5 Nigerian laws that discriminate against women

Even though some progress in Nigerian laws and the constitution, more needs to be done.

Under Section 127 of the Police Act, married women are prevented from seeking enlistment in the Nigerian Police Force. 

Section 127 also provides that when an unmarried policewoman is pregnant, she would be discharged from the police force. She can only be reinstated with the approval of the Inspector General of Police (IGP). The NDLEA Act has similar provisions.

These laws are against the provision of the constitution (Section 42) that prohibits discrimination based on gender.

Although the court has declared this position illegal in Wela v. AGF, the provisions of the Police Act should be amended.

Under Section 55 of the Penal Code, husbands are permitted to correct and chastise their wives. Under Subsection 10, "Nothing is an offence which does not amount to the infliction of grievous harm upon a person and which is done by a husband for the purpose of correcting his wife…”

Under Section 241 of the Penal Code, "Grievous hurt includes emasculation, permanent loss of sight, ability to hear or speak, deprivation of any member or joint, destruction or permanent impairing of the powers of any member or joint, facial disfigurement, bone fracture or tooth dislocation."

So, one slap is enough? A knock on the head? Either way, hitting a woman is still wrong.

Section 26 of the constitution provides that the president may confer Nigerian citizenship on "any woman who is or who has been married to a citizen of Nigeria." 

A foreign woman becomes a Nigerian citizen by marriage but a foreign man goes through a rigorous process - citizenship by naturalisation which means he must have lived in Nigeria for at least 15 years.

Section 5 of the Labour Act prohibits females except for nurses from undertaking night work or private industrial undertaking or any agricultural undertaking.

Section 56 also prevents women from being employed in an underground mine except for those employed in management, health and service training.

Although designed to protect women, they are a tad discriminatory.

Even in marriages, consent is important, but Nigerian law does not recognise this.

Section 357 of the Criminal Code Act prohibits rape. It states, "Any person who has unlawful carnal knowledge of a woman or a girl, without her consent, or with her consent, if the consent is obtained by force or by means of threats or intimidation of any kind...in the case of a married woman, by impersonating her husband, is guilty of an offence which is called rape."

Marital rape does not exist because Section 6 of the Criminal Code defines 'unlawful carnal knowledge' as a carnal connection that takes place otherwise than husband and wife.

Even in the modern Violence Against Person Prohibition Act, marital rape does not exist. 

In conclusion, there has been some progress in Nigerian laws. For example, the Supreme Court has voided native law and custom that prevented widows and female children from owning the land of the deceased husband or father.

Even with this step in the right direction, a conscious effort at inclusion and diversity is necessary.