REVAMPING THE LAW ON MAINTENANCE OF CHILDREN IN NIGERIA: NIGERIA, AUSTRALIA AND SOUTH AFRICA IN PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

Maintenance of children is one of the ancillary reliefs provided for by the Matrimonial Causes Act.2 Besides the settlement of property and Custody of children. These reliefs are designed to protect spouses and children in the event of a dissolution of marriage. Maintenance of children of a marriage, although provided for in Section 70 of the Matrimonial Causes Act, has some pitfalls, such as setting the age of children subject to maintenance at twenty-one, lacking a provision for personal legal representation for the children, and issues related to enforcement. This work aims to review the law of child maintenance in Nigeria, Australia, and South Africa, with a view to determining the propriety or otherwise of the provision vesting rights of maintenance on children under statute in Nigeria. This research was limited to the rights of children to Maintenance upon the dissolution of their parents’ marriage under statute in Nigeria, South Africa, and Australia. The doctrinal and comparative methodologies were adopted in this research work. This research revealed that the age limit of twenty-one years prescribed as maximum age limit for the award of maintenance is not very practicable considering the prevalent socio economic situation in Nigeria. It became obvious that the law on maintenance as it is in Nigeria cannot adequately safeguard the rights of children upon divorce of their parents. It was recommended that these provisions need to be revamped to meet the exigencies of contemporary Nigerian society.