A REFLECTION ON THE 1999 NIGERIAN CONSTITUTION, AND DISCRIMINATORY LAWS AGAINST WOMEN’S RIGHTS IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Equality as a concept is synonymous with freedom from discrimination and presupposes that every person must be treated equally irrespective of race, gender, colour, ethnicity, religion, disability or other characteristics without discrimination, privilege or bias. In Nigeria, women face challenges that are caused by discriminatory provisions of extant laws at national and sub-national levels and is a situation created by the Nigerian Constitution. This paper focuses on discrimination against women in Nigeria by interrogating the various legal framework such as conventions treaties, charters at the international, regional, national and sub-national levels on discrimination against women. This paper reveals that the situation in Nigeria remains peculiar with respect to discrimination against women, and is a product of Section 43 (3) of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution. This section serves as impairment to possible challenges that would have arisen against these discriminatory provisions under such laws and regulations therefrom. Section 42 (1) of the Constitution provides for freedom from discrimination against every person but sub-section (3) makes this provision unrealisable and ineffective particularly when it relates to women as created by extant laws founded on the authority of this constitutional provision. The paper concludes with suggestions towards correcting this injustice against women in Nigeria.