SOAS Research Online

Abstract

This study is a comparative investigation of the law of obligations in Ghana and Nigeria. It has often been suggested that the law of civil responsibility in Ghana and Nigeria is the same as the current English law position. This thesis sets out to examine the basis of this assumption, an exercise which has never before been attempted by any previous writer in West African law. This investigation is in eight Parts of a total of twenty-one sections. In the Introductory Part, the meaning, scope and content of the title are fully discussed. The case for a new approach to the classification of obligations in Ghana and Nigeria is stated and argued. Part II examines the vital question of the sources of obligations. This is the issue of the juristic basis for the application of extraneous law in Ghana and Nigeria, what this law is, limits on its application and the concurrent application of indigenous rules of law. A reassessment of the whole position in the light of extant documentary data is attempted. The law of obligations is substantially made up of case-law. Part III examines what cases bind which courts. Parts IV and V deal with valid agreements, the former with two-party situations while the latter treats situations in which more than two parties are involved. Part VI examines the all-important category of defective agreements, an approach totally different from the conventional treatment of the subject. Part VII is a functional study of obligations. Here in three sections, we examine the role of the Courts in the enforcement of agreements, the role of the state, and the effectiveness of remedies for breach of agreements. The final part analyses and sets out to argue a case for obligations imposed by law.