A CRITICAL EVALUATION OF THE LEGITIMACY OF THE CHILD IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Children play very vital roles in any family and community. They are regarded as constituting a minority group whose interest is to be protected. Unfortunately, there are some structures within the society which make one child to have more privileges in the family and larger society over another child. In Nigeria, the status of the child is usually based on the circumstances of the birth of the child. The concept of legitimacy is a vital part of human existence. It is so important to the society such that it determines the status of the child. While a legitimate child is conferred with rights and privileges which include succession, on the other hand, any child that is determined to be illegitimate is denied of these rights. The discrimination continues except such child is legitimated either by subsequent marriage of the parents or by the acknowledgment of the paternity of such child by the father. The stigma never stops. The only way the Statute provides for legitimation of an illegitimate child is by subsequent marriage. This practice undermines the provisions of section 42(2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) which explicitly prohibits the discrimination of any person based on the circumstance of his or her birth. However, there are various methods by which a child can be said to be legitimate outside of natural conception by the parents. This article examined the nature of legitimacy in Nigeria with a view to highlighting the problems and challenges of legitimacy of the child and proffer possible suggestions as to eradicating illegitimacy in our legal lexicon.; This article contributes to the call for a look into how the status of ‘illegitimacy’ can be totally wiped out both in the law and in the society. Thus, according children legitimacy, irrespective of how they are given birth to.