THE MARRIED COUPLE AND THE LAW OF SETTLEMENT OF PROPERTY IN NIGERIA: A CRITIQUE DR. BRIGHT E. ONIHA* 1.0 Introduction Recently, the Chief Judge of Oyo State, Hon. Justice Munta Abimbola delivered a landmark decision that rekindled the debate over the traditionally volatile issue of settlement of prenuptial and post nuptial property in an ailing or “deceased” marriage in Nigeria. After divorce, the parties to a failed marriage tend to go separate ways. However, several issues that are ancillary to the dissolution or “interment” of the marriage are also thrown up for consideration and determination. They include custody and maintenance of the children and wife of the marriage, as well as the sharing of the property that were acquired during the subsistence of the marriage. In the case of the latter, women are often disadvantaged. The inequality in the sharing of such property is attributable to several factors ranging from economic, social, cultural, religious, political factors. I