{"id":{"repo_id":"cape-town","oai_identifier":"oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/12911"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/cape-town/oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/12911","repository":{"repo_id":"cape-town","name":"University of Cape Town","base_url":"https://open.uct.ac.za/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"The distortion of the meaning of bride wealth: significance for the evolution of living customary law in southern Nigeria","abstract":"Nigeria’s Constitution does not provide for the interaction of the received English law, statutory law, and customary law. Bride wealth, an important aspect of customary law in southeast Nigeria, symbolises the bride’s worth to her family, as well as a bond between the bride and groom’s families. The changes introduced by colonial rule distorted its meaning to the extent that people disobeyed legislation enacted to curb excessive bride wealth. This disobedience is traceable to socio-economic and cultural factors founded on people’s survival needs. This disobedience has great significance for the evolution of living customary law, legal pluralism, and success of development projects in Nigeria. It signifies that development policies should take into consideration the living customary laws of people at the receiving end of development projects. At a broader level, it also signifies participation of local communities indecision-making that affects them. The thesis suggests that implementation of wide ranging consultations during the law-making process will strengthen democratic institutions in Nigeria.","abstract_html":"Nigeria’s Constitution does not provide for the interaction of the received English law, statutory law, and customary law. Bride wealth, an important aspect of customary law in southeast Nigeria, symbolises the bride’s worth to her family, as well as a bond between the bride and groom’s families. The changes introduced by colonial rule distorted its meaning to the extent that people disobeyed legislation enacted to curb excessive bride wealth. This disobedience is traceable to socio-economic and cultural factors founded on people’s survival needs. This disobedience has great significance for the evolution of living customary law, legal pluralism, and success of development projects in Nigeria. It signifies that development policies should take into consideration the living customary laws of people at the receiving end of development projects. At a broader level, it also signifies participation of local communities indecision-making that affects them. The thesis suggests that implementation of wide ranging consultations during the law-making process will strengthen democratic institutions in Nigeria.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Diala, Jane Chinonyerem"],"institution":"Department of Public Law","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Smythe Dee"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2014,"date_issued":"2014","date_published":"2014","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:22:46Z","subjects":[],"languages":["eng"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/11427/12911","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Smythe Dee"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Diala, Jane Chinonyerem"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2015-05-27T04:08:55Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2015-05-27T04:08:55Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2014"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.department","label":"Dc Publisher Department","values":["Department of Public Law"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.institution","label":"Dc Publisher Institution","values":["University of Cape Town"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Master Thesis"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationlevel","label":"Dc Type Qualificationlevel","values":["Masters"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationname","label":"Dc Type Qualificationname","values":["LLM"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["eng"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/11427/12911"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Includes bibliographical references."]},{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Nigeria’s Constitution does not provide for the interaction of the received English law, statutory law, and customary law. Bride wealth, an important aspect of customary law in southeast Nigeria, symbolises the bride’s worth to her family, as well as a bond between the bride and groom’s families. The changes introduced by colonial rule distorted its meaning to the extent that people disobeyed legislation enacted to curb excessive bride wealth. This disobedience is traceable to socio-economic and cultural factors founded on people’s survival needs. This disobedience has great significance for the evolution of living customary law, legal pluralism, and success of development projects in Nigeria. It signifies that development policies should take into consideration the living customary laws of people at the receiving end of development projects. At a broader level, it also signifies participation of local communities indecision-making that affects them. The thesis suggests that implementation of wide ranging consultations during the law-making process will strengthen democratic institutions in Nigeria."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The distortion of the meaning of bride wealth: significance for the evolution of living customary law in southern Nigeria"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Smythe Dee"],"dc:creator":["Diala, Jane Chinonyerem"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2015-05-27T04:08:55Z"],"dc:date.available":["2015-05-27T04:08:55Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2014"],"dc:description":["Includes bibliographical references."],"dc:description.abstract":["Nigeria’s Constitution does not provide for the interaction of the received English law, statutory law, and customary law. Bride wealth, an important aspect of customary law in southeast Nigeria, symbolises the bride’s worth to her family, as well as a bond between the bride and groom’s families. The changes introduced by colonial rule distorted its meaning to the extent that people disobeyed legislation enacted to curb excessive bride wealth. This disobedience is traceable to socio-economic and cultural factors founded on people’s survival needs. This disobedience has great significance for the evolution of living customary law, legal pluralism, and success of development projects in Nigeria. It signifies that development policies should take into consideration the living customary laws of people at the receiving end of development projects. At a broader level, it also signifies participation of local communities indecision-making that affects them. The thesis suggests that implementation of wide ranging consultations during the law-making process will strengthen democratic institutions in Nigeria."],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/11427/12911"],"dc:language.iso":["eng"],"dc:publisher.department":["Department of Public Law"],"dc:publisher.institution":["University of Cape Town"],"dc:title":["The distortion of the meaning of bride wealth: significance for the evolution of living customary law in southern Nigeria"],"dc:type":["Master Thesis"],"dc:type.qualificationlevel":["Masters"],"dc:type.qualificationname":["LLM"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:22:46Z"}