The Regulation of Inheritance Rules and Practices in Nigeria: The Role of Sharī’ah and International Human Rights Law

摘要

This work is a doctrinal investigation of inheritance rules and practices in Nigeria with a view to developing a coherent and sustainable legal regime for their regulation. With the perception that a number of the rules and customs of inheritance currently applicable in Nigeria are enforced in a haphazard manner and are at times discriminatory of some heirs such as women and children, it argues for the need to develop some standards to ensure just and equitable regulation of inheritance across the different ethnic and tribal contexts that make up the Nigerian polity. The work suggests that in the process of developing this legal regime to streamline the application of existing customary/religious rules on the subject, two bodies of law - Sharī’ah and International Human Rights Law- can be employed.