Inflicting pain on widows is evil not a culture.

I have always believed that culture is something to be proud of, a tradition I can show off to the world. There are lots of cultures in Africa and Nigeria is blessed with varieties of cultures because of the numerous tribes we have across the country.

Is it our foods, dances, clothes, or languages? Talk of anything culture related to Nigeria, you will admit that we are blessed but something troubles me a lot about a culture practiced in Nigeria that breaks my heart a lot.

Not all tribes practice it and I haven't seen a related case around me probably because I never lived in a village. I do not believe it is still been practiced due to civilization and the impact of education but I was shocked when a woman called a radio station I was listening to, she needed help because she couldn't bear what she was going through anymore.

I got to know about this barbaric culture for widows when I was a teenager, I saw it in a local movie where they had to shave a widow's hair, she slept in the same room with the dead, she was forced her to marry someone from the deceased family and other terrible things I don't want to speak about. I haven't heard of such a thing in a long time until a woman came on air to seek help.

I was curious and went to check online, I was surprised the tradition is still been practiced in some parts of the country.

It is a normal thing for humans to mourn when they lose someone and it doesn't make sense when a culture or tradition inflicts more pain on someone who is mourning. Widows go through a hard time, it brings a huge pain to the heart when someone you love and have spent a whole part of your life with disappears from the face of the earth.

I have experienced what heartbreak in a relationship means and if it can hurt that much, the death of someone we love will definitely tear someone apart.

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It is a hard thing for a woman to lose her husband and inflicting more pain on widows is something I find really annoying. Widows suffer physically and emotionally, and it is a wicked act regardless of what the culture is to make them suffer more while mourning their husbands.

Telling a widow to drink out of the water used to wash the corpse is evil, do they know the damage that can cause to her health?

Making them sleep with the corpse for a certain number of days is cruelty and in the end, she will have to spend the rest of her life as a wife to the husband's family.

All these things would only make them mourn longer because the memories of these things won't leave them easily. Many of them don't get to be happy again in their lives after being forced to marry another person from their husband's family.

It is only a shameless and heartless sibling that will joyously take the wife of a deceased family member to become his wife. I find it hard to comprehend the purpose of this culture, the only effect of it is that it causes more pain both physically and emotionally for widows who have experienced it.

Widows who have resisted this tradition are usually kicked out of the family, they don't allow them to take any of the husband's possession if she won't marry another man from the family.

It's best to let them mourn as they wish and move on with their lives. Widows are mothers to some children, they should be allowed to focus on how to raise their children while the whole family supports them.

It saddens my heart to know that there are still widows going through these things and I hope that one day, the tribes practicing these things will realize their mistakes and let go of those barbaric cultures.