Widowhood Cries in Africa

Widowhood rites in African countries and particularly speaking from Nigeria, are not funny one bit.
Most times people who have either not experienced these rituals and customs, or seen it done around them often sometimes think its highly impossible or just extensions of the imaginations of people.
Truth is these shameful and painful widow rites are real, dehumanizing and a grave violation of rights of women that has been permitted under the discriminatory guise of tradition.
A man is allowed to mourn his dead wife in peace but a woman is usually subjected to all kinds of ridiculous rituals.
Some times, the woman is made to shave her hairs, left dirty to sit by her dead husband's corpse, made to drink the water used in bathing the corpse to prove her innocence, made to wail day and night to mourn the man, segregated from the community and treated like bad luck and different unimaginable rituals.
The painful part is that these rites and traditions have a really strong hold as you see even educated and enlightened people still practising the traditions.
Truthfully, it is just enough!
We should get in touch with the humanity within us and stop hiding under customs to wreck havoc on fellow humans...

***Poem written by me
Image source..https://www.instagram.com/louijover/