was a common form of marriage under the three cultures, which unfortunately, is still practiced in some rural communities especially in the Hausa culture in the northern state of Nigeria. Under the practices a girl from birth was betrothed to a man to whom she will be formally married to between the ages of eight and ten. According to Sabbatou (1998) in answer to a question on the practice of child marriage set father answered this, this practice existed before I was born and there is no use complaining about it my daughter listen to me, I married your mother at the
The Nigeria legal system. The position pluralism operates in Nigeria leasing confusion and generating controversy . It has left a gap that permits choice of laws. The interests of the women are particularly affected by the operation of multiple legal systems governing family law in Nigeria.
Depending on the place of residence, type of marriage, ethnic group, or religion, a woman right and responsibility to marriage inheritance, ownership and widowhood practical may be governed by one of the systems under discussion boundaries of the three family law systems are complex and the customary law are not united. The multiplicity of the applicable legal system has been a problem for the courts that faced with determining not only the problem of law that is applicable, but which of the several customary laws is applicable. There and further complications because the federal system of government that operates in Nigerian places customary law with the legislative competence of the states but retain federal jurisdiction over statutory marriage in 1999 constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria is the supreme law of the land with various provisions that protect the right of all citizen from discrimination and providers citizens with rights to freedom from discrimination based on community, place of origin, ethnic group, sex, religion or political option.
The court system where justice is depended and the advocates of equity and justice, and equality before the law bare not in all cases portaged themselves to mean this. There are occasions when the courts shifted to the side of customs in the decision in issues of marriage, inheritance of widowhood disregarding the provisions of the statutes, and it decision resulted in inflecting violence on the woman
The roles played by the regular courts have not been consistent
The particular features in the Nigerian legal system is the attitude of the people most disputes involving family law are regarded as promote when consisted in public, such despites are usually take outsides the formal court system, and decided it the village or local administrative level, an example is the native courts of the Umuadas in Igbo Land, at such level, precedence is given to the customary law of the people it includes.
· High cost of the filing papers
· Bureaucracy in the formal courts
· High legal fees for counsel and
· Long and complex procedure of formal courts.
· Agenda for change
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