Oracle of Wisdom Journal of Philosophy and Public Affairs

The romance between law and morality constitutes timeless contested terrain in legal philosophy, showing the foundational chasm between natural law theory and legal positivism. While this argument has birthed voluminous scholarship in Western jurisprudence, its application to postcolonial legal systems particularly Nigeria's hybrid common law tradition remains under theorised. This paper undertakes a philosophical intervention on the question of law and morality within the Nigerian legal system. Drawing on classical and contemporary jurisprudential thought, the study first conceptualises law and morality via naturalist and positivist lenses. It then critically assess the separability and inseparability theses, arguing that despite the analytical utility of the positivist distinction between “law as it is” and “law as it ought to be”, a complete divorce of law from morality is theoretically problematic and practically untenable .The paper demonstrates through a systematic analysis of recent Nigerian legislative instruments including the Criminal Code Act (as amended 2025), the Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act 2013, the Sexual Harassment in Tertiary Institutions Prohibition Act, anti-corruption statutes (EFCC, ICPC), and subnational dress code regulations that the Nigerian legal system necessarily and pervasively enforces moral norms. The reflections reveal that morality serves not merely as an external check on positive law but as a constitutive source of legislative guidance and a substantive criterion for legal validity in Nigeria. The paper concludes by advocating for a dynamic, dialogical understanding of the law and morality nexus, one that recognises law as both a product of moral reasoning and a mechanism that shapes moral consciousness within the specific socio-legal context of contemporary Nigeria.

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