Nigeria is as pluralistic in her felony systems as she is in ethnic make ups. There are essentially three systems of regulation in Nigeria I.e the English law, normal regulation and Islamic law (additionally called Sharia regulation).each of these legal guidelines has its system of marriage, though they have got their differences and similarities. all the 3 systems of marriage are identical at least in phrases of their reputation as marriage that would be legally contracted in Nigeria by using everyone who desires.it’s miles feasible for someone to settlement two marriages, one below the customary law and the alternative beneath the Islamic law but this is unacceptable as a long way as English law is worried.it’s miles vital at this factor to have a take a look at every of the marriages with a few info.English law Marriage Contracting marriages in step with the tenets of the English regulation is ruled by the marriage Act in Nigeria. As a long way again as 1860 the court docket had, in Hyde vs. Hyde, described marriage as ” the voluntary union for life of one guy and one girl to the exclusion of all others”. This has been commonplace because the that means of the English regulation marriage ever when you consider that. This type of marriage clearly abhors polygamy.For a marriage to be valid and certified as an English law marriage in Nigeria, the below listed situations stipulated by using the marriage Act have to be complied with.conditions for valid English law Marriage
parties to the wedding have to have agreed to be husband and wife
the person need to have filed a notice in the Marriage Registry inside the location wherein the wedding is to be celebrated, declaring his purpose to get married
the awareness is then entered within the Marriage notice book by way of the registrar
the attention remains open for not less than 21 days before the Registrar can problem Marriage certificates
throughout the 21 days, anyone who so wishes may additionally enter a caveat as an objection to the deliberate marriage
At this factor, the Registrar will refer the caveat to the high court docket so one can decide the destiny of the caveat one manner or the alternative
wherein the caveat is held legitimate by way of the excessive courtroom, the Registrar may be stopped from issuing the marriage certificates till the objection raised inside the caveat ceases to exist
in which the excessive courtroom invalidates the caveat, the Registrar will proceed to problem the wedding certificates. The issuance of the wedding certificates should now not be earlier than 21 days or later than 3 months from the time of filling a observe of intention to get married by using the man.
different factors that may prevent Issuance of the marriage CertificateApart from any objection that may be contained in a caveat, the Registrar must not problem the marriage certificate in any of the subsequent conditions:
wherein none of the parties has been resident within the place in which the wedding is to be celebrated 15 days preceding the issuance of the marriage certificate
wherein the Registrar is glad that one of the events is a minor (I.e underneath age of 16)
in which consent of one of the parties to the marriage is acquired by way of fraud, dress, undue affect, wrong identification or a party incapable of giving consent because of mental unwell-health
where the parties have blood dating like cousins
wherein one of the parties is already married both underneath the English or normal law.
birthday celebration of MarriageThe marriage itself can take region in both of locations I.e the wedding Registry or an area of worship.within the case of the wedding Registry, the subsequent conditions apply:
it need to take location earlier than the registrar
there have to be as a minimum two witnesses, and
it need to take location between 10 am to 4pm.
even as within the case of an area of worship, the guidelines are those:
it should be conducted by a identified minister of the religious corporation involved
the region of worship have to be an area certified below the marriage Act to behavior marriage
there must be minimum of witnesses
earlier than conducting the marriage, the minister should be certain that the wedding certificate has been acquired via the events
the marriage have to take area between 8am to 6pm
the minister ought to ship a replica of the marriage certificates to the Registrar of Marriage within 7 days of the wedding
English regulation marriage is the maximum complicated to conclude as can be visible later within the article, whilst as compared to the alternative two structures of marriage in Nigeria.customary regulation MarriageCustomary law marriage is the very best marriage to agreement in Nigeria. it’s far a wedding celebrated according to the customs and traditions of any local tribe in Nigeria. In phrases of marriage, numerous tribes in Nigeria have loads in commonplace.essentials of a customary law Marriage
settlement among a man and a female to be husband and wife
Parental consent specially that of the lady’s facet
charge of the dowry by using the person to the woman’s family
delivering of the female to the man.
as soon as the above situations are fulfilled, a standard law marriage is validly shriveled. This marriage accommodates polygamy so the man can marry as many better halves as he wishes. In reality, there is no restrict to the quantity of women that a person can marry under various native customs in Nigeria.Islamic law MarriageIslamic regulation marriage refers to a marriage celebrated with the aid of two Muslims (I.e a male & a girl) in step with the dictates of the Sharia law. Islamic law allows a Muslim male to marry as much as four other halves furnished that he’ll ensure fairness, fairness and justice amongst them.To have a wedding validly celebrated consistent with the Islamic law, the following ought to be fulfilled:
the events to the marriage need to have agreed to marry every different
the consent of the woman’s father or uncle or any male member of the family is compulsory
the person ought to give a gift( it could be money or an editorial) as dowry. The monetary price of whatever is given have to not be less than N5000. there’s no maximum
birthday party of marriage itself ought to be witnessed via the minimal of two witnesses.
once the above necessities are met, an Islamic regulation marriage is deemed to have taken area.What i have deliberate to do through this text is to present succinct image of different marriages that Nigerians and Non-Nigerians residing in Nigeria can contract depending at the character’s choice.The most effective marriage that is not loose for all is the Islamic law marriage which could simplest take vicinity among a Muslim male and girl. but, a Muslim male is permitted to marry a lady who belongs to “the human beings of the e book”. This refers to Jewish or Christian women.aside from Christians and Jewish faithfuls, a Muslim male cannot marry from some other faith. It is probably exciting to hear that the speak is the destiny of a Muslim female. she will handiest marry a fellow Muslim male. This smacks of a subtle approach to win extra converts into the Islamic fold.Having stated that, I agree with Nigeria is one of the international locations wherein multiplicity of marital selections is properly sorted. despite the fact that marriage between identical intercourse or those who are closely associated with the aid of blood is not allowed and there’s no indication that with a purpose to take place in no remote future.it is pretty humorous to observe that some humans term marriage beneath the English regulation as “criminal marriage” as if other marriages are not. This is incorrect. As a count of truth, all of the three marriages are prison.