@article{2016:chianu:formality_,
title = {Formality of Statutory Marriage in Nigeria: Need for a Policy-Driven Construction of the Marriage Act},
year = {2016},
note = {The Nigerian Marriage Act 1914 provides certain preliminary
formalities which a prospec- tive couple should comply with before
celebrating statutory marriage. An examination of the reported
decisions shows that the Act’s potency is whittled down because the
courts have failed to purposively construe its salient provisions.
Even though the Act is a century old, no social or moral development
justifies a change; so little is suggested to reform the formality
part of the Act. Rather, the article undertakes a diligent examination
of the Act to ascertain its object, and finds that it is the promotion
of monogamy in a society where, for the most part polygamy is the
norm. It proffers a construction of the Act that promotes this object.
It also suggests a stern judicial attitude that urges each prospective
spouse to consci- entiously address his/her mind to his/her
self-serving obligation to comply with the prelimi- nary formalities
in the Act.},
journal = {RiA Recht in Afrika | Law in Africa | Droit en Afrique},
pages = {48--61},
author = {Chianu, Emeka},
volume = {19},
number = {1}
}