Child participation in custody proceedings in customary courts in Nigeria

Abstract

Child participation is one of the fundamental principles of child's rights under the United Nations Convention on the Right of the Child and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child to which Nigeria is a State party. As a fundamental principle, child participation is to be observed in decision-making processes that affect the child of which judicial custody proceedings is one. This research explores Nigeria's legislative framework on child participation and finds that the Child's Rights Act of 2003 and equivalent child's rights legislations at the state level do not have comprehensive provision on child participation. This research explores provisions of the child's rights legislations and customary courts laws applicable in Abuja, Lagos, Ekiti, Oyo and Kaduna States, and finds that the laws are inadequate to aid the application of child participation in custody proceedings in customary courts in Nigeria. Custody decisions of customary court in Kaduna state were analysed and secondary data on custody proceedings in Oyo and Ekiti states were used in supporting the analysis, and this research finds that child participation is not being applied in custody proceedings in customary courts in Nigeria despite that such proceedings are part of decision-making processes that affect children. This research therefore recommends legislative and judicial reforms among others to aid child participation in custody proceedings in Nigeria.