Overview of the Concepts of Legitimacy and Legitimation under the Nigerian Laws

Abstract

This article examines the concepts of legitimacy and legitimation under the Nigerian Laws. It explains the two concepts that are similar in nature by discussing who is a legitimate child and who is an illegitimate child; it also discusses the legal implications of an illegitimate child and that of legitimate child. It discusses the rights and privileges of a legitimate child and also those of an illegitimate child. The article discusses the statuses of illegitimate child under Islamic law, statutory law, customary law, and under void marriage and voidable marriages. It goes further to discuss the provision of Section 42 (2) of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) viz-a-viz the status of illegitimate children. The work reviews some relevant cases to the topic. It concludes by summarizing that it could be deduced that before a child could be regarded as legitimate, he or she must be a product of a valid marriage. However, the case of acknowledgement did not take this into consideration. The article recommends that the Legitimacy Act be made less stringent, that the date of legitimation should be made effective from the date of birth and not the date of legitimation and that the constitution should be amended to include punishment for whoever discriminates or make derogatory remarks about an illegitimate child, among others.