CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

Before the introduction of English Laws in Nigeria, there were already made laws which governed the relationship, agreement and interactions between the people. This law emerged from the existing customs binding the people in agreement. These laws regulated the affairs of local life. These laws are called customary laws. Customary law, or native law and custom and its enforcement system was the only legal system that existed among the indigenous peoples and communities, long ago, before the colonialists, and other religions and systems of law came and took root in the area known today as Nigeria and elsewhere in Black Africa. In the communal legal system, which obtained before the advent of modern legal system, customary law was the law and it enjoyed respect.

The communal courts cited on the basis of customary law and their sanctions which were backed by coercion all derived from custom. However, today customs, do not enjoy the privilege of automatic enforcement in the modern courts systems as was the case in the days when communal and village courts held sway, applying customary law backed with the necessary coercive machinery of the community. Today, for customs to be applied as a customary law in our modern and integrated court system, the custom must satisfy or pass the validity tests, which is a prerequisite for its application.

VALIDITY OF CUSTOMARY LAW IN NIGERIA