Daughters in the Shadow: Gender, Custom and the Exclusion of Women in Yoruba Inheritance

In 1985 Nigeria ratified CEDAW. In 2014 the Supreme Court in Ukeje v Ukeje declared the exclusion of daughters from inheritance unconstitutional. Forty and ten years later, this article asks, what has changed for Yoruba women? Drawing on 60 in depth interviews with daughters, widows, and Olori Ebi, and doctrinal analysis of 22 High Court cases from 2018-2024 in Oyo, Ogun, and Osun States, this article documents a persistent compliance gap. The data show 73% of daughters received no landed property and 61% of widows evicted from matrimonial homes within 12 months of their husband’s death. I argue that Ori-O-Jori as currently practiced constitutes indirect discrimination under section 42 of the 1999 Constitution and violates Articles 5 and 16 of CEDAW. More critically, this exclusion generates measurable economic costs: asset poverty, forced urban migration, and family conflict. To address this, I propose a “Gender-Equitable Customary Inheritance Protocol” that retains the institution of Ori-O-Jori while mandating equality, widow protection, and criminal penalties for violations. The article concludes that custom must evolve or it will continue to impoverish half the population.