The Concepts of
Born To Die Children and the Fate of Victim Mothers in Nigeria
Thomas.
O. Ebhomienlen
Ambrose Alli
University, Ekpoma, Edo State, Nigeria
Abstract
The born-to-die
phenomenon has received much attention in Nigeria under the two popular names:
Abiku in Yoruba and Ogbanje among the Ibo of Nigeria. These two names are used
and known effectively by everybody both scholars and laymen. Many scholars had
done extensive work on the reality and characteristics of the phenomenon. There
are works on the traditional belief on born-to-die children. Health workers
also approach the issue from the medical perspective and group the phenomenon
among child mortality and morbidity. But this paper examines born-to-die
(Abiku) and the fate of victim mothers in Nigeria. To achieve the objective of
this treatise the writer adopts the historical, evaluative and phenomenological
methodology. The writer discovers that the born-to-die issue put much scandal
on victim mothers. Therefore the paper attempt an apology for the victim
mothers since the case of Abiku (born-to-die) does not only affect the
womenfolk but also men and the community at large. The paper submits instead of
stigmatizing the women alone, more preventive measure should be employed to
ameliorate the ugly experience. Then the paper concludes with a brief summary.
Keywords: Born-to-die, Abiku, Ogbanje, Fate and Victim mothers
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