Essay On Nigeria Legal System

Nigeria was first colonized by the British in the late nineteenth century who, set up an administrative structure and law while still recognizing the traditional morals. By 1960, Nigeria became an independent country and officially became known as the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Nigeria is located in West Africa and consists of 36 states with over 500 different ethnic groups. The country recognizes itself as a federal constitutional republic and has an open to the public type government. Since it was originally established by Britain, the Nigerian legal system is very traceable to them and originated its laws from common law. This paper will examine the culture of Nigeria, the fundamentals of its’ legal system and how laws are passed, legal actors that are part of the Nigerian criminal justice system, and will compare Nigeria to America.

The culture of Nigeria is multi-ethnic and consists of three large ethnic groups. These groups are the Yoruba, Hausa-Fulani, and the Igbo. The people of Nigeria still hold their traditional languages, music, and dance closely and may differ from ethnic group to ethnic group. Although English is considered to be Nigeria’s official language, only fifty percent of the population can speak it. This is contributed to the fact of the different amount of tribes, and generally, every tribe has its own language (Boomie).

The Nigerian legal system is very complex as it is broken down into three different sub-systems. These subsystems are located at the Federal level, state level, and local customs. On the Federal level, there is a general federal legal system that is applicable throughout the whole country and is considered the highest law making body. It is called the National Assembly and consists of...

... middle of paper ...

.... The same can be seen in the courts. Of course not on the lower levels, but on the superior level, like the Supreme Court, it looks like a direct model of the United States judicial branch. The judicial branch is mirrored with the way judges are appointed, and how the courts are handled. Also, the Tribal Law is kind of the same. Our Native Americans have a very similar process with their laws being passed into action. Although it is not made statewide and considered for everyone in the community like those in Nigeria, it is still seen in the United States. By looking at the history and culture of Nigeria it becomes obvious that they have adopted policy making and structure from the Unites States in their own way to fit their traditional way of life. This may be contributed to the fact of us both being common law countries or both being founded by British settlers.