Conceptions and Treatment of Widows in Billiri Society of Gombe State

Abstract

 Billiri Society is the home of the Tangale people of Gombe State. The Tangale are the original settlers of the society. The society like every society of the world had suffered the devastation from death that widowed many homes. The origin of widowhood in human society could have begun from time immemorial; possibly with the creation of the first couple in the Garden of Eden as stated in the Holy Bible. Since then widows have been found everywhere in the world. In each society widows existed and their conceptions and treatment are based on the cultural and religious perception of individual societies. Billiri Society is not an exception in the conceptions and treatment of widows. The conceptions and treatment of widows in Billiri Society is to be perceived against the background of the pre-Christian era, in accordance with the culture and religion of the Tangale people. The work examined the conceptions and treatment of widows in Billiri Society of Gombe State. The researcher focused on the causes of death and rituals, property inheritance, levirate marriage and certain widowhood challenges. The researcher adopted the descriptive approach which compared and analyzed the information received from respondents concerning the conceptions and treatment of widows in Billiri Society. The study revealed that the dead toll of men in the society is higher than that of the women, thereby presenting a high population of widows. It also revealed that most of the widows suffered from socio-economic insecurity as a result of difficulty in remarriage and lack of welfare provision from the government. This situation of widows calls for empowerment from various sectors