An Appraisal of the Legal Rights of Women in Nigeria

Abstract

Under Nigerian law, women have been accorded some legal protections. Basically, these rights are provided for under both the Nigerian Constitution and other international treaties and conventions to which Nigeria is a party to.[1] In spite of these legal provisions, there are many instances of violations of the legal rights of women in Nigeria. These violations are attributable to many factors. First, the existing cultures in Nigeria, which have the attributes of the law, are often, at variance with some of these provisions. Others are as a result of the religious commandments, just to mention few. Some of these factors are therefore few of the inherent challenges that make enforcement of the legal rights of women in Nigeria very impracticable. In this paper, various forms of abuses of the legal rights of women in Nigeria would be looked into. In appropriate places, recommendations are offered for better enforcement and improvement of these rights in the years ahead.

Keywords: Women, Rights, Laws.

[1] These treaties and conventions have formed parts of the municipal laws in Nigeria because they have been domesticated by the National Assembly.