Women and the Praxis of Intra-Gender Conflicts in Ogba Song-Poetry

Abstract

Women and children for the African people are the greatest family achievements. In Ogba, the women and children, in addition form the nucleus of the family called ImOgba. This paper examines the roles of women either as co-wives or co-participants in patriarchal society in inflicting pains and other cruel acts upon one another in selected Ogba songs. The paper shows that in some of the songs, women are portrayed as caring mothers and helpers to their husbands. But in many others, they are displayed as vengeful, envious, mean and antagonistic, especially with regard to jealous co-wives. In these songs, female intra-gender conflicts are artistically recreated to explore the notion of sisterhood that has eluded the female in contemporary society. The study draws inspiration from the feminist literary theory in the explication of the intra-gender conflicts that are fore grounded in the songs. The paper reveals that the stories and comments in many of the selected oral songs interrogate, in a subtle manner, aspects of intra-gender conflicts that are inimical to societal progress. It advocates for the women to use the songs for the betterment of womanhood in Ogba traditional setting and not to fern embers of conflict that will disunite them.