Polygamy in Nigeria - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Civil law (legal system)

Civil law is a legal system inspired by Roman law and whose primary feature is that laws are codified into collections, as compared to common law systems that gives great precedential weight to common law on the principle that it is unfair to treat similar facts differently on different...

, Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

recognizes polygamous unions. The northern states of Bauchi

Bauchi State

Bauchi State is a State in northern Nigeria. Its capital is the city of Bauchi. The state was formed in 1976 when the former North-Eastern State was broken up...

, Borno

Borno State

Borno State is a state in north-eastern Nigeria. Its capital is Maiduguri. The state was formed in 1976 from the split of the North-Eastern State...

, Gombe

Gombe State

Gombe State, located in the northeastern part of Nigeria, is one of the country's 36 states; its capital is Gombe. The boundaries of the state roughly correspond to those of the Gombe Emirate,a traditional state.[2]...

, Jigawa

Jigawa State

-Location:Jigawa State is one of thirty-six states that constitute Federal Republic of Nigeria. It is situated in the north-western part of the country between latitudes 11.00oN to 13.00oN and longitudes 8.00oE to 10.15oE. Kano State and Katsina State border Jigawa to the west, Bauchi State to the...

, Kaduna

Kaduna State

-History:The state is the successor to the old Northern Region of Nigeria, which had its capital at Kaduna. In 1967 this was split up into six states, one of which was the North-Central State, whose name was changed to Kaduna State in 1976. This was further divided in 1987, losing the area now part...

, Kano

Kano State

Kano State is a state located in North-Western Nigeria. Created on May 27, 1967 from part of the Northern Region, Kano state borders Katsina State to the north-west, Jigawa State to the north-east, Bauchi State to the south-east and Kaduna State to the south-west...

, Katsina

Katsina State

Katsina State is a state in northern Nigeria. Its capital is Katsina, and its governor is Ibrahim Shema, a member of the People's Democratic Party...

, Kebbi

Kebbi State

Kebbi State is a state in north-western Nigeria with its capital at Birnin Kebbi. The state was formed from part of Sokoto State in 1991. Kebbi State is bordered by Sokoto State, Niger State, Dosso Region in the Republic of Niger and the nation of Benin. It has a total area of...

, Niger

Niger State

Niger State is a state in the western part of Nigeria and the largest state in the country. The state capital is Minna, and other major cities are Bida, Kontagora, and Suleja. It was formed in 1976 when the then North-Western State was bifurcated into Niger State and Sokoto State.The state is named...

, Sokoto

Sokoto State

Sokoto State is located in the extreme northwest of Nigeria, near to the confluence of the Sokoto River and the Rima River. As of 2005 it has an estimated population of more than 4.2 million...

, Yobe

Yobe State

Yobe State is a state located in Northern Nigeria. A mainly agricultural state, it was created on August 27, 1991. Yobe state was carved out of present-day Borno State. The capital of Yobe state is Damaturu.-Geography:...

, and Zamfara

Polygamy in Zamfara State

After the adoption of Sharia Law in Zamfara State, Nigeria, in early January 2000, Zamafara State became the first state in Nigeria to allow for legal recognition of polygamous marriage under civil law, as such is practicable under Sharia, which allows for a man to take up to four wives on the...

recognize polygamous marriages as equivalent to monogamous marriages, as all twelve are governed by Sharia Law, which allows for a man to take more than one wife as long as he treats them equally.

Zamfara State was the first to legislate polygamy, which occurred on January 7, 2000. Gombe State has been the most recent state to provide for civil polygamy, legalizing it on December 14, 2001.

As the southern region of Nigeria is composed of mostly Christians, polygamous marriages have not been legally introduced at this time. Despite such, attempts to introduce Sharia (thereby legalizing polygamy) have been made in Oyo State

Polygamy in Oyo State

Since May 2002, attempts have been made to implant Sharia law into the southern state of Oyo State, which would legalize polygamy. Polygamous unions are currently recognized under customary law throughout Nigeria, but lack numerous benefits in a Nigerian civil marriage...

, Kwara State

Polygamy in Kwara State

Since the introduction of Sharia law throughout northern Nigeria, various attempts have been made to implant Sharia law into the southern state of Kwara State, which would legalize polygamy. Polygamous unions are currently recognized under customary law throughout Nigeria, but lack numerous...

, Lagos State

Polygamy in Lagos State

Polygamous marriages are not permitted in the Nigerian state of Lagos State, which has Nigeria's most populous city, Lagos. Attempts to introduce Sharia law in Lagos State, thereby legalizing polygamy, have been made since early 2002, after a dozen of Nigeria's northern states established Sharia...

, a various others, yet all unsuccessful. However, polygamous unions are recognized by customary law in Nigeria, providing a handful of benefits for those in polygamous unions ranging from inheritance rights

Inheritance

Inheritance is the practice of passing on property, titles, debts, rights and obligations upon the death of an individual. It has long played an important role in human societies...

to child custody

Child custody

Child custody and guardianship are legal terms which are used to describe the legal and practical relationship between a parent and his or her child, such as the right of the parent to make decisions for the child, and the parent's duty to care for the child.Following ratification of the United...

. As of 2009, there has yet to be any debate of introducing a measure that would allow for civil polygamous marriages to be recognized within the entire country of Nigeria

Nigeria

Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

, letting the legislation play out on a state-by-state basis rather than introducing a nationwide measure.

Practice

There are no requirements based on religion in the North, therefore Christians are legally allowed to form polygamous unions just as Muslims may do. Christian church leaders such as Archbishop

Archbishop

An archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...

Peter Akinola

Peter Jasper Akinola is the former Anglican Primate of the Church of Nigeria. He is also the former Bishop of Abuja and Archbishop of Province III, which covers the northern and central parts of the country....

of the Anglican Church of Nigeria

Church of Nigeria

The Church of Nigeria is the Anglican church in Nigeria. It is the second-largest province in the Anglican Communion, as measured by baptized membership, after the Church of England. It gives its current membership as "over 18 million", out of a total Nigerian population of 140 million.Since 2002...

have condemned the practice of polygamy by Christians, with Akinola going on to write "The observation [of polygamy] will destroy our witness if not firmly addressed. We cannot claim to be a Bible-believing church and yet be selective in our obedience." Reports of Nigerian Mormons

Mormons

The Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, a religion started by Joseph Smith during the American Second Great Awakening. A vast majority of Mormons are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints while a minority are members of other independent churches....

practicing polygamy have also surfaced.

Despite the four-wife limitation, there have been numerous indications that many Nigerians bypass this law, such as with Muhammadu Bello Masaba, an 84-year old Islamic cleric who was accused of illegal marriage due to his exceeding number of spouses, in which he 86 wives. The charges were later withdrawn by the Niger State Sharia commission, with Masaba able to retain all of his spouses.

On an opposite note, it was reported in April 2007 that a Nigerian lesbian, Aunty Maiduguri, married four women in an elaborate ceremony in Kano State

Kano State

, though her union is not recognized by the government, and Maiduguri and her partners were forced to go into hiding shortly after the ceremony to avoid the possible threat of being stoned if convicted for lesbianism, which results in capital punishment

Capital punishment

Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...

for married Muslim women or caning

Caning

Caning is a form of corporal punishment consisting of a number of hits with a single cane usually made of rattan, generally applied to the offender's bare or clothed buttocks or hand . Application of a cane to the knuckles or the shoulders has been much less common...

for single Muslim women in Nigerian areas under Sharia Law.

Practice

See also