marriage and naturalization. The section does not allow a Nigerian woman married to a foreigner to
transmit citizenship to her spouse by reason of marriage.
The National Assembly constituted a constitution review committee to anchor the process
of review of the 1999 Constitution. A National Conference was also held in 2014 and one of the
assignments of the conference was to review issues relating to the peaceful coexistence of the
citizens of Nigeria irrespective of age, sex, ethnicity etc. State. Memorandum on issues of concern
to women, which includes the gap that this section of the law creates was submitted to these two
bodies and the call for review of section 26(2) of the constitution is one of the priority issues listed.
Monitoring and Administrative Measures
The administrative arm of the Nigerian Government is also deploying substantial efforts
within its limited resources to rid the country of discrimination on the ground of sex. This is evidenced
by the plethora of policies and programmes employed to drive this obligation. The Federal Ministry
of Justice has staunchly taken the lead in this project, while other relevant agencies like the National
Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Law Reform Commission (LRC), Legal Aid Council, Nigerian
Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS), National Agency for the Prevention of Trafficking in
Persons (NAPTIP), FMWASD, the Code of Conduct Bureau, and the Federal Character Commission
have joined forces to see the task is well handled.
Advocacy and Knowledge Creation
The Minister for Women Affairs paid advocacy visits to key MDAs at national level to raise
awareness on the provisions of CEDAW and to advocate commitment to the promotion of gender
equality and the prohibition of discrimination to Chief Justice of Nigeria, the Attorney-General, IGP,
INEC Chairman among others. Similar visits were also made to the State Governors, State
Assemblies, Traditional leaders, CSOs) by the team during the reporting period.
The Nigerian Police Force has developed and adopted a National Human Rights Training
Curriculum. The development of the gender component of the manual was done with the support of
UN-Women and the manual used in all Police training colleges across the country.
Judicial Measures
The role of judges in advancing the human rights of women is systematically shared into two
parts —namely the ideologies of judicial restraints and judicial activism. Very recently, judicial
activism has been applied in a number of decided cases on gender issues in order to depart
drastically from obnoxious customs that obstructs women’s progress and full development. The
following landmark decision is a boost to the legal environment for the protection of the rights of
women and girls in Nigeria.
i.
Lois Chituru Ukeje vs Mrs Gladys Ada Ukeje April 2014, the Supreme Court of Nigeria
declared in this case that no matter the circumstances of the birth of a female child, such a child
is entitled to an inheritance from her late father’s estate. Consequently, the Igbo customary law
which disentitles a female child from partaking in the sharing of his deceased fathers estate is a
breach of section 42(1)(2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, a
fundamental Rights provision guaranteed to every Nigerian. This said discriminatory law is void
as it conflicts with section 42(1)(2) of the said Constitution.
ii.
Onyibor Anekwe and Anor v. Mrs. Maria Nweke (2014) LPELR 22697 (SC), the Supreme
Court held that Nigerian customs which disinherit women are repugnant to natural justice, equity
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