sions/materials/money and childless. Most of the times the women/wife has to submit to male supremacy or "face the blame from the total society." (Fatima L. Aduma) The husband may also fall victim to peer pressure, also coming from society and history, which often encourages the husband to drift towards male dominance, and teaches the women to stand down, and be quite submissive. Men are allowed to have more than one wife, but women aren't allowed to have any outside influences, which pretty much means other than her sons (which are preferred over daughters), there is only one man in her life. Many husbands consider Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), which is widely accepted in the country, amongst all religious groups, so that once the man is done having children with her (which is his choice, despite that she carries the child), and done with her in that aspect, he can force to have the surgery, so in fact, no other guy can "have" her. Even though the government and the "moral majority" have publicly opposed it, Female Genital Mutilation is still not illegal, and definitely still used. (Oduaran and Okukpon, 1997)According to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, official website (http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/), Nigeria was one of the many UN countries that had ratified the convention, which states women's specific right to housing and the related rights of women to own, administer, and manage property, but has done nothing to enforce the law within the boundaries of Nigeria, and in no way have they attempted to add it to the constitution. Over 90% of all property, and/or family owned lands in Nigeria happen to be registered in men's names. Also, approximately only about 38 percent of the men in Nigeria (in 1997) were illiterate, while barely that amount, only 39 percent, of women could read (Oduaran and Okukpon, 1997). Perhaps it is truths like these that keep most of the femal...
