.Mediation of disputes between the widows and their husband"s family.Support to this response is backed by a mean score of 3.76 which is accepted.Beating up of offenders of widow"s right.This response is backed up with mean score of 1.97 which is rejected.Conducting of sensitization programmes on widows" right.The mean score of respondents is 3.60Prosecuting of offenders of widows" right through the right channels.This response is supported by a mean score of 3.62.Protection of widows against forced levirate marriage..The mean score of respondents is 4.08.Protection of widows against disinheritance and denial of right to dignity and equality.This also has a mean score of 4.08.

Table 11 .
Statistical Package for Social Science Result