Inheritance: The First Son Takes All In Esan Culture

By Prince Kelly O. Udebhulu

In Esan people’s norms, culture and tradition; it stated that the eldest son, in the monogamous family setting especially, inherits every single property belonging to the late father and mother, though same culture/tradition also demands that he must take care of the upkeep of his brothers and sisters but this is not always the case resulting to bitter family conflict and division. Many said it is unfair while conservatives viewed it as tradition that must be obeyed.

I mentioned in some of my cultural reviews that under Esan burial rites, the oldest surviving son of the deceased has the sole traditional right to perform and lead the burial rites of the dead parent(s) before the extended family. He bears the burden to bury his late dead father and may be or optionally assisted by his siblings which are sometimes done by levying them in anticipation of sharing the estate property with them or allowing them to farm on the family land or remain in the family home.

Typically, at the death of an Esan man, his oldest living son inherits his entire estate and hereditary titles, if any. His wife or wives are included except his mother. The first son also inherits his late mother’s landed properties, while his wife inherits her personal properties like wardrobe and cooking apparatuses. Under polygamous setting, it is contemporarily unfair before other children from different mother but tradition demands that they must obey the instructions from the eldest surviving son of their dead father; else, the ancestral spirit may strike any child who disobeys the eldest son traditionally. Notably, findings by this writer have shown that the feature of such inheritance is that of a “trustee”.

The eldest son must provide for his siblings until they are able to stand on their own. He is indebted to allot part of the family land to any of his brothers who wishes to use such for farming or building. His brothers and sisters are nonetheless to be of good behaviour to enjoy any of such opportunities. Nothing prevents a sensible inheritor from sharing portions of the estate or land to his siblings, especially where their late father was a polygamist.

There are also cases of non-written/oral wills which were performed when the dead parent(s) was/were alive and it is respected when proven facts emerged to the family under native law as gifts from the dead parent(s).

In Esan culture, men are the receivers of inheritance; female children have no standing or rank in the family. As Okojie revealed in his book, Esan idioms state that ‘a woman never inherits the sword’; or, ‘you do not have a daughter and name her the family keeper — she would marry and leave not only the family, but the village, a wasted asset’. It is assumed that once a woman marries, all her possessions go to her husband, thus draining the family’s wealth.”

Under this culture, there is trado-cultural act placed before a customary court that the deceased was subject to the customary law of his place of origin or where he lived and died, any application before the court by other children of the deceased without the support of the first male child of the deceased is never honoured and is always in favour of the first male child.

There are reasons for this. One of such reasons is that under the customary law of the Esan people, if a man dies intestate, the eldest male child turns a trustee of the estate of the deceased awaiting the time the final burial rites of the deceased are carried out by the first son.

In the temporary, he looks and takes care of the estate for and on behalf of himself and the other children. Base on this custom, an application to the customary court to administer the estate of the deceased is a mere formality that will be granted as a matter of course, except where there are other justifying circumstances that may prevent the court from making such a grant; for instance, where the legitimacy of the first son is in dispute.

Another reason is that after the final burial rites of the deceased, the elders of the extended family of the deceased share the properties of the deceased. Though, the first son occupies a prominent place in the affair. As a matter of right, he takes the first and ancestral home (s) of the deceased primarily.

In the tradition of Esan people, the burial of one’s departed parents is a vital event in the lives of the living and of the dead in their spiritual dwellings. He who buries his departed parents is a respected person in the family and public circle.

Burial rites are among the parameters in which an Esan person may be treasured; it convenes respectability and responsibility on a person. The performance of burial rites and the inheritance of the deceased’s properties are inter-linked. Generally, the performance of burial rites is a pre-condition for the inheritance of the deceased’s estate.

…to be continued.