THE VISION AND VERSIONS OF NWERENDAH (SPINSTER PROCREATION) CULTURAL PRACTICE IN IKWERRE TRADITION; IMPLICATION FOR PROPERTY INHERITANCE

Abstract

ABSTRACT

The vision and versions of Nwerendah is a practice in Ikwerre land where a young maiden is advised and encouraged by the parents to remain at home to bear children because of the absence of a male child in the family, reason is that male children are held in high esteem because of the patriarchal nature of the society. These young maidens are allowed to procreate while still in their parents’ house either because they do not have male children in the family or the maiden is the beloved of her father. However, the people have high regard for children whose parents were duly married traditionally than children born by single parents especially if it’s from a young lady, these children are tagged with a derogatory nameamuru-noro or rumu-oryi(born at home) while those born in a traditionally contracted marriage are calledrumu-dieli (son of the soil). Hence, the paper looks at the place of the children born out of wedlock amongst the people as well as the perception of the people about these children especially when it comes to property inheritance using the descriptive method. The cultural change theory was used in the analysis of this paper and therefore submits that children born by reason of cultural belief system should be allowed to enjoy the rights and privileges of the community since their mothers were accepted by their family. (Keywords: Nwerendah, Property, Patriarchal, Inheritance, Culture)