Abstract
This article reviews exclusively the right of the girl child to inheritance in Igboland in the eastern part of Nigeria but does not cover any discourse on the equivalent rights of a widow in Igbo land, which has been sufficiently discussed by previous writers. Also of concern is the practicability of enforcing those rights as pronounced by courts and its future prospects. Until recently, the customary laws governing the administration of inheritance in Igboland contained very few provisions governing the right of the girl child to inheritance. The recent reform of the customary law by the pronouncement of the Supreme Court in the 2014 decision of Ukeje v. Ukeje and the earlier legislative intervention by the Cross River State House of Assembly in 2007[1] and the Abia State House of Assembly in 2022 in enacting laws;[2]towards the protection of the right of the girl child to inheritance in Igboland are commendable. This paper attempts a review of the challenges, issues, prospects, and possible enforcement of the right of a girl child in Igbo land subsequent to the decision in Ukeje v. Ukeje (Supra).
Authors: Anthony Olotu Akpovi, Angela Akpovi
