Lifestyle

Divorce In Nigeria| All You Need To Know In 2019

Published

5 years ago

January 17, 2019

Divorce in Nigeria

In Nigeria, getting a divorce is seen as a taboo and most people find it exceedingly uncommon. This is because of the highly respected norms and traditions of the people which forbid the practices of divorcing a married couple. Nigerians are very religious people and they do not believe that getting a divorce can break the sacred vows that were made at an altar.

As stated by , about 1% of Nigerian couples admit to being divorced while 0.2% of men and 0.3% of women are legally married. Most wedding ceremonies done in Nigeria are traditional marriages which are not governed by the law. However, there are so many situations that would make a couple undergo divorce in Nigeria. This article will briefly give you all that you need to know about getting a divorce in Nigeria.

What are those grounds for divorce in Nigeria?

Generally, there are four types of marriages practiced in Nigeria. They are the Religious, Customary, Traditional, and Statutory marriages. However, just two of these four marriages are mainly recognized by the law of the country and these are the Customary and Statutory wedding. Getting a divorce in Nigeria depends on the type of marriage conducted. Under the Matrimonial Causes Act which governs the divorce process in Nigeria, there are certain stated grounds that can be used to dissolve a marriage and they include;

No Consummation Of The Marriage

Before you can divorce your partner, you must make it known to the court that there has been no sexual intercourse between you and your spouse. What this means is that you must prove to the court that your spouse had failed to have sexual intercourse but in a situation where it is proved that sex occurred even once, the marriage will be deemed consummated and therefore, you can not rely on this ground for divorce.

There Is A Case Of Adultery

You must prove to the court that since your marriage, your spouse had committed adultery and you find him or her intolerable to live with. By this, it means that you must prove to the court that your spouse has not been faithful and you find him or her unbearable to live with such infidelity.

Presence Of An Unreasonable Conduct

Before you can rely on this ground, you must satisfy the court by showing proof that your spouse had acted in such a way that you cannot reasonably be expected to live with him or her again. What this really means is that you must prove to the court that there has been a presence of unreasonable conduct such as rape, habitual drinking, murder, brutality, made an attempt to murder spouse, inability to take care of the spouse, had the intention to or actually abused the spouse by inflicting serious bodily injuries.

Abandonment Of Spouse For a Long Period Of Time

On this ground, you must prove to the court that your spouse had deserted you for at least, a period of one year prior to the filing of the divorce petition. By desertion, this means that your spouse must have abandoned you for a long period of time without any justification.

Both Parties lived Separately

What this means is that you and your spouse have been living apart for a continuous period of at least 2 years or even 3 years preceding the presentation of the divorce petition and there is no objection by the person you want to divorce. Before you can rely on this ground, you must prove to the court that you and your spouse have not been staying together for a period of 2-3 years.

Failure of Either of The Party To Comply With Court Order

You must prove to the court that your spouse had failed to comply with a court order regarding the marriage or a decree of restitution of conjugal right made under the Marriage Causes Act.

Absence Of The Other Party

On this ground, before filing for divorce, you must prove to the court that your spouse has been absent or you have no idea of where he or she could be. In such circumstances, you will have to provide reasonable grounds that your spouse is dead or in cases of disappearance.

However, it is stated by the law that a marriage under 2 years cannot be dissolved; this is called the two-year rule. In most exceptional cases, a marriage under 2 years can be dissolved if the petitioner can prove to the court that there has been an exceptional hardship or that the case is one that involves exceptional depravity.

How To File For Divorce In Nigeria?

Filing for divorce in Nigeria isn’t that easy. There are so many steps to follow and it would be better for you to fully understand how to apply for divorce in Nigeria before filing for a divorce petition. However, if you are planning to file for a divorce, there are so many necessary things for you to consider and the very first thing for you to do is to consult a lawyer. After that, you can learn those basic grounds for divorce in Nigeria which we have already looked at. In this section, we are going to focus more on the process of getting a divorce.

– The Divorce Process

a) A Petition –

The first thing to do is filing a divorce petition which is written by either of the spouses. The petitioner will institute divorce proceedings by filing a petition and the content of the Divorce Petition should include the following:

Identification of the spouses by name and address
Date and place of the marriage
An acknowledgement that you or your spouse had lived in a state or community for a specific period of time prior to the filling of for a divorce.
Grounds for divorce
A declaration or request as to how the petitioner would like to settle finances, sharing property, child custody, visitation and other issues relating to the divorce.
Which spouse will psychically take custody of the child
Child visitation schedule for the non-custodial spouse
Payment of child support
Payment of spousal support
Which child will live in the couple’s house or primary residence?
Payment of bills or other financial needs

b) Serving the divorce petition –

The divorce documents must be served on the other spouse. Once you have filed the divorce petition in the court, your petition will be given a file number in the court system and then the contents of your petition will be delivered to your spouse. A specific number of days will be given to your spouse to reply back or respond to your petition. However, in a situation where your spouse refuses to respond or difficult to locate, you can look for professional assistance to help deliver your paperwork.

c) Divorce Petition Response –

Once your spouse has replied to your petition, then the court will hear the case in the open. You can also bring witnesses that will provide evidence in the court but it is very necessary for your spouse to respond to your petition before any judgement is held.

d) The Final Steps Of Divorce –

This is when the judges make the final judgement on the case and once the judges have decided, no further step would be taken. Both spouses will be required to disclose information concerning their assets, liabilities, income and expenses. If you and your spouse agree on the terms and conditions of the divorce then there will be less paperwork to file. Once the judges are satisfied with the divorce, then a Decree Nisi would be granted. A Decree Nisi is a court order that basically dissolves a marriage. However, the Decree Nisi does not just end the marriage quickly but you will have to wait for an extra 3 months and then the Decree Nisi will become a ‘Decree Absolute’. The court also has the power to grant child custody to either of the spouses and can make an order for the payment of maintenance and settlement of any property of the marriage.

Who Gets The Child Custody After Divorce in Nigeria?

We will start with a brief definition of what child custody may be. Child custody can be defined as the protective care or guardianship of a child which is determined by the court when both parents of the child are divorced or separated. The issue of child custody mostly arises in divorce proceedings. However, child custody primarily rests on the best interest of the child. Discussing the issue of child custody can be considered into stages and that is custody of an illegitimate child and custody of a Legitimate child.

At common law, neither of the parents are strictly entitled to an illegitimate child because that child is seen as a FILIUS NULLIUS. The term also means a ‘son of nobody’, therefore this child has few legal rights under the common law and he or she is not entitled to either of the parents. However, in most cases, the mother is granted the child’s custody.

But for the custody of a legitimate child, under the common law, the father is given the absolute right to the custody of his children under maturity. Even when the father dies, the mother still cannot claim custody over the child. So generally, if the child is legitimate then the father will be given the child custody after the divorce. But once the father is dead, the right of child custody is given to the male head of the father’s family although the mother is responsible for the daily care of the child.

What is the cost of getting a divorce in Nigeria?

There are no fixed costs of getting a divorce in Nigeria. The process of getting a divorce could be personal or procedural. As such, it differs from one circumstance to another and from one person to another. However, filing for divorce in Nigeria isn’t quite expensive.

In conclusion, getting a divorce in Nigeria isn’t that easy not forgetting to mention that most people in the Nigerian society wouldn’t even respect your decision on divorcing your spouse. However, getting a divorce depends on the type of marriage conducted.

Health

Getting Trimmed Naturally

Published

6 months ago

November 1, 2023

The Tide

There are a lot of misconceptions about weight gain.
The first is that weight gain comes from extra calories we do consume that we do not expend. Experts say we eat too much and exercise little. So if one get fatter, then, surely he or she must be eating too much.
The other misconception is that once we cut our food, then, we will naturally become trimmed. All these are hinged on the diet theory, which only works for some time.
Over the past 40 years, studies have shown that you can not get clinically significant effect from cutting down on your calories. Even though experts are saying that sloth is responsible for weight gain- they overlook one basic truth that dieting only works for a short period.
The new study that seems to break those myths about body fat is now revealing some stunning facts. The kind of food we eat makes us fat. Two scientists at University of Pennsylvania, Mitchell Lazar and Cardiologist Allan Sniderman at McGill University, all in the United States have shown that food that we eat often makes us pack in flesh. These include bread, plain baked potatoes, and plain pasta, rice, sweet corn. They confirmed that fatty foods are not the enemy but easily digested carbohydrates, while steak, burgers, cheese or sour cream help us lose weight and keep our heart healthy.
This sounds ironical, but it has been discovered that those who do diet and avoid those foods end up getting hungry. What happens is that when you conserve energy or burn less energy, you are bound to add more flesh. Many public health authorities want us to practise energy balance, which is a new way to say that you should not take more calories than one expends.
No matter how one counts what he or she eats, it is impossible to determine calories and know when we are over board. No matter how good you are at counting calories, you can’t do it. So its couple of sips of soft drinks and few bites of humburger that can make you add weight. That means it at the point when we eat extra than the body want that the body store excess as fat.
The myth of exercising to reduce weight is really making waves. Exercise is helpful but it is not the main ingredient for fat burning. The funny truth is that the two things we tell people to do in order to lose weight-eat less and exercise more- are the exact two things that make one more hungry. Thus, there is need for balance. If one must exercise, then it should be done moderately so as to allow the body to recover the strenght.
The reality is that insulin is the primary hormone that makes one to add weight, especially one eats food that spikes insulin like bread, biscuits, sweets, soft drinks. It is refined carbohydrates that raise insulin levels in the body. Explained in simple terms, your fat tissue is more like your wallet, and your meals are like going to the ATM. You know how you use the ATM: You put the cash in your wallet and gradually spend it, and when you get too low on cash, you go back to the ATM. It is the insulin that locks the money in your wallet, so you keep going to the ATM, and your fat cells are getting fatter and fatter. More often, you become hungry and you eat again because the insulin can not get at the fatty acids leading to weight gain.
Low carb diet is key if you are to get trimmed. In Africa where stables are more of carbohydrate it is best to choose those with fibre. It is difficult to follow the Atkins diet like eating skinless chicken and green salad, melted mozzarella cheese and all those western diet.
An example of a workable diet is to include eggs more often and cut down on processed foods, especially processed carbohydrate. Complex carbohydrate, and vegetables have more fibre and make you get filled quickly. Instead of Irish potato, go for sweet potatoes, oats that have more fibre. I advise people to eat garri than processed plantain and wheat meals. By the way, processed wheat can worsen the body ails.

By: Kelvin Nengia

Health

Eye Expert Cautions On Rays From Electronics

Published

6 months ago

November 1, 2023

The Tide

An optometrist, Dr. Matthew Daniels says many Nigerians are suffering from refractive eye problem which can be corrected.
Besides, he disclosed that most of the eye problems common these days come from rays from long use of electronic devices.
The one time Chairman of Business Development Committee of the Nigeria Optometery Association(NOA) explained that rays emitted from electronic devices such as phones, television, computers have effects on the eyes.
He urged for caution and toning down of light from phones and computers so as to reduce eye irritation and other eye maladies that may affect sight.
In a chat with The Tide, Dr. Daniels said the refractive eye error maybe long sight or short sight which can be corrected.
However, he decried that most Nigerians do not take the health of their sight seriously and as such, suffer from eye defects which could have been treated without much expenses.
Commenting on the planned program me by the Federal Government to provide eye glasses to Nigerians, Dr Daniels observed that it may be difficult to provide free eye glasses to five million Nigerians.
For him, what the people need is more eye clinics and hospitals at the grassroots, as he lamented that most eye sight challenges are common in the rural areas.

By: Kevin Nengia

Health

WHO Raises Alarm Over Increased Incidence Of TB, Others

Published

7 months ago

September 13, 2023

The Tide

The World Health Organisation(WHO) has raised alarm over increased incidence of tuberculosis, HIV and malaria as it charged member countries to make health an urgent matter of policy focus.
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General made the charge at the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA 78) in New York stressing need to put health for all on the highest political agenda.
WHO’s DG appeal comes as the world faces multiple humanitarian and climate-related crises which are threatening lives and livelihoods around the world.
The world health apex body observed that progress in reducing infant and maternal mortality has stagnated (in some regions, while progress in tackling infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis (TB) and malaria has also declined.
It noted that many parts of the world are also witnessing rollbacks in sexual and reproductive health and rights, as
access to life-saving tools is becoming uneven across the world, with millions unable to afford or obtain needed care.
In addition it said no communicable diseases and mental disorders, which account for over 70% of deaths globally, threaten social and economic development across the world.
“Ill health robs individuals, families, communities and entire nations of opportunities to grow and flourish,” Dr Tedros said.
The body decried that billions of people cannot access or afford essential health services and as such are exposed to poverty, abd other preventable and treatable diseases like TB.
WHO’s call to accelerate the achievement of health targets comes ahead of the Sustainable Development Goals Summit (SDG Summit) and an unprecedented number of health-focused high-level meetings at UNGA, aimed at strengthening pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response, delivering universal health coverage (UHC) and ending TB.
As government leaders gather to make commitments around three major health issues, they have a chance to demonstrate that health is an investment, not a cost, and is fundamental to thriving, resilient families, societies and economies.
“If COVID-19 taught us nothing else, it’s that when health is at risk, everything is at risk,” WHO DG said .
Recalling the effect of the Covid19 pandemic, he lamented the enormous economic, social and political upheaval, and effect on progress towards the health-related targets in the Sustainable Development Goals.