Protection and Promotion of
Women’s Rights in Nigeria:
Constraints and Prospects
Eghosa O. Ekhator PhD
FRED PUBLIC LECTURE 16/05/2017
Introduction
• Women in Nigeria face many challenges and discriminatory
practices under some extant laws. This presentation
focuses on some of these laws and their impacts on women
in Nigeria.
• This presentation also focuses on reforms on women's
rights in Nigeria. These reforms include judicial activism,
appointment of female judges to the Supreme Court and
the recent enactment of laws such as the Protection
Against Domestic Violence (Lagos State) 2007, Violence
Against Persons (Prohibition) Act 2015 and Gender and
Equal Opportunities Bill amongst others.
Background
• The Nigerian society is inherently patriarchal. This is due to the
influence of the various religions and customs in many parts of
Nigeria. Women are seen as the ‘weaker sex’ and discriminatory
practices by the state and society (especially by men) are condoned.
• Thus ‘the traditions and culture of every society determine the
values and behavioural patterns of the people and society ... a
culture that attributes superiority to one sex’. (Joy Ngwankwe 2002,
143)
• Nigeria is a federal state with a population of about 150 million.
Women make up more than half of the population. Nigeria’s legal
system is pluralist. It is made of up of English common law,
customary law, Islamic (Sharia) law and statutory law. Customary
law is prevalent in the southern part whilst Islamic law is widely
made recourse to in many of the states in the northern part
Outline of Presentation
•
•
•
•
Laws discriminating against women in Nigeria.
Customary practices discriminating against women in Nigeria.
Judicial Activism.
Impact of International Law on the protection of women in
Nigeria.
• Appointment of female judges to the Supreme Court.
• Analysis of recent laws such as the Protection Against
Domestic Violence (Lagos State) 2007, Violence Against
Persons (Prohibition) Act 2015 and Gender and Equal
Opportunities Bill and the Labour Amendment Bill.
• Conclusion.
Laws Discriminating against Women in
Nigeria
• Section 55 of the Labour Act which bars women from being employed in
night work. Except as nurses.
• Section 360 of the Criminal Code Act which makes the indecent assault of
a women a misdemeanour punishable with a two year prison term, as
opposed to three years prison term imposed for indecently assaulting a
man, which is a felony in section 353.
• By virtue of Section 127 of the Police Act, married women are prevented
from seeking enlistment in the Nigerian Police Force. Under section 127,
when an unmarried police woman is pregnant, she would be discharged
from the police force. She can only be re-instated on the approval of the
Inspector General of police
• Under Section 55 of the Penal Code, husbands are permitted to chastise
their wives. Here, under Subsection 10, “nothing is an offence which does
not amount to the infliction of grievous harm upon a person and which is
done by a husband for the purpose of correcting his wife...” Thus, under
the Penal Code, a husband can beat his wife insofar it does not lead to
serious injuries or grievous harm. In essence, the Penal Code condones
domestic violence against women. (Ekhator 2015)
• By virtue of Section 127 of the Police Act, married women are prevented
from seeking enlistment in the Nigerian Police Force. Under section 127,
when an unmarried police woman is pregnant, she would be discharged
from the police force. She can only be re-instated on the approval of the
Inspector General of Police.
• Marital rape is not a crime in Nigeria (arguably, this is no longer the case
by virtue of the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act 2015)
Customary Practices/Law
Discriminating against Women in
Nigeria
• ‘Discrimination against women occurring in inheritance and propertyrelated rights is seen by many as a cultural value which ought to be
protected from Western civilization. But the women who bear the brunt of
this culture are restive and some are bold enough to confront it’.
• ‘Initially, the courts responded with the repugnancy doctrine, according to
which customary law needed to pass a general test of validity as being not
repugnant to natural justice, equity, and good conscience or incompatible
either directly or by implication with any law for the time being in force’.
(Chinwuba 2015, page 342)
• ‘Customary practices in many Nigerian communities discriminate against
women on the ground of their gender. The unequal treatment suffered by
women is particularly pronounced in matters relating to property rights
like the administration, management or succession to real estates upon
intestacy. Under customary law, the pattern of succession along lineal or
patriarchal lines ensure the continuous denial of succession rights in real
property to women at all levels, either as wives or daughters, on account
of their sex’. (Ukhuegebe and Ewere)
• In Eshugbayi Eleko v. The Government of Nigeria,
customary law was referred to as ‘unwritten customs
and traditions, which have been accepted as obligatory
by members of a community’.
• Customary laws of several communities impose
conditions that make women access to land only
through male relations. More often, women are
regarded as property and therefore cannot own
property themselves. (Olubor 2009)
• ‘Marriages are usually contracted under the Marriage Act,
Islamic law or customary law. Consequently, women’s
marital property rights are regulated by the regime
governing their marriage. Women married under the Act
have their property rights protected by the Act thereby
making them entitled to a share in the matrimonial
property, including the husbands property, and the jointly
owned and acquired property.
• Under customary law, women do not have corresponding
protection. Their property rights therefore stem from
traditional norms which do not entertain the share of
marital property. They are more often entitled to kitchen
utensils and whatever their husbands may give to them as
gifts made inter vivos’. (Olubor 2019, page 15-16)
• In some customs in Nigeria, a woman is not allowed to
inherit her husband’s estate, instead she may be inherited
along with the estate of her husband by another male in
the family. (Oyelade 2006)
• Other customs in Nigeria give preference to the male child
against the female in matters of inheritance. (Oyelade
2006)
• ‘In some communities, where there is no surviving male
child, the closest male relative of the deceased inherits his
property, rather than his daughters. This is, however, not so
everywhere: in Yoruba customary law as well as Islamic law,
for example, daughters can inherit’. (Ukhuegbe and Ewere)
 In other communities, daughters inherit land only
where there are no surviving brothers.
 While in other communities where a man has no
son, his daughters are prevented from getting
married and are instead required to remain in the
father’s house to procreate in order to perpetuate
the linear bloodline. (Ukhuegbe and Ewere)
• However, recently there have been judicial
interventions upturning many of these customary
practices.
Examples of Laws Discriminating
against women in other areas
• Section 26 of the Nigerian constitution provides that the president may
confer Nigerian citizenship on “any woman who is or who has been
married to a citizen of Nigeria”. Under this provision, the president is not
empowered to confer Nigerian citizenship on “any man who is or has been
married to a citizen of Nigeria” (Falana, 2013). Thus, women cannot
transfer their Nigerian citizenship to their spouses (Imasogie, 2010).
• By virtue of Section 18 of the Marriage Act the written consent of the
father of either party to an intended marriage is required if he or she is
under 21 years of age. It is only if the father is dead or of unsound mind or
absent from Nigeria that the written consent of the mother may be
required.
Discrimination against Women and the
Constitution of Nigeria
• Section 34 (1)(a) of the Nigerian Constitution provides that
provides that every person has a right to dignity of person
and as such shall not be subject to torture, inhuman or
degrading treatment. Thus, many of the discriminatory
practices against women in Nigeria run foul of this
constitutional stipulation.
• Also, section 42 of the Constitution forbids discrimination
on the basis of ethnic groups, places of origin, sex, religions
or political opinions.
• Section 17 (1) states that ‘The State social order is founded
on ideals of Freedom, Equality and Justice. (2) In
furtherance of the social order – (a) every citizen shall have
equality of rights, obligations and opportunities before the
law . . .’
Judicial Interventions
• ‘Initially, the courts responded with the repugnancy doctrine.
In a bold approach, the Nigerian Supreme Court has taken a
refreshing position in two decisions in 2014. These cases have
demonstrated the resolve of the judiciary for zero tolerance
for discrimination against women particularly as far as
property rights are concerned’. (Chinwuba 2015, 341)
• Due to the advent and deepening of democracy in Nigeria
(after many years of military rule), courts are becoming
increasingly activist by pronouncing on the legality of some
discriminatory laws against women. Courts have relied on the
provisions of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’
Rights and the Nigerian Constitution to nullify offending
provisions
• Recently, the Nigerian Supreme Court has been at the
forefront of holding that discriminatory practices and laws
against women are illegal and unconstitutional. In Mrs Lois
Chituru Ukeje & Anor v Mrs Gladys Ada Ukeje, the court
analysed the constitutionality of an Igbo custom which
deprived women from inheriting their parents’ property. In a
lead judgment by Justice Rhodes-Vivour (which the other
Justices also agreed with), the Supreme Court held thus:
• “No matter the circumstances of the birth of a female
child, such a child is entitled to an inheritance from her
late father’s estate. Consequently, the Igbo customary
law which disentitles a female child from partaking, in
the sharing of her deceased father’s estate is in breach
of section 42(1) and (2) of the Constitution, a
fundamental rights provision guaranteed to every
Nigerian. The said discriminatory customary law is void
as it conflicts with section 42(1) and (2) of the
Constitution”. (Ekhator 2015)
• A similar decision was reached by the Supreme Court
in Onyibor Anekwe & Anor v Mrs Maria Nweke.
• In Onyibor Anekwe & Anor v Mrs Maria Nweke, the
court struck down the custom on ground that it is
“repugnant to natural justice, equity and good
conscience”. It concerned a purported disinheritance of
a widow for not having a male child.
• Here the court held per Justice Ogunbiyi thus: ‘I hasten
to add at this point that the custom and practices of
Awka people upon which the appellants have relied for
their counter claim is hereby outrightly condemned in
very strong terms…It is punitive, uncivilised and only
intended to protect the selfish perpetration of male
dominance which is aimed at suppressing the right of
the womenfolk in the given society.
• In the case of Timothy v Oforka, the Court of
Appeal held that no law or custom that stands in
the way of our constitution should be allowed to
stand no matter the circumstances.
• In Yetunde Tolani v Kwara State Judicial Service
Commission & Ors, where the Court of Appeal
held that the appointment of a female magistrate
that was terminated on the basis of her ‘single’
status was illegal and void and ordered her
immediate re-instatement.
Underlying Reason for Judicial
Interventions in Nigeria
• ‘ One can therefore safely conclude that the single
most important factor which has resulted to the
change in the policy of the Supreme Court regarding
gender-based discriminatory native law and custom
rules of inheritance is the elevation of female justices
to the Supreme Court and the appointment of a
female as the Chief Justice of Nigeria’. (Aigbovo and
Ewere 2015, page 22)
Reforms
• To redress the gender inequality and discrimination in Nigeria,
the Nigerian government has espoused a number of measures.
For example, in 2007, the Nigerian government adopted the
National Gender Policy and this measure aims at
supplementing section 42 of the Constitution which prohibits
the discrimination of women in Nigeria. (Ekhator 2015)
• One major objective of the policy is to: build a just society
devoid of discrimination, harness the full potentials of all social
groups regardless of sex or circumstance, promote the
enjoyment of fundamental rights and protect the health,
social, economic and political wellbeing of all citizens in order
to achieve equitable rapid economic growth.
• In respect of marital rape in Nigeria, the government
has organized workshops on the issue. For example,
in 2008, a Workshop on the Reform of Law Relating
to Rape and Other Sexual Offences was held in
Nigeria (Daily Independent Newspaper website,
2008). The consensus of the conference was that
marital rape should be criminalised in certain
situations
International Protection of Women
Rights in Nigeria
• Nigeria has signed and ratified many international and regional
treaties promoting and protecting the rights of women in Nigeria,
including the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of
Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). Nigeria signed and
ratified the CEDAW in 1985. The optional protocol to the CEDAW
was ratified by Nigeria in 2004.
• The CEDAW urges countries to condemn discrimination against
women in totality and set in motion (without delay) a policy of
eliminating discrimination against women by localising the equality
of sexes in their various constitutions.
• Notwithstanding the ratification of CEDAW and its protocol by
Nigeria, under Nigerian law, international treaties are not part of
national law unless domesticated by virtue of Section 12 of the
Constitution. However, the CEDAW has persuasive influence in
Nigerian law; courts may refer to it during judgements (Ekhator
2015).
• Furthermore, Nigeria has ratified and signed the African Charter on
Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Charter) (Ekhator, 2014).
• The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights
(African Women’s Protocol) in Africa has also been signed and
ratified in Nigeria.
• The African Charter has been domesticated into Nigerian law and it
promotes women’s rights in many of its articles. Article 3 of the
Charter enjoins countries to combat discrimination against women
via legislative, institutional and other means.
• However, the protocol has not been domesticated in Nigerian law
and this hinders its applicability in Nigeria. (Ekhator 2015).
• Nigeria operates a dualist system wherein treaties are not applied
domestically unless incorporated through domestic legislation.
Legislative Interventions
• Law as instrument of change is definitely an
indispensable weapon in the hands of legislators and
policy makers in Nigeria.
• The Nigerian government (including some states in
Nigeria) have enacted laws protecting and promoting
the rights of women In Nigeria. For example, in Enugu
State in Nigeria, the Prohibition of Infringement of a
Widow’s and Widower’s Fundamental Rights Law
2001 to protect women from discriminatory customary
inheritance practices was enacted (Adekile, 2010:19).
• This presentation will highlight some of the recent laws
promoting and protecting women rights in Nigeria.
• Until recently, there were no specific national laws
protecting women from violence (Madu 2015, page
282)
• Provisions in criminal law used to deal with cases of
violence against women have proved inadequate in
Nigeria (Ekhator 2015, Madu 2015).
• This presentation focuses on the Protection Against
Domestic Law Lagos State because it ‘is the most
detailed and provides a strong platform for a model
law at national level’ . (Ojigho 2007, page 89)
• With the efforts of civil society, and utilising the opportunities presented
by a federal system of government, gender-related laws have been
enacted by the Houses of Assembly in some states: (Madu 2015, Ekhator
2015)
• Cross River State: Girl Child Marriage and Female Circumcision
(Prohibition) Law (2000) .
• Ebonyi State: Law on the Abolition of Harmful Traditional Practices
Against Women and Children (2000) .
• Edo State: Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) Prohibition Law (2000)
• Enugu State: The Prohibition of Infringement of a Widow’s and
Widower’s Fundamental Rights Law (2001) .
• Imo State: The Widow’s (Prohibition) Law No. 12, Laws of Imo State of
Nigeria (2003) .
• Rivers State: Dehumanising and Harmful Traditional Practices Law (2003)
• Anambra State: The Malpractices Against Widows and Widowers
(Prohibition) Law of Anambra State (2005)
Protection Against Domestic Violence
(Lagos State) 2007
• The Protection Against Domestic Violence Law of Lagos State was passed
to provide protection for victims of domestic violence. The law is made
not only to protect women who are most times the target of domestic
violence, but also to safeguard the interests of men, children and
everyone who maybe a victim of domestic violence.
• The Protection Against Domestic Violence Law of Lagos State defines
domestic violence as: acts against any person; physical abuse, sexual
abuse, exploitation including but not limited to rape, incest and sexual
assault, starvation, emotional, verbal and psychological abuse, economic
abuse, denial of basic education, intimidation, harassment, stalking,
hazardous attack including acid bath with offensive or poisonous
substance, damage to property, entry into the complainants residence
without consent where the parties do not share the same residence, or
any other controlling or abusive behaviour towards a complainant where
such conduct harms or may cause imminent harm to the safety, health or
wellbeing of the complainant.
• ‘Under this law, acts of domestic violence are prohibited in Lagos
State. A court may grant interim protection orders, monetary and
other reliefs as well as final orders in addition to criminal
prosecution’. (Ukhuegbe and Ewere)
• ‘In 2016, the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Response
Team (DSVRT) inaugurated the Sexual Assault Standing Order and
the Sexual Assault Evidence Examination Kit (rape kit). The kit
contains instruments for evidence gathering and examination
including microscope slides, saline water, swabs for collecting fluids
from body parts, like the lips, cheeks, thighs and private parts,
clothing fibres and hairs, nail pick for scraping debris from beneath
the nails and gloves, etc’. (Ukhuegbe and Ewere)
• The Prohibition Against Domestic Violence Law of Lagos, State Law
No 15, 2007 was enacted as a response to the rising incidents of
violence against women in Lagos State. (Ojigho 2007)
• Under this law ‘Domestic violence prevention networks
have been established with key stakeholders from the
Ministry of Health, NGOs, and the Ministry of Women’s
Affairs. Lagos State has established human rights units
with gender crime desk officers in each of the special
police stations in Ikeja.
• The state has also been involved in training District
Police Officers on implementing the new domestic
violence act and ensuring the prosecution of the
perpetrators’. (Madu 2015, page 284)
VIOLENCE AGAINST PERSONS
(PROHIBITION) ACT 2015
• ‘The enactment of the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) (VAAP) Act
which proposes wide-ranging provisions of many aspects of violence,
including violence against women, is therefore a pivotal event with the
potential, arguably, to transform the landscape of violence against
women in Nigeria. It is an amalgamation of different bills, which sought to
abolish all obsolete laws relating to matters such as rape and assault, and
enact new laws on hitherto neglected areas such as domestic violence’.
(Onyemelukwe 2016)
• The enactment in 2015 of the VAPP Act can be said to be a measure in
line with Nigeria’s international obligations under CEDAW and the
Protocol to the African Charter. (Onyemelukwe 2016)
• VAPPA punishes not only direct acts of spousal violence, but also acts of
coercive control by deprivation, isolation and emotional abuse.
(Ukhuegbe and Ewere)
• Victims of domestic violence may obtain protection
orders.(Ukhuegbe and Ewere )
• Amongst its innovative and progressive features is the
criminalisation of matters previously not explicitly
recognised as offences under Nigerian law. These
include harmful traditional practices, female genital
mutilation, emotional abuse, abandonment, and attack
with harmful substances. (Onyemelukwe 2016)
• The definition of rape is now inclusive and genderneutral.
• The Act also creates a Sexual Offenders Register.
• ‘However, as stated under section 47 of the Act, it
currently applies to the Federal Capital Territory
only, being federal legislation enacted in regard to
criminal law. The reason for this restriction is
apparent: criminal law is a matter on the residual
list of the Constitution. Thus, states have to adopt
the VAPP Act for it to become law in those
states...’ (Onyemelukwe 2015, page 624-625).
• A residual matter over which the states in Nigeria
have power to make legislation exclusively.
• Furthermore, it has been contended that the VAPP
criminalises marital rape in Nigeria. Thus, ‘Spousal or
marital rape is now recognised under the Act. In this
regard, it can be reasonably assumed that in the
absence of an express exclusion, any husband or wife,
who acts in contravention of the above section, is
guilty of the offence of rape and punishable
accordingly. “The use of “any person” clearly includes
either husband or wife. With these modifications, the
Act has brought the definition of rape in line with
modern day realities and increased the scope of legal
protection for victims’. (Onyemelukwe 2016, page 2627)
Gender and Equal Opportunities (GOE)
Bill 2016
• The Senate (highest legislative body) in Nigeria is currently debating
a bill titled ‘Gender and Equal Opportunities Bill.
• The GOE bill failed to pass the second reading n the Senate on 15
March 2016. This was largely due to the objections by some male
members of the Senate to the enactment of the bill
• The Bill was sponsored by Senator Biodun Olujimi (a female
senator).
• However, the a new bill was introduced on 15th June 2016 (by
Senator Olujimi) to reflect the some of the concerns of the senators
• The bill recently passed the second reading stage.
• Although the GEO Bill is concerned mainly with gender equality, it
covers age and disability discrimination as well (section 5).
(Ukhuegbe and Ewere)
• The GEO bill seeks to give effect to certain provisions of
the 1999 Constitution (as amended) such as Chapters
II and IV which deal with Fundamental Objectives and
Directive Principles of State Policy and the
Fundamental Human Rights.
• If eventually passed by the National Assembly, the Bill
will also give effect to the United Nations Convention
on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination
against Women (CEDAW) and the protocol to the
African Charter on the rights of Women in Africa
amongst others. (PLAC Website)
• The GOE contains provisions dealing with
prohibition of discrimination, adoption of
temporal
measures
to
eliminate
discrimination in political and public life,
prohibition of violence against women,
establishment of an Equal Opportunities
Commission and the enforcement of the
National Gender Policy amongst other
innovative feature.
Labour Amendment Bill 2016
• This bill is sponsored by Senate Oluremi
Tinubu (a female senator in Nigeria).
• The bill seeks review of legislation including
the Labour Act 2004 which contains clauses
militating against the ability of women to find
and engage in honest work. (PLAC website).
• Some of the offending provisions of the Labour Act which the
proposed bill seek to delete include:
• Section 55 which prohibits women from engaging in night work;
• Section 56 which stipulates that ‘‘no woman shall be employed on
underground work in any mine’’
• Section 57 that empowers the minister of labour to ‘‘make
regulations prohibiting or restricting , subject to conditions as may
be specified in the regulations, the employment of women in any
particular type or types of industrial or other undertakings or in any
process or work carried on by such undertakings; and
• Subsection (2) of section 58 which provides that any person who
employs a woman in contravention of section 55 (1) or section 56
(1) shall be guilty of an offence and on conviction shall be liable to a
fine not exceeding N100 or to imprisonment for a term not
exceeding one month or both.
Conclusion
• Women are discriminated against in Nigeria. However, the tide is
changing. Many Nigerians have access to education and the re-orientation
of Nigerians (with respect to women’s rights) has been improving.
Democracy has improved the position of women in Nigeria.
• However, some cultures and communities are still stuck in the past. Such
communities need to be ‘re-educated’ on women’s rights in Nigeria.
• Also, with the advent of democracy in Nigeria, many laws have been
promulgated in Nigeria to improve the status of women under the law. For
example, many states in Nigeria have enacted laws proscribing domestic
violence against women.
• ‘Evidence from Nigeria, including the passage of new legislation at federal
and state levels, indicates that a shift is occurring. How effective such laws
will be is yet to be seen’. (Onyemelukwe 2016, page 1)
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