The Repugnancy Doctrine: A Dilemma to Customary Law protection of traditional knowledge systems in Nigeria
Abstract
Abstract
The combination of Eurocentric and Afrocentric perspectives rather than a dominant Eurocentric perspective should be explored to determine protection mechanisms for traditional knowledge systems in Nigeria. Customary practices or rules protected traditional knowledge systems in Nigeria before the arrival of the colonizers and the repugnancy doctrine. It should not be forgotten that foreign ways can also be repugnant to customary practices and customary practices can be beneficial to the development of intellectual properties based on traditional knowledge systems. These rules worked in the past, why not in the present to protect traditional knowledge systems in Nigeria. Reliance on outlandish standards to determine the validity of custom provides the view that received English laws are superior to customary laws. This paper critically queries the role of the repugnancy doctrine in limiting the protection of traditional knowledge systems by customary law.