JURISPRUDENTIAL EXAMINATION OF THE CHALLENGES IN ASCERTAINING NIGERIAN CUSTOMARY LAW

Abstract

Customary law has always been relevant to the lives of the Nigerians, particularly in matters of marriage, land holding, chieftaincy, inheritance and succession. Nigerian customary law is diverse and essentially unwritten in nature. The substance of the law are in the memory of the people who the law applies to. This makes precision and clarity which are associated with various codes in Western jurisprudence are lacking in African customary law and this has always been a challenge in judicial administration as the contents of the law are proved like a matter of facts. The aim of this research is to examine the judicial implication of having the substance of the law in loose form. The objective of the study was to examine the implication of the unwritten nature of customary law in judicial functioning of the courts. The study adopted doctrinal methodology of research and placed reliance on primary and secondary information. The primary sources include official documents. Similarly, secondary sources like textbooks, journals and internet materials were put to use. The findings of the study were that there is no uniform standard in the judicial application of Nigerian customary law because of the fluid nature of the law and the study concluded that there is the need to document the applicable laws to allow certainty in the law to assist the courts in their judicial functioning. The study recommended that efforts should be spared by the various levels of government in Nigeria to accomplish this project as this will help in the judicial application of Nigerian customary laws.