ILO standards and compensation for employment injuries in Nigeria

In 2010, Nigeria enacted the Employees’ Compensation Act (ECA) to provide compensation for employment injuries. This work assesses the Act with a view to evaluate the extent of Nigeria’s compliance with the social security minimum standards of compensation for employment injuries set by the International Labour Organisation (ILO). It finds that whilst the ECA 2010 is in substantial conformity with ILO standards, there are core challenges of applicability, adaptability and administration. The work recommends that progressive realisation of the standards and process consideration is imperative for realistic attainment of the philosophy of a compensation scheme for employment injuries in Nigeria.     

“With all My worldly possessions I thee wed”: Nigerian courts and the exercise of discretionary justice in property ownership disputes in marriage and divorce

The question of title to property between married couples remains intractable in Nigeria’s social context. Ownership is addressed by Nigerian courts in a discretionary framework devoid of a cohesive conceptualization. By reviewing cases in Nigeria and England the paper finds that the exercise of discretionary justice is a ‘cold legal question’ and defective in granting a realistic outcome. A different approach is germane to achieve justice in family law. It concludes that the extant judicial approach is at variance with the marital vow ‘with all my worldly possessions I thee wed’ which imports unity of assets in the social psyche of parties.