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Summary
Chioma Agbafor, a Nigerian lawyer, has raised an alarming trend of leaving daughters out of a father’s will. Despite the constitution that backed women's inheritance rights, many fathers still show less regard for their daughters, as they are sidelined in the ownership of their properties.
In a post shared on her X handle, lawyer Chisom Agbafor speaks out on inheritance bias against daughters. She raises the disturbing trend of fathers sidelining their daughters in wills.
Citing the many wills she has reviewed, she explained that the act is a painful pattern,
“I’ve reviewed too many wills and one painful pattern keeps showing up: daughters are sidelined,” she says. “The excuse? “Her husband will take care of her.”
Notably, she recalled a particular legal issue in which the father left nine houses for his four sons to share and only a flat for his daughter. She expressed her disappointment to see people with this mindset in 2025. She argued that daughters deserve their fathers’ properties, and marriage is not inheritance. She emphasised that daughters are part of the family and deserve equal rights.
She concluded, “I can’t believe this mindset is still alive in 2025. Your daughter is not a visitor in your bloodline. She deserves property; marriage is not inheritance.”
Her posts have sparked debate online with many users expressing their support for equal inheritance rights. Below are some of the comments:
“Daughters aren’t conditional family members; they deserve equal inheritance rights, not diminished ones based on marital status or societal expectations,”@PraiseChristop9 said.
“There is a need to form a group for female advocacy that will address this anomaly, as every child, irrespective of gender, is entitled to inheritance,” @PatrickEhapa commented.
In Nigeria, the constitution legally protects a woman’s right to inherit her father’s property. A 2014 Supreme Court ruling reinforced this right, stating that any customary practice that violates this law is null and void. However, challenges such as deeply entrenched cultural practices, intimidation, lack of awareness about inheritance rights, and the Will Act continue to hinder women from claiming their inheritance rights.
