Home VOL. 6 (2020) Reinforcing Marital Rights through Prenuptial Agreements in Nigeria: The way Forward

Reinforcing Marital Rights through Prenuptial Agreements in Nigeria: The way Forward

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Abstract

The marriage union is usually entered into by parties believing sincerely that they would be together till death but this is not the case always. The rate of divorce the world over has increased and is increasing; Nigeria is not left out in the astronomical increase in divorce rates. It was reported that between January and February, 2020 in Nigeria there was about 4,000 applications for divorce in Nigeria’s capital city Abuja. It is an aphorism that divorce is inevitable in the worlds polity therefore it is imperative to protect parties when there is a divorce. Research also shows that women are more affected that men when there is a divorce. There are laws in place already in Nigeria to protect women when there is a divorce but they have proved ineffective to a large extent. Prenuptial agreements are a veritable source of protection for women who are incidentally the weaker party when there is a divorce but Nigeria has no legal frame work for prenuptial agreements. The doctrinal methodology was adopted in this research. This work indicated the importance of prenuptial agreements and suggests how to inculcate them into Nigerian laws to protect the rights of women.

Authors: S.C Ifemeje, P.O Itsueli