A LEGAL APPRAISAL OF THE PRACTICE OF DOUBLE-DECKER MARRIAGE IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The institution of marriage is recognised, respected and held to be sacred and vital to human existence in Africa and the world over. Marriage is governed by both legislation and rules of customs especially in African setting and therefore can be contracted in many forms. It has become a common practice in Nigeria for parties who intend to contract a statutory marriage to marry first under customary law before the solemnization of the statutory marriage. This practice may be explained by the fact that though Western civilization and culture have permeated Nigerian society, most people even the most sophisticated understandably regard themselves as bound by the customary law of their place of origin. The Marriage Act has given validity to this practice by enabling couple who are married under customary law to marry each other under the statute. Similarly, customary law does not frown at the subsequent marriage under the Act after the initial customary marriage. The paper examines the position of such marriage and the question of whether the latter marriage (statutory marriage) superseded the former (customary marriage) or the former is converted to the later. The paper finds that lacunae exist in the Marriage Act as to the implication of such marriage. The study discovers the situation of non-issuance of marriage certificate and non-registration of customary marriages in Nigeria. The result is that couples who contract such marriage remain unprotected. To address this seemingly loophole, the paper recommends among other things, the amendment of the Marriage Act to clarify the status of the earlier customary marriage between the same couple who subsequently contract a marriage under the Act, provision for a more substantial formality such as marriage certificate after a customary marriage and registration of all marriages celebrated in Nigeria. This way, couples will be better protected and gain better understanding of the associated problems of such marriage in Nigeria.