Women's Succession and Inheritance Rights in Nigeria: A Contemporary Judicial Response to Gender Discrimination

In Nigeria, women are still discriminated in inheritance and succession under many customary law regimes because patriarchal norms have been entrenched in most of these laws, giving preference to men. In certain communities women have no right to inherit the estate of their husband or parent, and can pass on property to their children without restriction. This practice causes women to be economically insecure, limits their access to land and contributes to poverty. The paper adopts a doctrinal research approach and analyses discriminatory customary inheritance practices as well as some recent judicial cases which have improved inheritance rights for women in Nigeria. The study reveals that even as the courts in Nigeria have been increasingly overturning discriminatory customs, many women are unable to enjoy the benefits of such court rulings due to illiteracy, ignorance, poverty and lack of access to justice. The paper suggests enhancing public legal education, access to justice and codification, harmonisation and reform of customary laws to eradicate discriminatory practices and to foster gender equality, legal certainty and the rule of law.