Non-State Law in Nigeria: A ”Treasure Trove” or “Pandora’s Box”?

Nigeria operates a tripartite legal system comprising customary law, Sharia law and the English common law regime. While the former two non-state legal systems predated the coming of the British to that region of Africa, English common law tradition was introduced with colonisation. Consequently, the Nigerian legal system has become submersed with legal pluralism which tends to put critical legal thinkers in two minds. This paper revisits the theories and practices of the established three-tier system within the context of the topical challenges that trickle down from attempting to reconcile the reliance by certain ethnic groups on the concept of self-determination (under the guise of freedom of religion and culture) and the opposing provisions of the Nigerian constitution and international treaties and conventions