This article examines some critical issues in African family law as they affect women using Nigeria, a multinational and most populous state in Africa, as the point of focus. The article is treated in four parts. Part one examines succession and inheritance rights under statutory, customary and Islamic laws, while part two examines the law of domicile as it affects African women vis-à-vis their English counterparts. Part three
analyses the laws and practices relating to marriages in general, while part four examines the key issue of divorce. The article in part five examines the crucial issue of child custody. The article reveals that all the three systems of law mentioned above have varying standards and yardstick for treating different issues and situations. That is to say while some women rights to inheritance are guaranteed under the law, the law itself in some cases bars women from inheriting depending on what law a woman’s marriage is subject to.