Religious and Customary Laws in Nigeria

Abstract

This Essay discusses the 'religious law' and 'customary law' paradigms in the context of the Nigerian legal system. It also examines the pluralistic nature of Nigeria in terms of ethnicity, religion, and law, and argues that the religious law paradigm is problematic for the discussion of laws at the global level generally and within the Nigerian legal system in particular. Then this Essay identifies customary law, Islamic law, and English law (common law) as the three legal traditions in Nigeria, and then proceeds to discuss their status and scope, the conflicts between them, and the particular challenges facing the Islamic and customary laws in Nigeria. This Essay concludes with suggestions for the way forward.

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