DEVELOPMENT OF FAMILY LAW AWARENESS PROGRAMME FOR FAMILIES IN ANAMBRA STATE

Abstract

The general purpose of this study was to develop family law awareness programme for families in Anambra State. Specially, the study; identified the appropriate objectives of family law awareness programme for families in Anambra State; determined the content of family law awareness programme; identified the delivery systems for implementing the family law awareness programme; determined the evaluation activities of Family Law Awareness programme for families in Anambra State; developed a draft FLAWP based on the findings from specific purposes 1-4; validated the draft of family law awareness programme ; and assessed the family law awareness programme for its efficacy.   Five research questions guided the study and five hypotheses were tested, at 0.05 level of significance. The Research and Development (R and D) design was used. The study was carried out in four phases namely; phase 1: development of draft family law awareness programme. Phase 11: Validation of the draft programme. Phase111: Assessing the family law awareness programme using family law awareness test and phase 1V: Revision of the programme. The area of the study was Anambra State. The population was made up of 395,065 persons namely 3,500 lawyers; 9,500 Policemen;

2,050 Nigerian Civil Defence Corps; 500 Social welfare officers; 10 Human Right Activists,

2000 Home Economics Teachers and 377,505 family members. The sample was 1,365 respondents. Family Law Awareness Test (FLAT) was administered to 60 family members to assess the efficacy of Family Law Awareness Programme (FLAWP). Three instruments were developed and used for the study namely: Family law Awareness Questionnaire (FLAQ) was validated by three experts, two lecturers in University of Nigeria and a police officer in charge of prosecution in Onitsha. Cronbach alpha was used to determine the internal consistency. The reliability coefficient of sections B – α = 0.71; Section C – α = 0.95; Section D – α = 0.94; Section E- α = 0.91 and overall- α = 0.98. The reliability coefficient for the first instrument FLAQ was obtained as 0.98. The developed FLAWP was validated by five experts namely a psychologist,  a    Home  Economist    who  is  trained  in  pedagogy and  is  knowledgeable  in programme development., a measurement and evaluation lecturer, curriculum lecturer in University of Nigeria and one family law practitioner in Anambra State Government House Awka. Content and item analysis of FLAT was carried out using test blue print (table of specification). The FLAT was trial tested for the purpose of determining psychometric indices of the test. A total of 25 items of the FLAT had good difficulty, discrimination and distractor indices. Mean was used to analyze the scores of families trained with FLAWP 21.53 was obtained and those without FLAWP had 10.15. SD 2.21 to 3.40. t-test result 21.69 shows that those trained with FLAWP performed better in FLAT test than those families who were not trained with FLAWP. The null hypothesis was rejected. There was significant difference in families trained with FLAWP and families without. The reliability coefficient of FLAT was found to be 0.96 using Pearson product moment correlation coefficient. The findings include eight  child’s right  law, thirteen criminal code law, six marriage Act, thirteen Matrimonial Causes  Act,  six  landlord  and  Tenant  law,  six  Administrations  and  Succession  Estate  of Deceased Person’s law, thirty nine delivery systems and twenty five evaluation activities of FLAWP. Based of the findings, five recommendations were made including, family law awareness programme should be taught in schools in Home Economics courses at all levels of education and government, NGOs and Law enforcement agents should carry out awareness campaigns on developed family law Awareness programme in rural and urban areas.

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Law refers to stipulated  code of conduct  that is enforceable  by any  instituted authority guiding and regulating people’s coexistence  in a society (Ezeilo,  2000). It is designed to protect individuals’ and their performance of assigned responsibilities.  Law operates  in Nigeria  at different  levels of government.  Some  laws operate only at the federal level, others at the state level and yet others at the local government level (Ezeilo,

1995).

At the federal level, under civilian democratic dispensation, laws are enacted by the National Assembly (Senate and House of Representatives)  and consented to  by the President. Such laws are called Acts (Nwogugu, 2001). Under the military regime, federal laws were known as decrees. At state level, laws under civilian administration are known as laws while those of military are called edicts. Laws enacted by the local governments whether under civilian or military regime are known as Bye-laws (Odike and Agu, 2003). Other types of laws include statute, ordinances  and proclamations.  Statute is a general name given to any law passed by a legislative body (Lowe, 2005). The word Statute is used more appropriately to refer to law regulating field of endeavour, such as company law, criminal law and marriage law. Federal laws operate in every state in Nigeria while state laws either apply to particular state or may include other neighbouring states (Odike and Agu, 2003). In Nigeria, there are various federal laws regulating various aspects of human  endeavour.  These  include  among  others,  those  relating  directly  to  the  family among which are, the Matrimonial Causes Act (MCA) and Marriage Act (MA) regulating

family and marriage institution.  These constitute the family law.

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Family law is a branch of law that deals with the issues relating directly to the family (Nwogugu, 2001). Family law is an area of the law that deals with family – related issues and domestic relations which include spousal abuse, legitimacy,  adoption, child abuse and abduction,  divorce, property settlement,  alimony and  parental responsibility (Fulchiron, 2005). Family is the smallest unit in the social structure of every society and often is made up of person’s united by blood or adoption, which may be characterized by common residence and economic cooperation. Family Law generally covers all matters related  to  the  rights  of  spouses,  parents  and  children.  Family  laws  are  expected  to empower  family  members  to  function  peacefully  and  effectively  in  the  family  and society. It thus, becomes vital that family members should be aware of the family laws and avail themselves of the benefits embedded in the laws. This calls for a Family Law Awareness Programme (FLAWP), which should be at the disposal of families.

Home Economists should also be aware of these laws since their field of study focuses on the welfare of individuals and families. They should be able to promote such programme among families. Family law awareness should be designed to inform families about family law and equip them with basic knowledge, skills and attitude they need in other to avail themselves  of the expected benefits from the  relevant  laws. Family law awareness means raising consciousness of terrible forms of child abuse, spousal abuse, and tenant abuse to family members. Awareness involves knowledge or understanding of a particular subject or improves people’s knowledge. In the context of this study, family law awareness is the process of improving people’s knowledge of family law.

Lack of family law awareness among family members can give rise to  various forms of abuses and denial of rights in families. Problems such as; spousal abuse; child labour, abuse and neglect; maltreatment  of widows; marriage  breakdown; landlord and estate agents maltreatment of tenants; etc are often common results of lack of awareness

of  family  law  (Owodunmi  1991,  Anyanwu  2003,  Egburuonu  2007,  Okolie   2009, Adetaoyo 2009,).

Family  Law  Awareness  Programme  (FLAWP)  ought  to  focus  on  ways  and means of intimating  people  with knowledge,  attitudes  and skills on issues  relating  to family law, such as marriage, consumer rights on electricity, tenancy,  child rights law, guardianship,  legitimacy, succession and statutory adoption.   Such a  programme would comprise of a set of objectives, content, implementation strategies (delivery systems) and evaluation activities (Tessmer 1995, Weiss, 1998, McNamara 1999).

The objectives of FLAWP would indicate what the family members would be able to do as a result of exposure to such programme. The content of the programme would include the specific family laws. These laws include; law governing the relationship of husband   and   wife   (Marriage   Act),   dissolution   of   marriage,   judicial   separation, maintenance and custody (Matrimonial Causes Act). Other laws deal with the relationship between parents and child, legitimacy act and  statutory adoption. Third, guardianship, child rights law and criminal code law. There are yet the family laws, which deal with the family and property (Administration and Succession Estate of Deceased Person’s law), law of consumer protection, electric power reform act, landlord and tenant law (Nwogugu

2001, Burton 2003, Ifemeje 2008). The awareness programme must also make provisions for implementation of the programme. This necessitates the use of appropriate strategies or delivery systems.

The  implementation  strategies  or  delivery  systems  would  include   methods, facilities,  fora  and  related  resources  that  will  facilitate  the   implementation  of  the awareness  programme.  Ezeilo (2001) suggested delivery  systems such as conferences, seminars, workshops and outreaches. Family law Awareness programme FLAWP could be  implemented  by  various  law  enforcement  bodies  and  related  groups     such  as

association  of  lawyers,  law  enforcement  agents  such  as  Policemen,  Nigerian  Civil Defence  Corps,  Social welfare  officers,  human  rights activists  and Home  Economics teachers. After implementation, the programme will need to be evaluated. Evaluation of FLAWP involved activities designed to determine the extent to which the objectives of the  programme  have  been  achieved.  Such  activities  include  quiz,  debate,  interview, assignment,   observation   of   court   proceedings,   comparison,   essays   and   objective questions.

Curriculum development is defined as a process where curriculum experts identify what to be included and means of doing  it. These means  are the  learners’  objective, selection of learning experiences and organization, personal resource materials, delivery system,   instruction  contents  and  evaluation   procedures   (Olaitan,2003).   Curriculum development  process  consists  of  writing  up  or  producing  the  curriculum  materials including the course objectives, content, learning experience, assessment and resources. It is the attempt of this study to follow this process in order to guide families to be aware of family law.

Statement of the Problem

Family law relates to welfare of families. It is very important that families  are aware of family law so that they can claim their rights and live up to their responsibilities. Lack of family law awareness gives rise to various forms of problems resulting in abuses and denial of rights in families. Reports abound of such problems as tenant abuse for instance, the case handled by Owodunmi in 1991, of a chartered accountant who paid the due yearly rent but was still asked to quit the apartment without up to six- month notice (Egburuonu 2007 and Afamefuna 1998); a girl child defilement and forced prostitution (Okolie  2009,  Admau  2009  and  Adetaoyo  2009);  broken  marriages  (Balogun  2009); harmful widowhood practices (Anyanwu 2003); family members are subjected to various

forms of abuses owing to ignorance of family law (Okobi 2000 and Agetue 2006). These indicate that many families in Nigeria are not aware of the laws that should protect their rights and  interest  (Ezeilo,  2000).  Some  of these  problems  can be  minimized  where family members are aware of their rights and responsibilities as stipulated in family laws. Ignorance of the law, however, is not an excuse for either violating the laws or suffering some forms of denial of the rights provided for in the laws or abuses.

In Anambra State, various situations exist which suggest poor level of family law awareness among individuals and families.  These include various forms of abuse of child rights (Ebigbo 2003, Ejinkeonye and Anyakoha 2007). There are also cases of harmful widowhood practices (Anyanwu, 2003). There are also other abuses on rights of family members which have continued to occur (Ezeilo 2001, Ifemeje 2008).  These situations emphasize the need for families to be aware of family law. This need in turn necessitates the  development  of  FLAWP  for  families.  Presently,  however,  such  nonexistence  of FLAWP in Anambra State, probably accounts for  poor level of family law awareness. This is thus the problem of this study.

Purpose of the Study

The general purpose of this study was to develop family law awareness programme for families in Anambra state. Specifically, the study:

1.     identified  the  appropriate  objectives  of  family  law  awareness  programme  for families in Anambra State;

2.     determined the content of family law awareness programme;

3.     identified the delivery systems for implementing the family law awareness programme;

4.     determined the evaluation activities of family law Awareness programme for families in Anambra State;

5.     developed a draft FLAWP based on the findings from specific purposes 1-4 ;

6.     validated the draft of family law awareness programme ; and

7.      assessed the family law awareness programme for its efficacy.

Significance of the Study

Home  Economics   focuses  on  the  welfare  of  individuals  and  the   families. Enhancing the family law awareness level of families should be a serious concern for Home Economists.  The family members will use the knowledge  acquired from family law Awareness in living harmoniously with each other.   Family  law and its awareness should feature prominently in Home Economics curriculum.

It is expected that the findings of this study will be beneficial to the Policemen. The policeman will use this information to sensitize people in their  future planning for family programmes  in enforcing  the law. Hopefully,  the state  and Local Government Authorities in planning the awareness level of family law on families. The findings of the study will provide information to Nigerian civil defence corps. The Nigerian civil defence corps  will utilize  the  findings  of this  study on  FLAWP  for  planning  programmes  in improving, maintaining law and order on individuals, families and society at large. The findings of the study will provide information to Human right activists. The Human right activists will utilize the findings of this study on FLAWP to settle widowhood cases and child  abuse  cases.  They will use the  findings  to offer  free  legal services  to  women, children and impecunious men.

Information will be provided to social welfare officers. Social welfare officers will use  FLAWP  in  future  planning  programmes  in  handling  family  cases  that  involve husbands, wife, mother in-laws, motherless babies home, child labour cases, child abuse and neglect cases. The findings of this study if considered and acted upon by families, the issue of violation of rights by landlords and estate agents as experienced by the indigenes

of Anambra State will be a thing of the past.  The family members will use the knowledge they will acquire from family law Awareness in living harmoniously with each other.

The findings of this study if made available to the curriculum planners will  be incorporated  into the Home Economics  curriculum of primary,  secondary  and  tertiary institutions. Home Economics teachers will use the findings of FLAWP to teach students in primary,  secondary  and tertiary levels.  In this way,  it will be  used to provide  the students with necessary skills and knowledge needed for harmonious existence in families as home makers. The students in addition to gaining the knowledge themselves will help in extending to their illiterate parents at home. The students when acquired the FLAWP knowledge at school will teach their illiterate home makers at home.

Home  Economics  teachers  will use the  findings  of the  family  law  awareness programme to teach students in primary, secondary and tertiary levels so that they will be able to claim their  rights and responsibilities.  Some  policy  makers will benefit  from FLAWP  by incorporating  family  law into  policies.  Adult  educators  will benefit  from FLAWP  by teaching  it to families  as extension  workers.  Home Economics  Research Association of Nigeria (HERAN) will create family law awareness through workshops, seminars and conferences for family members in Anambra State and Nigeria at large.

The  family  law  awareness  programme  will  be  beneficial  to  lawyers  who  are responsible  for  interpreting  and  enforcing  the  law.  This  will  probably  enhance  the awareness level of families on family law as well as problems hindering the awareness. Such knowledge would enable them to direct their energy towards prevention of family conflicts rather than separating  and dissolving  marriages.  Finally,  it is hoped that this study will provide the basis for initiating  future studies on creating  FLAWP  in other states. It will also provide an additional source of reference for related studies that may come up in future.

Research Questions

The study answered the following research questions:

1.   What should be the objectives of family law awareness programme for families in

Anambra State?

2.   What should be the content of family law awareness programme?

3.   What  should  be  the  delivery  systems  for  implementing  family  law  awareness programme?

4.   What should be the evaluation activities for meeting the objectives of family  law awareness programme for families in Anambra State?

5.   How efficacious was the family law awareness programme?

Hypotheses

The following hypotheses were tested at 0.05  level of significance;

1. There  is no significant  difference  in the mean responses  of the legal  practitioners, policemen,  Nigerian  civil  defence  corps,  Social  welfare  officers,   Human  right activists and Home Economics teachers on the objectives of FLAWP for families in Anambra state.

2. There is no significant difference in the responses of the legal practitioners, policemen, Nigerian civil defence corps, Social welfare officers, Human right activists and Home Economics teachers on the content of FLAWP   for families in Anambra State.

3. There  is no significant  difference  in the mean responses  of the Home  Economics teachers, Social welfare officers and Nigerian civil defence corps on delivery systems for implementing the FLAWP for families in Anambra State.

4. There is no significant difference in the mean responses of Home Economics teachers, Social welfare officers and Nigeria civil defence corps on the evaluation activities of FLAWP for families in Anambra state.

5. There is no significant difference between the mean scores of families trained with the

FLAWP and those without the FLAWP.

Scope of the Study

The study focused on: (i)  Content Scope:

Family  law,  which  include  Child’s  right  law,  Criminal  code  law,  Marriage  Act, Matrimonial  Causes  Act, Administration  and Succession  Estate of Deceased  Person’s Law and landlord and tenant law. Development of draft FLAWP involved the following five  sub-phases;  instrument  development  based  on the  specific  objectives  1-4  of the study, validation of the instrument, Field work, data Analysis  and production of Draft FLAWP .

(ii) Geographical Scope:

Anambra State is made up of twenty one Local Government  Areas namely:  Anambra West, Ayemelum, Awka North, Anambra East, Oyi, Dunukofia, Njikoka,  Awka South, Orumba  North,  Idemili  North,  Onitsha  North,  Onitsha  South,  Ogbaru,  Idemili South, Nnewi North, Nnewi South, Ekwusigo, Ihiala, Aguata, Orumba South and Aniocha. The study focused on the three urban and rural local  government  areas in Anambra  State namely;  Onitsha  North  LGA,  Onitsha  South,  LGA,  Awka  South  LGA,  Ihiala  LGA, Egwusigo LGA, and Dunukofia LGA.

The urban local government areas are Onitsha North LGA, Onitsha South, LGA, Awka South LGA while the rural local government  areas are Ihiala LGA,  Egwusigo LGA, and Dunukofia LGA.

Assumption of the Study

It is assumed that legal practitioners,  Policemen,  Nigerian civil defence  corps, Human  right  activists,  social  welfare  officers  and  Home  Economics   teachers  are appropriate  sources of information  for the study.  This is because  their  field of study focuses on the welfare of individuals and families.

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