Priye Iyalla-Amadi: The woman who fought law preventing issuance of passport to married women without husband’s consent
On June 1, 2009, the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, delivered a judgement that addressed a major institutional discrimination against Nigerian women.
Before then, married women were compelled to provide written consent from their husbands before they were issued the Nigerian passport. Although this is not contained in the Nigerian constitution, the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), the government agency responsible for the issuance of passports, claimed it is in line with its administrative policy. It took the courage of one woman – Prof Priye Iyalla-Amadi, to reverse the policy.
Who is Priye Iyalla-Amadi?
She is a Professor of French and Translation Studies at the Ignatius Ajuru University, Port Harcourt, Rivers State. An alumna of the University of Benin, University of Port Harcourt, University of Paris (ESIT at La Sorbonne) and the University of Ibadan where she obtained a doctorate in Translation Studies.
Iyalla-Amadi is the wife of late Nigerian author, Elechi Amadi, whom Wole Soyinka described as “a soldier and poet, captive of conscience, human solidarity and justice.”
How she got into a legal battle with the NIS:
In her first media interview since the landmark judgement in 2009, she told Neusroom that sometime in December 2018, the bag containing her international passport was stolen along with her car and she needed to travel to the US shortly after the incident.
When she visited the NIS office in Port-Harcourt to apply for a replacement, she received the information that enraged her.
“I couldn’t believe my ears when the officer I approached said one of the compulsory requirements was a letter of consent from my husband,” Iyalla-Amadi said. “I felt very miffed and protested but was told the requirement couldn’t be waived.”
The justification given by the NIS was that it was to protect the home against wives who travelled out and didn’t return.
“I said that was a good reason and asked if that also applied to husbands who travelled out and abandoned their homes. There was much laughter and I was told not to be ridiculous,” Iyalla-Amadi recounted.
An enraged Amadi protested but it yielded no result and she left the NIS office.
“I got back home fuming at the humiliation of being treated like a child in spite of the fact that I’m a full-grown adult, a mother and a responsibly engaged worker. My husband smiled laconically and said, ‘Well, if you don’t like it, you can always go to court. If you don’t fight for your rights, nobody will give them to you.”
Shortly after then, she attended a programme where she met a female lawyer Busola Olagunju who has dedicated her professional life to helping women fight discrimination without billing them.
“Sometime later I attended a programme organised by the American Corner in the then Claude Ake building in Port Harcourt. One of the speakers, Barr. Busola Olagunju remarked that women only complain about discrimination but never go to court. I spoke up and said I would. I retained her on the spot and showed up in her office the following day to provide her with every information she needed about the case.”
With motivation from Olagunju and support from her husband Iyalla-Amadi headed to the Federal High Court in Port-Harcourt.
What did the court say?
Reiterating the supremacy of the constitution, Justice Gladys Olotu who presided over the case, in her ruling in June 2009, held that the NIS policy was archaic and a violation of human rights.
The judgement was a victory for all Nigerian women.
But she says she does not see herself as a feminist and does not believe in feminism.
Rather she simply believes in “being treated decently and respectfully as a responsible member of the society we all share.”
She told Neusroom: “I also believe in equal opportunities and fairness to all. It is the individual that should matter, not the gender.”
Nicknamed ‘Thatcher’ by male counterparts for never tolerating discrimination, Iyalla-Amadi says “if you don’t like the treatment you’re getting, then be bold enough to protest where your voice will be heard. That’s what I did.”
When a Neusroom correspondent called an immigration officer at the Ibadan passport office in Oyo state on Thursday June 10, 2021, to ask if his wife needs to bring a letter from her husband when applying for passport renewal, the officer said: “No, there is no need for her to come with any letter from her husband.”
Some Nigerian women who have fought against institutional discrimination:
It only takes one spark to light a fire, Prof Amadi was the spark that ignited the fire that brought down the barrier undermining the rights of Nigerian women with the issuance of passports.
Other Nigerian women have also fought against obnoxious laws and won:
Yetunde Tolani – In 2009, the Court of Appeal held that her appointment as a magistrate terminated by the Kwara State Judicial Service Commission on the basis of her ‘single’ status was illegal and void and ordered her immediate reinstatement.
Funmi Falana – In 2012, the Women Empowerment and Legal Aid Initiative (WELA) represented by its Executive Director, Funmi Falana challenged the constitutional validity of Regulation 124 of the Police Act in court and won. A Federal High Court in Lagos declared the Regulation illegal and unconstitutional.
The regulation states that “A woman police officer who is desirous of marrying must first apply in writing to the commissioner of police in the state she is serving, requesting permission to marry and giving name, address and occupation of the person she intends to marry. Permission will be granted for the marriage if the intended husband is of good character and the woman police officer has served in the force for a period of not less than three years.”
Gladys Ada Ukeje – In 2004, she filed a suit challenging her family’s decision to disinherit her from her father’s estate based on the Igbo customary law. The case dragged on to the Supreme Court. In 2020, the Apex Court upheld the ruling of the High Court and Appeal Court which was in favour of Gladys.
Under Nigerian law, if a man dies without a will, his estate is apportioned among his heirs by customary law but under Igbo Customary Law, the oldest son of a deceased is given exclusive rights to the entire estate, while a female child is excluded from inheriting the property of their father or their husbands.
Maria Nweke – In 2014, the Supreme Court ruled in her favour against the customary law of Awka people of Anambra state which prohibits a married woman without a male child from inheriting her late husband’s estate.
The Supreme Court described the native law and custom of Awka people as barbaric and repugnant to natural justice, equity and good conscience and ought to be abolished.
Other Nigerian laws undermining women’s dignity:
- Section 55 and 56 of the Labour Act prohibits women from working overnight in public or private industry, agricultural companies or in any mine.
- Section 127 of the Police Act and Section 8 of the NDLEA Terms and Conditions of Service prevent married women from joining the Police and NDLEA.
- Under Regulation 124 of the Police Act, a female police officer planning to get married must initially apply in writing to the commissioner of police for approval.
- Section 127 of the Police Act and Regulations states that a female police officer who gets pregnant while unmarried should be discharged from the Police Force.
- Section 18 of the Marriage Act empowers only the father of either party to give written consent to an intended marriage if he or she is under 21.
- Nigerian women married to foreign nationals cannot transfer their Nigerian citizenship to their spouses. Section 26 of the Constitution provides that the President may confer Nigerian citizenship on “any woman who is or who has been married to a citizen of Nigeria” but does not cover “any man who is or has been married to a citizen of Nigeria”. This led to the deportation of Dr. Patrick Wilmot, a Jamaican, from Nigeria by the Ibrahim Babangida military regime despite being married to an indigene of Sokoto State.
- Section 55 of the Penal Code empowers husbands to beat their wives as long as it does not lead to serious injuries or grievous harm. Subsection 10 says, “nothing is an offence which does not amount to the infliction of grievous harm upon a person and which is done by a husband for the purpose of correcting his wife…”
