Introduction

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. The Nigerian society is inherently patriarchal. This is due to the influence of the various religions and customs in many parts of Nigeria. Here, women are seen as the ‘weaker sex’ and discriminatory practices by the State and society (especially by men) are condoned. Thus, it has been argued that “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 over the other exposes the sex that is considered to be inferior to various forms of discrimination” (Ngwankwe, 2002:143; Alemika, 2010).

Furthermore, Ibidapo-Obe (2005:262) contends that “human rights is flavoured by the culture within which it is to be invoked…the perception of human rights is conditioned, in space and time, by a combination of historical, political, economic, social, cultural and religious factors.” This study examines the various inheritance laws in Nigeria with a view to appraise the inheritance rights of women in Nigeria. establishing its bias in relation to gender. It will also look at the effect of these practices on the socio-economic empowerment of women in the larger society. It will also review the steps taken to curb the trend and the progress made so far if any.   The inevitability of death brings with it a plethora of challenges for the family of the deceased; apart from the burial rites and ceremonies, foremost on the list of challenges is what to do with the property of the deceased. In Nigeria, when a person dies, and leaves property, the property of that person is given to another person or people as their inheritance. Who inherits this property is decided in different ways; a person can decide before he or she dies who should inherit his property and under the English law, this is written down and signed in a document called a Will. But where there is no Will, other laws are used to decide who gets the property.
 

Customary law is often used in this instance and there are as many variations as there are ethnic groups in the country. As observed, inheritance rights like most rights, are tilted towards the male gender. The cultural practices of the various constituent tribes, societal norms, illiteracy, poverty, and religious beliefs have all fuelled the continuing inequitable representation of women directly and indirectly. And even though there are laws, conventions and treaties that advocates for the equal treatment of all human beings regardless of their sex, tribe, origin and circumstance of birth, these discriminatory practices still operate today unfettered.