RIGHTS OF SURVIVING SPOUSE UNDER NIGERIA’S LAW OF SUCCESSION: EXPEDIENT ACTIONS NEEDED FOR PROFITABILITY OF APPLICABLE LAWS ON A LARGER SCALE

One function of law in any society is to regulate social conduct and behaviour. And beyond this, law helps to shape social values and transform societal norms to conform with what is just and acceptable. The Nigerian law of succession has undergone a really slow process of achieving this social change. Aside statutes and Islamic law on succession which provide a fair system of succession to a deceased’s intestate estate, customary law of succession still retains its long-standing prejudice and discriminatory practices which the courts only recently, have begun to discountenance making commendable efforts to uphold justice instead. Meanwhile this intervention is limited in its impact as it only applies to parties who come to the court seeking justice, but then not many cases come before the court. What makes this even more worrisome is that despite the usefulness of statutory and Islamic laws that have dissociated from these discriminatory practices and which adequately provide for spouses, in reality succession in Nigeria automatically reverts to customary law, or a similar outcome of discrimination and disentitling of rightful beneficiaries as the case under customary law. This is due to a number of factors, one of which is lack of enforcement measures for these laws. All these will be discussed in this long essay as well as a breakdown and comparative analysis of these succession laws vis-à-vis the standard established by the Constitution and other international instruments relevant to this discourse. In the end, this essay would proffer solutions to the aforementioned problems and weaknesses in the law for enhanced and effective protection of the rights of spouses in succession matters in Nigeria.