Introduction Customary Law Is Rooted in the History, Tradition and Culture of the People. It Is the Organic or Living Law of Indigenous People of Nigeria Regulating Their Lives and Transactions. It Is Organic in That It
INTRODUCTION
Customary law is rooted in the history, tradition and culture of the people. It is the organic or living law of indigenous people of Nigeria regulating their lives and transactions. It is organic in that it is not static; it is regulatory in that it controls the lives and transactions of the community subject to it. Customary law in Nigeria include nature law and custom administered in the southern part of Nigeria as well as Islamic law administered in the Northern parts of Nigeria, which is predominantly Muslim community. In a community, custom as law play important roles in directing and regulating the mode of life of the natives. This is why customary arbitration has been and remains an effective tool in alternative dispute resolution in communities and indeed the modern society. But recently, customary law has been constantly inconsistent, thus making it inadequate to handle law and order in our societies. In this paper the inadequacy of customary law in coping with law and order would be discussed, showing clearly the factors that makes it inadequate.
DEFINTION OF TERMS
Customary law
Abiola Sanni in ‘introduction to Nigeria legal method’ defined customary law as the customs accepted by members of a community as binding among them. In Owoniyi v Omotosho (1961) All NLR 304, Baramian FJ, described customary law as ‘a mirror of accepted usage among a given people’. Obaseki JSC in Oyewunmi v Oguesan (1990) 3 NWLR pt. 137 defines customary law as ‘the organic or living law of the indigenous people of Nigeria regulating the lives and transactions’. Section 2(1) of the evidence Act defines it as ‘a rule which in a particular district, which has from long usage obtained the force of law’
Customary law generally emerges from the traditional usage and practice of a people in a given community, which, by common adoption and consent on their part, and by long and unvarying habit, has acquired to some extent, element of compulsion, and force of law,
Customary law is rooted in the history, tradition and culture of the people. It is the organic or living law of indigenous people of Nigeria regulating their lives and transactions. It is organic in that it is not static; it is regulatory in that it controls the lives and transactions of the community subject to it. Customary law in Nigeria include nature law and custom administered in the southern part of Nigeria as well as Islamic law administered in the Northern parts of Nigeria, which is predominantly Muslim community. In a community, custom as law play important roles in directing and regulating the mode of life of the natives. This is why customary arbitration has been and remains an effective tool in alternative dispute resolution in communities and indeed the modern society. But recently, customary law has been constantly inconsistent, thus making it inadequate to handle law and order in our societies. In this paper the inadequacy of customary law in coping with law and order would be discussed, showing clearly the factors that makes it inadequate.
DEFINTION OF TERMS
Customary law
Abiola Sanni in ‘introduction to Nigeria legal method’ defined customary law as the customs accepted by members of a community as binding among them. In Owoniyi v Omotosho (1961) All NLR 304, Baramian FJ, described customary law as ‘a mirror of accepted usage among a given people’. Obaseki JSC in Oyewunmi v Oguesan (1990) 3 NWLR pt. 137 defines customary law as ‘the organic or living law of the indigenous people of Nigeria regulating the lives and transactions’. Section 2(1) of the evidence Act defines it as ‘a rule which in a particular district, which has from long usage obtained the force of law’
Customary law generally emerges from the traditional usage and practice of a people in a given community, which, by common adoption and consent on their part, and by long and unvarying habit, has acquired to some extent, element of compulsion, and force of law,