Author(s): KPEA-UE BARIYIRA SIMPLE | Volume 18 (2)April, 2023
Abstract
The recognition and treatment accorded to the male and female have not been equal through times. In most parts of human society, including Nigeria, women‟s positions are defined by their male folk. There are attributes associated with being a male or female. This discriminatory treatment has affected many areas of women‟s lives including their right to property, successive or inheritance. This paper aimed at inquiring into the Rivers State Prohibition of the Curtailment of Women‟s Rights to Share in Family Property Law No 2 of 2022. Adopting the doctrinal research methodology, it is found that the Law vests in every wife the same rights and responsibilities in respect of the acquisition and ownership, management and administration, employment and disposition of the family property with her husband where the family property was jointly acquired. The Law equally prohibits all forms of discrimination against women in the distribution, allocation, or inheritance of family or community property. It is recommended that section 17 of the Law be amended to include a definition on what constitutes „legally married‟ and „family property.‟ Section 8 should be amended so that a woman who is divorced, whether she is remarried or not, will not be allowed to share in her divorced deceased husband‟s property.
Keywords: Rights, Women, Property.