Restatement of Customary Law of Nigeria

Book excerpt: The idea of a Restatement is to identify common principles or trends in a particular area of law with the objective of unifying the further development of the law. No other area of law in Nigeria is in need of Restatement as much as Nigeria's customary law. A number of reasons inform this position: (i) the cultural diversity of the country has meant that customary practices differ in so many respects on the same issue; (ii) the oral tradition of the customary system has placed it in the 'endangered species' list; (iii) the paucity of authoritative works on customary law has created a yawning gap for the scholarship in this vital area of law; and (iv) no matter however ignored, customary law continues to play a very significant role in moderating the Nigerian values system in society. Carried out by the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies this project brings to an end four years of a massive research undertaking involving desk review; field research covering four geo-political zones in Nigeria; collation and analysis of field research findings; testing of field research findings in a stakeholders consultative conference; further desk review to fill in gaps in the literature; and the core restatement work by a select committee of Reporters.