Book: The Cry of Widows and Orphans
Author: Folorunso Alakija
Publisher: The Rose of Sharon Foundation
Pages: 226
Year: 2013
Price: N4000.00
Reviewer Chief
Edem Duke
‘’The cry of widows and
orphans’’ is a 226-page book with illustrative pictures, real life stories,
empirical data, spiritual admonitions and well-researched contributions. It is
divided into eleven chapters bearing independent but interwoven topics that
take the reader into the psyche of widows and orphans, allowing the readers to
feel their pains and anguish as well as moment of triumph emanating from help platforms
that are exemplary and enviable.
We
are led into the book with an introduction which provides an entrance into a
beautiful and expansive mansion with several room exuding alluring scents and
inviting the guest to visit all the rooms. Captioned “The Cry of Widows and
Orphans,” this background immediately strikes the conscience of the reader
while also serving as a pungent awakening to the reality of the plight of
widows and orphans around us. In the introduction, the reader is confronted
with mind-boggling data on the populations of widows and orphans around the
world with a further startling revelation of their population in Nigeria in a
way that has never been done in recent times. Here, we are also introduced,
briefly, to The Rose of Sharon Foundation. The overall beauty of this ‘intro’
lies in its racy and active nature, indicating the seriousness the author
attaches to the issues and calling for actions by making a bold statement
rejecting the current situation and saying “Enough is Enough!”
The
first chapter, aptly titled “The Cry: A Wake-Up Call” opens with statements
obtained from widows across the world including India, Mozambique, Bangladesh,
Nigeria, Malawi, Kenya and Zambia. Describing widows and orphans as the
forgotten millions, the author used words such as marginalized, dehumanized,
rejected, discriminated against, dispossessed, oppressed and many other to
paint the picture of this category of people across cultures. While
acknowledging the proclamation of June 23 as the International Widow’s Day by
the United Nations, the author laments that few know about a day designated to
celebrate widows and alert to their predicament as the day does not receive
international attention. As a result, she states, very little has been done to
prevent traumatic experiences of widows and orphans. Her position is that the
International Widows’ Day should be given international prominence. In her
words, “in fact, widows should be celebrated for all the hardships they endure
and still endure from uncaring and unkind societies. Particularly, developing
and third world countries where most of the atrocities against widows are
committed need a wake-up call. ”
In
Chapter Two, the author discusses ‘Widowhood Rites and Practices’ where the
reader is serviced with vivid and detailed cultural practices across Africa,
Nigeria and the rest of the world. Here, the reader is gripped with details of
some practices still prevalent and how these continue to put women in clear
danger. With reference to the works of several authorities on the
subject-matter, the author, in a very engaging style traces the various roads
to widowhood and lists the immediate impact of this situation on women to
include affliction and depression. She also suggests what women and support
groups can do to forestall or mitigate the impact.
Chapter
Three takes us into the world of orphans which is described as tumultuous.
Relying on United Nations Reports, the book reveals there are 150 million
street children worldwide. There are estimated 3.7 million orphans in South
Africa and there presently 8.6 million orphaned children in Nigeria according
to UNICEF. This chapter contains other statistics that will interest the reader
and influence action as the author has brought to us, a situation report that is
report that is real and touching. What is happening to these children? Who is
responsible for their care and protection? Answers to these and many other
questions already agitating the minds of guests are contained in this book.
Just as it is with widows, the author ends this chapter by lamenting that” many
governments all over the world, especially in developing countries overlook the
enormity of an orphan’s plight.”
If
there is any publication in recent memory that is suffused with empirical data
and real case studies, ‘’The Cries of Widows and Orphans’’ written by Mrs.
Folorunso Alakija will readily displace such. This claim is supported by the
focus and content of chapter 4 which is further arranged into two parts, the
first part is captioned Case Studies: Pain to Gain-Three Testimonies, while the
second part tagged: “Real Life Stories-Widows and Orphans.” In all we have a
total of 21 widows and a few orphans sharing their grief, experiences and
happiness brought about by God using The Rose of Sharon Foundation in
narratives that will touch the hardest of hearts. The data for this chapter
and, of course, the entire publication were not obtained by proxy; the author
led the team of researchers to all the locations and personally interviewed the
respondents. This is a demonstration of commitment and excellence, two of the
many virtues for which Mrs. Alakija is known.
Chapter
5 deals with Legal Considerations and the rights of widows and orphans. This is
a highly educative and enlightening chapter as it contains a contribution of
Philomena Esene, a legal practitioner and another by Dr. Karen Brewer of Widows
Rights International. Bringing this quality addition to the book indicates the
author has a full grasp of the dimensions of her assignment. In this chapter,
the contributor in a methodical and professional manner, explains such legal
terminologies as statutory marriage, customary marriage, Islamic marriage, next
of kin, estate planning, wills (including its validity and importance), deed of
gift, trust, power of attorney, limited liability companies, joint accounts,
insurance policy, etc. there are also tips on how to protect women, widows,
children and orphans. Dr. Brewer after identifying aspects of tradition and
modern promulgations that still encourage negative attitudes towards widows
includes with the following words of M.J. Malukele: ‘’the revival of tradition,
culture and customs is part the national and international identity, however,
this revival must be rooted in a way based on human rights, democracy and
equality for all. Thus, culture, tradition and customs have to be balanced
within the social context of the constitution and human provision’’. P 419.
Another
unique feature of this publication is that it rises above the complaint
platform to a higher plane of solution by listing several ways of creating
awareness on pages 151 and 152. On page 153, the author calls on widows to know
their rights and how to achieve this, while on page 154, she lists six ways of
helping widows.
If
the previous chapters have looked at the issues from man’s point of view,
Chapter 7 is devoted to God’s Perspective on the matter. With reference to
Exodus, Psalm 68, Isaiah 10, Deuteronomy 24 and other scriptural injunctions,
the author convinces the reader that God is on the side of widows and orphans
and has given clear instructions on how we should treat them. Let’s hear the
author’s interpretation of God’s position on this page 157.’’ It is important
to note that to mistreat widows and orphans is to make oneself an enemy of God
and an object of His wrath. It is like poking one’s finger in the eyes of God.
Any nation whose people disregard widows and orphans is a cursed nation and an
object of wrath’’. I am sure no one, people or nation would like to be an
object of God’s wrath. What then is the right attitude and behaviour towards
widows and orphans? The answer is what this chapter concludes with quoting the
scripture further for elucidation. There are also 8 pages of glossy pictures of
the visits of Trustees of The Rose of Sharon Foundation, led by the author, to
the widows and orphans whose interviews provided the data for this work.
Chapter
8 is simply captioned “Tributes”. This contains another set of empirical data
obtained from widows who all have fond of the memories of their departed
spouses. Reading through the moving tributes, one is once again reminded of the
plight of widows and orphans and, almost immediately, the gloom is taken off as
these courageous set of people recounted times spent with their husbands with
nostalgia, thereby suggesting that despite the harrowing experiences of widows
and orphans, in most cases, love truly conquers all.
Mrs
Folorunso Alakija is the founder of The Rose of Sharon Foundation (RoSF), a
non-governmental organization that is bringing joy into the lives of many
widows and orphans across the world. The testimonies of how this organization
has transformed the lives of many hitherto, hopeless widow and orphans are contained
in this book. It is therefore appropriate to have a glimpse of the structure
and operations of the foundation. This is provided in Chapter 9 and captioned:
The Rose of Sharon Foundation: Corporate Profile. It includes the vision and
mission of the organization, its core programmes which include RoSF Women
Empowerment Programme (WEP), RoSF Educational Programme (REP), RoSF Mentorship
Programme (RMP), RoSF Advocacy Programme (RAP) and the achievements of the
organization.
As
a problem-solving organization, The Rose of Sharon Foundation offers some
recommendations that could help mitigate the impact of harmful traditional
beliefs and cultural practices affecting widows and orphans. There are
suggestions on what widow should do, what husbands should do, what government
should do, what women’s organizations and other agencies , NGOs and the UN
should do and what orphans should do.
The
author concludes the book in Chapter 11 by calling on peoples around the world
to make the plight of widows and orphans a topical issue and asking that in
doing this, cultures, customs, traditions and practices must become secondary,
while decency, rule of law, democracy, love, mercy and freedom become primary,
taking front row seats.
Ladies
and gentlemen, I find this book enriching and informative. It opens the
reader’s mind and eyes to issues that many do not pay attention to. And I want
to commend the author for doing a fantastic job. Permit me however to make some
observations in my capacity as Reviewer and Minister in charge of Tourism,
Culture and National Orientation as the book makes reference to aspects of our
culture that do not favour widows and orphans. I would like to state here that
our culture is not the problem; it is the misinterpretation and misapplication
of some aspects of our culture to suit personal wishes that is the crux of the
matter. And I want to assure you that the Ministry, through one of its
parastatals, the National Institute of Cultural Orientation, will be made to
organize special project that will identify areas where some of these practices
are prevalent, with a view to creating awareness and discourage further
observance of such. We shall also look at the possibility of coming up with
policies that will reduce the incidence of ill treatment of widows and orphans
arising from adherence to harmful cultural practices.
The
content and aesthetics of “The Cry of Widows and Orphans” by Mrs. Folorunso
Alakija are commendable. The picture of the woman on the cover page with tired
eyes and a stream of tears immediately invoke empathy while the stories are
real and credible. I would, however, like to suggest that the author gets more
data from widows in other parts of Africa and indeed the world for revised
editions as the issues of widows and orphans assume a global dimension. I
recommend this book to all Nigerians, especially policy makers, the academia,
government officials, the clergy as well as the younger generation. As the
author advocates in several places in the book, THE TIME TO ACT IS NOW.
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