A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES OF MOTHERHOOD IN MATRILINEAL, PATRILINEAL AND COGNATIC KINSHIP SYSTEMS IN KADUNA STATE, NIGERIA

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A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES OF MOTHERHOOD IN MATRILINEAL, PATRILINEAL AND COGNATIC KINSHIP SYSTEMS IN KADUNA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract:

This study is centred on motherhood experiences among the Gure of Lere Local Government Area, the Hausa of Babban Dodo Ward in Zaria city and the Kaninkon in Jema‟a Local Government Area. The matrilineal, the cognatic and patrilineal systems of kinship systems predominate among the Gure, the Hausa and the Kaninkon respectively. The study compares motherhood experiences across these three kinship systems. A sample of 264 mothers, made up of 107 Gure, 100 Hausa and 57 Kaninkon women was surveyed. Their ages ranged from less than 15 to 54 years and above. These included mothers who are at the early stages of their reproductive career and those that have grown up children who are old enough to cater for their aged mothers. In addition to the survey, FGDs and IDs were conducted with selected mothers. The study revealed that all mothers had expectations of one form of support or another from their children. Similarly, in various degrees, mothers experienced one form of abuse or another from their husbands and children. A comparison of the expected and actual support received by the mothers showed that in all the studied kinship systems, the expected support exceeded what was provided. There was no significant difference in the amount of food that Hausa and Gure mothers received from their children, but Kaninkon mothers received higher proportions of food, clothing and financial support than the Gure and Hausa. Most children of the Kaminkon mothers live within the community and farm with their parents. They organized their peer groups from time to time to work on their mothers‟ farms thereby, producing sufficient food for them. However, the Kaninkon mothers received the lowest proportion of care for younger siblings than Gure and Hausa. In view of the reality of not realizing the kind of support the mothers expected from their children, and the lack or inadequate provision by their husbands, all the mothers devised strategies to meet their material needs depending on their economic environments. The strategies included seeking for jobs, sale of labour, engaging in petty trading, engaging their children in hawking and transactional sex. The study concluded that across the three kinship systems children were valued for their services which were realized in different ways and that across the kinship systems some grown up children assisted while others abused their mothers. Mothers are also faced with abuses like sexual exploitation by traditional healers, starvation during food scarcity as well as blame by husbands for children‟s misdeeds. The study recommends the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women, and that children rearing should be a shared responsibility

A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES OF MOTHERHOOD IN MATRILINEAL, PATRILINEAL AND COGNATIC KINSHIP SYSTEMS IN KADUNA STATE, NIGERIA

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