It has become a common practice in Nigeria for parties who intend to contract a statutory marriage to marry first under customary law before the solemnization of the statutory marriage. This practice may be explained by the fact that though Western civilization and culture have permeated Nigerian society, most people, even the most sophisticated understandably regard themselves as bound by the customary law of their place of origin. The Nigerian Marriage Act has given validity to this practice by enabling who are married under Customary Law to marry each other under the statute.

Some legal questions arise from this practice. It is uncertain whether the statutory marriage supersedes, for all intent and purposes, the previous customary-law marriage, or if the customary law marriage is merely put into abeyance to retrieve after the subsequent statutory marriage has come to an end. There is also the question of whether both marriages co-exist.

The purpose of this project will be to examine all this questions and the position of such marriages and the associated problems in Nigeria.

Table of Content COVER PAGE

CERTIFICATION PAGE

ABSTRACT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DEDICATION

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

TABLE OF STATUTES

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1.0.0INTRODUCTION

1.1.0BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

1.2.0 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

1.3.0FOCUS OF THE STUDY

1.4.0SCOPE OF THE STUDY

1.5.0METHODOLOGY

1.6.0LITERATURE REVIEW

1.7.0DEFINITION OF TERMS

1.7.0CONCLUSION

CHAPTER TWO

GLOBAL CONCEPT OF MARRIAGE EXAMINED

2.0.0INTRODUCTION

2.1.0DEFINITION OF MARRIAGE

2.2.0CONSTITUTION OF MARRIAGE UNDER NIGERIAN LAW

2.2.1CONSTITUTION OF MARRIAGE UNDER CUSTOMARY LAW

2.2.2CONSTITUTION OF MARRIAGE UNDER STATUTORY LAW

3.3.0LEGAL EFFECT OF MARRIAGE IN NIGERIAN

2.4.0CONCLUSION

CHAPTER THREE

DOUBLE-DECKER MARRIAGE IN NIGERIA: ISSUES, PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS

3.0.0 INTRODUCTION

3.1.0 DEFINITION OF DOUBLE- DECKER MARRIAGE

3.2.0 REASONS FOR DOUBLE- DECKER MARRIAGE

3.3.0 IMPLICATION AND EFFECT OF DOUBLE- DECKER MARRIAGE

3.4.0 PROBLEMS OF DOUBLE- DECKER MARRIAGE IN NIGERIA

3.5.0 TERMINATION OF DOUBLE- DECKER MARRIAGE IN NIGERIA

3.6.0 CONCLUSION

CHAPTER FOUR

PROSPECT OF DOUBLE-DECKER MARRIAGE IN NIGERIA

4.0.0INTRODUCTION

4.1.0ADVANTAGES OF DOUBLE-DECKER MARRIAGE IN NIGERIA

4.1.1SOCIAL BENEFITS OF DOUBLE-DECKER MARRIAGE IN NIGERIA

4.1.2ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF DOUBLE-DECKER MARRIAGE IN NIGERIA

4.1.3JUDICIAL BENEFITS OF DOUBLE-DECKER MARRIAGE IN NIGERIA

4.2.0CONCLUSION

CHAPTER FIVE

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

5.0.0CONCLUSION

5.1.0RECOMMENDATION

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