Limitation of Dowry Law: A Necessary Sanitizer or A Needless Intervention?

By Iniubong Idongesit Moses

“I think we should get rid of the whole idea of money in marriage, we are not selling anybody.”-Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

INTRODUCTION:

We live in a society where the father of a Bride-to-be will make it a prerequisite for his soon-to-be son-in-law to complete the abandoned bungalow he started in the village or fix his rickety vehicle [2] before he can marry his daughter. Social media has been agog with news of abandoned traditional marriages due to the inhumane and exploitative amount fixed as  Dowry or Bride Price [3]. Commenting on this ugly transformation, Bishop Amos Betungura refreshed our memories in the following words:

“Our forefathers started the custom of the bride price because it gave honor to the girl. Bride price cows were named after her. It gave respect to the woman to whom she was married. These days, however, this good custom is being debased by some parents, who make it appear like they are selling their daughters. They think bride price is intended to make them rich. Where bride price used to be one heifer and one bull, or two heifers, some parents start haggling from 12 cows and only stop at 10 or 8 cows!”

Sadly, the exploitation never ends with the payment of Bride Price. The intending husband or groom is given a lengthy list of customary items independent of the Bride Price [5]. The provision of every item on this list or its monetary equivalent is also brandished by the family of a Bride-to-be as a condition precedent for the validity of a customary marriage. Typically, the content of this list is twice or thrice the value of the Bride Price and remains a cause for concern.

It is this dire need to limit gifts and payments on account of marriage and for connected purposes that makes the Limitation of  Dowry Law a welcomed addition to our body of laws in various States in Nigeria.

This article shines a light on the limitations of Dowry Law in Akwa Ibom State and appraises the purpose, applicability, and effect of the said piece of legislation.

AN OVERVIEW OF THE LIMITATION OF DOWRY LAW, CAP. 89, LAWS OF AKWA IBOM STATE 2022

The Limitation of Dowry Law, a child of necessity, was conceived as a sanitizer to clean the Augean Stables of excessive and exploitative requirements for Customary Marriage in Akwa Ibom State.

Section 1(a) of the said Law, evincing the intention of the legislature, declares that notwithstanding any custom or practice, where no incidental expenses of marriage are paid by the husband or intended husband or on his behalf, dowry shall not exceed in amount or value the sum of Two Hundred Thousand Naira. Taking a step further, Section 1(b) of the said Law provides that where incidental expenses of marriage are paid by the husband or intended husband or on his behalf, dowry shall not exceed in amount or value the sum of One Hundred Thousand Naira and the incidental expenses aforesaid shall not exceed in amount or value the sum of One Hundred Thousand Naira.

On the meaning of keywords used in the enabling provisions, Section 5 of the Limitation of

 Dowry Law defines the word “Dowry,” as “any gift or payment in money, natural produce, or in any other kind of property whatsoever, to a parent or guardian of a female person on account of a marriage of that person which is intended or has taken place”. The same section of the Law defines “Incidental Expenses of Marriage” as “customary gifts or payments, other than dowry, made or incurred on account of a marriage, before, at the time of, or after that marriage”. The word “Marriage,” is defined as “any marriage other than a marriage contracted under the Marriage Act in force in Nigeria”.

Without mincing words, Section 2(a)–(c) of the Limitation of  Dowry Law criminalizes acts connected with giving, receiving, and/or promising to give or receive dowry and incidental expenses above the prescription of the Law. Specifically, the Law makes it a criminal offence for a person to ask, receive, obtain, agree or attempt to receive or obtain, for himself or any other person, any dowry above the maximum prescribed in the Law. Furthermore, it also criminalizes the act of giving, paying, promising or offering to give or pay to any person any dowry above the maximum prescribed in the Law. Finally, the Law makes it a criminal offence for any person who incurs, promises, offers to incur or attempts to incur any incidental expenses of marriage above the maximum prescribed in the Law.

By Section 4 of the Limitation of  Dowry Law, any person who commits an offence under the provisions of Section 2 of the Law shall be liable, on conviction, to confinement for two years or to a fine not exceeding Fifty Thousand Naira.

Bringing home the above statement of the law, the payment of Bride Price in Akwa Ibom State should not exceed Two Hundred Thousand Naira where no “marriage list” is given. If a “Marriage List” is given, the payment of Bride Price should not exceed One Hundred Thousand Naira, and the amount or value of the items set out in the “Marriage List” should, also, not exceed One Hundred Thousand Naira.

IS THE LIMITATION OF DOWRY LAW A NEEDLESS DANCE WITH TRIFLES?

It is an age-long legal principle that the law does not notice or concern itself with trifling matters [6]. However, the determination of what is and what is not a “trifle” is a moot point that remains an issue of subjective appreciation. Be that as it may, a jurisprudential analysis of the essence of the Limitation of  Dowry Law will be undertaken below.

Even in the face of the rapid westernization of African culture and values, the concept of  Dowry or Bride Price has remained a fixed factor in Customary Marriage in Nigeria [7]. In the case of Obi & Ors v. Bosah & Ors [8], the Court of Appeal in Nigeria held that “there are two essentials of a valid marriage. These are payment of bride price and handing over of the bride to the groom.” This judicial stance reveals that the issue of payment of Bride Price or Dowry is a necessity in Nigeria and has been meritoriously elevated from the realm of customary theoretical postulation to that of a legal sine qua non.

Over the years, activism and discussions have been ongoing on the viability and continued need for  Dowry or Bride Price in Nigeria and in Africa at large [9]. Sihle Hlophe, a documentary filmmaker living in Johannesburg, directed the 2019 film, “Lobola: A Bride’s True Price?” which explores the practice of Bride Price by following her marriage journey [10]. Sometime in October 2019, a 17-year-old girl in Zamfara State, Nigeria, set herself on fire because her boyfriend could not afford the Bride Price fixed by her family [11]. In Zimbabwe, Priccilar Vengesai, a lawyer based in Harare, asked the Constitutional Court to abolish Lobola (Bride Price), or, if that fails, to rule that the obligation to make a Lobola payment might apply to either the Bride or Groom’s family. Ms. Vengesai said the terms of her previous marriages objectified and dehumanized her. In her words:

“This whole scenario reduced me to a property, whereby a price tag was put on me by my uncles, and my husband paid. This demoralized me, and automatically subjected me to my husband’s control, since I would always feel that I was purchased.” [12]

In the same vein, Mifumi (U) Limited, a Non-Governmental Organization and a women’s rights agency operating in Uganda, and 12 other persons petitioned the Constitutional Court in Uganda asking the said Court to declare the marriage custom and practice of demanding Bride Price, and its refund in case the marriage breaks down, unconstitutional. Mifumi contended that most men who pay Bride Prices, believe that they have paid for their wives’ “sexual and reproductive capacity”, validating the belief that wives are husbands’ property [13]. In a majority Judgment of 6:1, the Supreme Court of Uganda disagreed that Bride Price is in itself unconstitutional but agreed that it was unconstitutional and dehumanizing to force wives to pay a refund when divorcing their husbands. Making his position known in the case of Mifumi (U) Limited & Anor v. Attorney General & Anor [14], Honorable Justice Bart Katureebe, CJ, declared:

“The return of [the] bride price connotes that the woman in marriage was some sort of loan. But even in sale, the cliché is that goods once sold cannot be returned or goods once used cannot be refunded. If that cannot be done with respect to common goods like cows, why should it be applied to a woman in marriage?” [15]

With the rising tide of contemporary Western Feminism and the unending advocacy for equal rights for all genders, the concept of Dowry or Bride Price has been pictured by a cross-section of the literate community as crude, sexist, dehumanizing, and exploitative of both genders. This school of thought maintains that Dowry, or Bride Price, projects the female gender as chattels or articles of trade to be owned, possessed, and passed on at the right price. They further view Bride Price as the commodification or bargain for the purchase of a wife in the marriage market. In this way, after the payment of Bride Price, a man obtains an absolute proprietary interest in his wife.

Regardless of these high-spirited arguments made within and outside Nigeria, the payment of Bride Price or  Dowry remains an integral part of our culture and a validating element of a Nigerian Customary Marriage.

Impressively, the requirements for Bride Price and Incidental Expenses of Marriage in Akwa Ibom State have turned into a standard commercial transaction with the capitalist flavour of selling off a Bride-to-be to the highest bidder. The mantra: ‘we are not selling our daughter’ or ‘no amount of money is commensurate to what we have trained our daughter with’ no longer passes. It appears to be the reverse. It is even worse for low-income families who must exploit their one-off opportunity and enrich themselves.

It is a fact of common knowledge that the customary concept of Bride Price is rapidly becoming a psycho-cultural menace in our society, and the only lethal weapon we have against this menace is the Limitation of  Dowry Law. Without a doubt, the law is and has always been a means of social engineering, and its adequate enforcement is imperative to the achievement of behavioral change and social justice.

Despite the long-term existence of the Limitation of  Dowry Law, many people are ignorant of it. The said Law, being a law validly enacted by the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, is fully enforceable. So far, this Law has yet to be tested in our Courts as there is no reported case on it. Consequently, there are genuine fears in the legal circle that the Limitation of Dowry Law of Akwa Ibom State may fall into desuetude in the not-too-distant future. Providing a guide on how to distill a situation of desuetude or obsolescence in a statute, the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia in Committee on Legal Ethics v. Printz [17] laid down a three-factor rule as follows:

1. Does the statute prohibit only acts that are malum prohibitum (mere prohibited evil), as opposed to malum in se (evil in itself)?
2. Has there been open, notorious, and pervasive violations of the statute for a long period?
3. Has there been a ‘conspicuous policy of non-enforcement’?

Flowing from the above Three-factor Rule, it is conclusive that the Limitation of  Dowry Law of Akwa Ibom State has the possibility of falling into desuetude if its enforcement is not prioritized. Firstly, the offence of exceeding a certain amount of money as payment for  Dowry and/or Incidental Expenses of Marriage cannot be seen as “an inherent evil,” but as a mere wrong prohibited and criminalized to inject sanity into society. Secondly, the existence of this Law has not stopped its open and daring violation. It is important to note that the Limitation of Dowry Law, Akwa Ibom State, 2022 is only a revision of the pre-existing law on this point [18]. Lastly, I think it would be unrealistic to expect an intending Groom and/or his family to report to a law enforcement agency that the  Dowry and/or Incidental Expenses of Marriage demanded by the family of the Birde-to-be has exceeded the threshold prescribed in the enabling Law.

Practical problems abound, to wit: would an intending Groom and/or his family report their future in-laws to a law enforcement agency or would they, for the sake of peace, proceed with the marriage in complete disregard of the Law? Would a third party readily report to a law enforcement agency the crime of exceeding the statutory limit of  Dowry and/or Incidental Expenses? Would the law enforcement agency timeously act on a complaint made in this respect? The regrettable practice is that where an intending Groom is unable to meet the demands of  Dowry and/or Incidental Expenses of Marriage as made by the family of the Bride-to-be, he will negotiate for a reduction, and where the negotiation fails, he will terminate or abort the plan to marry the said Bride-to-be. This realization places a cosmetic value over the letters and spirit of the Limitation of Dowry Law, Akwa Ibom State.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS:

While the customary practice of Bride Price or  Dowry has received remarkable criticism in terms of its exploitative operation and contemporary application, it is my view that the payment of Bride Price or Dowry is not inherently bad. We need to move from the cut-throat approach garbed in exploitation to a liberal and progressive approach that will enable a small amount to be paid as a symbolic reflection of the age-long tradition of the people of Akwa Ibom State.

Interestingly, the Limitation of  Dowry Law, Akwa Ibom State stepped in to address this issue by stipulating the maximum amount that can be expended on Dowry and/or Incidental Expenses of Marriage in Akwa Ibom State. Notwithstanding the various challenges bedeviling the enforcement of the said Law, it is my considered view that the Limitation of  Dowry Law is a “necessary sanitizer” that needs to wake from its slumber. To enable the Limitation of Dowry Law to effectively sanitize the payment of Dowry and/or Incidental Expenses of Marriage in Akwa Ibom State, I make the following recommendations:

1. An amendment of the Limitation of Dowry Law, Akwa Ibom State to provide monetary compensation for the victim of the exploitation, where such a victim is the Complainant. This will promote Restorative Justice and also serve as deterrence to others.
2. An amendment of the Limitation of  Dowry Law, Akwa Ibom State to provide for Community Service as a genre of punishment which will, interalia, mandate the convict to propagate, in his immediate Village, the gospel of the existence of the said Law; its restrictions; and its sanctions.
3. The Ministry of Information, Akwa Ibom State, and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) must take it upon themselves to sensitize and educate members of the public on the existence of the said Law; its restrictions; and its sanctions.
4. Religious bodies, socio-cultural groups, traditional institutions, and educational institutions should simplify the letters of the Limitation of  Dowry Law, Akwa Ibom State, and disseminate the same to its members, subjects, and/or adherents.
5. Law Enforcement Agencies must wake to the reality that there is a law that limits gifts and payments on account of Customary Marriage and for connected purposes in Akwa Ibom State.

*Iniubong Idongesit Moses is a lawyer with a keen interest in women and children’s rights. She can be reached at mosesiniubong8@gmail.com. X: @iniubong_moses 

END NOTES:

• Quoted in Melissa Mordi, ‘The Real Cost of Bride Price’ (The Guardian, 9 May 2019) <https://guardian.ng/features/the-real-cost-of-bride-price/> accessed 1 April 2024;
• News Direct, ‘Nigerian Groom Abandons Wedding Ceremony, Escapes Through Bush Due to Excess Demands’ (News Direct, 2 January 2024)

<https://newsdirect.ng/nigerian-groom-abandons-wedding-ceremony-escapes-through-bushdue-to-excess-demands/> accessed 3 April 2024.

• Chijioke Iremeka, ‘High Bride Price, “Extortion” of Grooms and Dignity of Igbo Women in

Marriage’ (The Guardian, 14 January 2023)

<https://guardian.ng/saturday-magazine/c105-saturday-magazine/high-bride-price-extortion-o f-grooms-and-dignity-of-igbo-women-in-marriage/> accessed 4, 2024; News Direct, ibid.

• This view was expressed by Bishop Amos Betungura in his book, “Obushwere n’Amagara Gaabwo,” translated as “Marriage and Life In It” in English, Fountain Publishers Limited, 1996 at page 22 and cited with approval by Honourable Justice Tumwesigye, JSC, in the Ugandan Supreme Court case of Mifumi (U) Limited & Anor v. Attorney General & Anor (2015)

UGSC 13 (6 August 2015) which can be assessed, via <https://ulii.org/akn/ug/judgment/ugsc/2015/13/eng@2015–08–06> assessed April 4, 2024.

• See the following publications on this issue: Stella Dimokokorkus, ‘Traditional Marriage List

Of      A      Village     in      Akwa-Ibom      State’     (Stelladimokokorkus,      1      October       2018)

<https://www.stelladimokokorkus.com/2018/10/traditional-marriage-list-of-village-in.html> accessed 3 April 2024; Latest Naija Info, ‘Akwa Ibom Bride Price List & Marriage List (Pictures)’ (Top Info, no date) <https://topinfo.ng/akwa-ibom-bride-price-list-marriage-list-pictures/> accessed 4 April 2024; Edikan Ekanem, ‘High Cost of Bride Price in Akwa Ibom’ (Opinion

Nigeria,                                          13                                          March                                           2017)

<https://www.opinionnigeria.com/high-cost-of-bride-price-in-akwa-ibom-by-edikan-ekanem/> accessed 4 April 2024; Khadija Thabit, ‘Nigerian Man Shares Bride Price List A Friend Got

From     His     Akwa      Ibom     In-laws      (Photos)’     (Legit     Nigeria,      3     August       2018)

<https://www.legit.ng/1184333-nigerian-man-shares-bride-price-list-a-friend-akwa-ibom-lawsphotos.html> accessed 5 April 2024.

• This is expressed in the Latin Maxim: De minimis non curat lex.
• Chika Oduah, ‘Bride Price Custom Honoured in Nigeria, Despite Concerns’, (VOA Africa, 29

November                                                                                                                                          2019)

<https://www.voanews.com/africa/bride–price–custom–honored–nigeria–despite–concerns> accessed 6 April 2024; Action 4 Justice Nigeria, ‘Marriages And Their Legal Framework in

Nigeria’                      (Action                      4                      Justice,                      no                       date)

<https://nigeria.action4justice.org/legal_areas/womens-rights-focusing-on-marriage-rights/ma rriages-and-their-legal-framework-in-nigeria/> accessed 6 April 2024.

• (2019) LPELR-47243 (CA). Other Nigerian cases equally amplify this position. Please, see the case of Agbeja v Agbeja (1985) 3 NWLR (Pt. 11) and Okolonwamu v Okolonwamu (2014) LPELR-22631 (CA).
• See the following published works: E. Onyango, ‘The Negative Consequences of  Dowry Payment on Women and Society’ (2016), 30(1) Priscilla Papers 1 – 4; N. Sambe, M. Avanger &

1. Agba, ‘The Effects of High Bride Price on Marital Stability’ (2013), 17(5) IOSR Journal of

Humanities            and           Social           Science           (IOSR-JHSS)           65           –            70

<https://www.iosrjournals.org/iosr–jhss/papers/Vol17–issue5/K01756570.pdf?id=8406> accessed 6 April 2024.

• Chika (n 7).
• Abubakar Ahmadu Maishanu, ‘Zamfara Girl Who Set Self Ablaze Over Boyfriend’s Inability to Pay  Dowry Dies’ (Legit Nigeria, 23 October 2019)

<https://www.premiumtimesng.com/regional/nwest/359204-zamfara-girl-who-set-self-ablazeover-boyfriends-inability-to-pay-dowry-dies.html?tztc=1> accessed 6 April 2024.

• Olivia Decelles, ‘Bride Price: Young South African Women Weigh Freedom and Tradition’

(The               Christian               Science                Monitor,               30               May                2018)

<https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/2018/0530/Bride-price-Young-South-African-wome n-weigh-freedom-and-tradition> accessed 6 April 2024.

• Face 2 Face Africa, ‘Uganda’s Supreme Court Rules Bride Price Refunds Unconstitutional’ (Face 2 Face Africa, 6 August 2015), <https://face2faceafrica.com/article/bride-price-refund> accessed April 6, 2024.
• (2015) UGSC 13 (6 August 2015).
• Quoted in Alon Mwesigwa, ‘Ugandan Court Rules Against Refund of “Bride Price” After

Divorce’                    (The                    Guardian,                   17                    August                     2015)

<https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2015/aug/17/uganda-court-rules-against-r efund-bride-price-divorce> accessed 6 April 2024.

• Chijioke (n 3); Melissa (n 1); Nancy Moran, ‘Do they pay Bride Price in Nigeria?’ (Bridal Tip, no date) <https://thebridaltip.com/do-they-pay-bride-price-in-nigeria/> accessed 6 April 2024.
• 187 W. Va. 182 (W. Va. 1992), per Neely, J., which can be assessed, via <https://casetext.com/case/commmittee–on–legal–ethics–v–printz> assessed 6 April 2024.
• The Limitation of  Dowry Law, Cap. 67, Laws of Cross River State 1979 was in force when the area now known as “Akwa Ibom State” was part of the then Cross River State. With the creation of Akwa Ibom State and the revision of all the relevant and applicable laws, the said Law was retained as the Limitation of  Dowry Law, Cap. 79, Vol. 4, Laws of Akwa Ibom State 2000. The Limitations of Dow

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