Abstract
It is crystal clear that gender discrimination is still a thing of anxiety in the African society. Customary practices in many communities play a vital role in condoning discrimination and division among women and children in Nigeria and South Africa. Women married under customary law are subjected to all kinds of human rights violations and degrading practices that discriminate against them. Often times, female children are exposed to indigenous and cultural practices alien to international norms. This paper is meant to critically evaluate and offer solutions or recommendations to inheritance discrimination against women and female children in both nations. The discrimination can be traced to the rules of male primogeniture that excludes female, which is the right by law or custom of the first-born male child to inherit the entire estate. This rule is predominant in some African communities and has subjected the affected women and children to untold hardship and the situation is worse when the husband/father dies. This paper examines the existing laws that prohibit discrimination as well as their shortcomings. It identifies and critically evaluates the current legislation concerning the issue of intestate succession in both countries specifically relating to people living and practicing the customary law and whether it is sufficient to protect the rights of women and
female children. The paper identifies the shortcomings in the current legislation compared to the international norms and standards. It identifies lessons that can be drawn from both countries and makes recommendations that could assist the government, policy makers and other institutions to adopt effective measures to empower women and especially educate them so that they can assert and defend their human rights.