THE INVISIBLE WORKFORCE: WOMEN’S UNPAID LABOUR IN FAMILY-OWNED BUSINESSES AND THE LAW’S BLIND SPOT IN NIGERIA- A CASE FOR REFORM.

Abstract

Women's contributions to family-owned businesses in Nigeria - financial, operational, intellectual, and relational - are economically substantial yet legally invisible. This article argues that their exclusion from legal recognition is not rooted in a lack of contribution but in a lack of structure. The corporate law framework under the Companies and Allied Matters Act 2020 recognizes only registered ownership, rendering informal contribution legally irrelevant. The matrimonial property framework under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1970 applies exclusively to statutory marriages, excludes the majority of Nigerian women in customary unions, and has been interpreted narrowly by Nigerian courts in a manner that demands documentary proof that the trust-based dynamics of family enterprise rarely produce. The equitable doctrines of resulting and constructive trust exist in principle but are applied inconsistently in practice. Native laws governing customary marriages compound the problem by presuming that the fruits of a wife's labour belong to her husband. Drawing on Nigerian case law, comparative jurisprudence from England, Canada, and New Zealand, and the scholarly framework of Emeka Chianu, this article proposes five targeted reforms - legislative, judicial, and practical - to close the gap between women's economic reality and their legal treatment in family-owned business disputes in Nigeria.