A Critical Apprisal Of Legitimacy And Legitimation Under Nigerian Family Law

Subsection (11);
Every child is entitled to respect for the dignity of his person, and according no child shall be:
A, subjected to physical, mental or emotional injury, abuse, neglect or maltreatment including sexual abuse;
B, subjected to torture, in- human or degrading treatment or punishment.
C, subjected to attacks upon his honour or reputation.
Section14 (2);
Section 15(1);
Every child has a right to maintenance by his parents or guardians, in accordance with the extent of their means and the child has the right in a appropriate circumstance to enforce this right in the family court.
Subsection (2);
Every child has the right to free, compulsory and universal basic education, and it shall be the duty of the government of Nigeria to provide such education.
Section 16(1);
Every parent or guardian shall ensure that his child or ward attends and completes his:
a.    Primary School Education; and
b.    Junior Secondary Education.
Section 17(2);
Every child who is in need for special protective measures has the right to such measure of protection, as it is appropriate to his physical, social, economic, emotional and mental needs and under conditions which ensure his dignity and, promotes self reliance and active participation in the affairs of the community. Where the father of an unborn child dies intestate before the child is delivered, the unborn child is entitled, if he survives his mother, to be considered in the distribution of the estate of the deceased mother.
It should be noted that the essence of the provisions in these Act which includes Legitimacy Law 1994, Child’s Right Act 2003, convention on the rights of the child and the O.A.U. Charter on the rights and welfare of the child, is to protect the rights of a child whether legitimate or
illegitimate.
4.3.0 DUTIES OF A PARENT TO A LEGITIMATED CHILD
1.    Maintenance of children
At common law, a father is under a duty to maintain his legitimate children, but this duty cannot be enforced as a child unlike a wife cannot pledge the credit of the father for necessaries, as held in mortmore v.wright84
Consequently, the father is not under a legal obligation to pay third parties for necessaries supplied to his infant child, however, a father may be obliged to reimburse the tradesman, where the constituted the child as his agent, or otherwise authorized him to procure necessaries.
While a child cannot ordinarily pledge the father’s credit, the right of the mother to do so in appropriate cases covers a child who is living with her, in the exercise of her right to pledge the husband’s credit, the wife is entitled to purchase necessaries for herself and her children, depending on the husband’s status in life, as was held in
Bazeley v.forder 85 Thus, a child can only benefit if the mother is entitled to pledge her husband’s credit, if therefore, she does possess that right, the infant has no other remedy.
Under statutory law, the unsatisfactory position of the common law has been altered by statutes which provide the means for enforcing parental duty.
In Nigeria except Lagos, Oyo, Ogun, Ondo, and Bendel states, the pre- 1900 English statutes on custody also provide for the maintenance of children, by section 5 of the guardianship of infants Act 1886, the court may by order grant the custody of a child to
the father or mother. In that case, it may also make an order in respect of the maintenance of the child.
Again, if a parent claims the custody of his child by habeas corpus and the child is being brought up by another person at his own expense, the court may, if it grants custody to the parent, order that he pays the whole costs incurred in bringing up the child86. The parent is thereby compelled in this way to perform the obligation which for some time he had relinquished to a third party In Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Ondo and Bendel states, the infant law   of 1958 contain an elaborate form of the provision of the pre 1900 English statues, by Section 12 of the Law, when the court grants the custody of a child to the mother, it may also order the father to pay towards the maintenance of the child, such weekly or periodic sum as it consider reasonable, no such order for maintenance is enforceable while the mother resides with the father.
Moreover, the order will expire if for a period of three month after it was made, the mother of the child continued to reside with the father, the court also has a discretion to order a person to repay the cost of the upbringing of his child by a third party, in both cases the payment ordered may be enforced by an order for the attachment of the parent’s income.