Original Contribution to the Theory of Trusts in Nigerian Private Law: Reimagining Express Trusts in the Contemporary Context

The law of trusts in Nigeria retains a largely colonial common law framework inherited from English equity, yet the economic, social, and institutional context in which Nigerian express trusts operate has transformed dramatically, creating a widening gap between formal trust doctrine and the practical needs of Nigerian trust settlors, beneficiaries, and practitioners. This study advances an original theoretical contribution to the law of trusts in Nigerian private law, developing a contextualised Nigerian Trust Theory (NTT) that reimagines express trusts to accommodate the demands of contemporary Nigerian wealth management, family succession planning, charitable giving, and indigenous communal property management. Using a pluralist theoretical methodology combining doctrinal analysis of 50 Nigerian trust cases from 2010 to 2024, comparative trust law scholarship from England, Canada, and East Africa, and empirical research involving 90 trust practitioners, estate planners, wealthy family advisers, and customary community leaders across Lagos, Abuja, Kano, and Enugu, the research systematically maps the inadequacies of colonial trust doctrine in the Nigerian context and constructs the NTT as the study's genuine original contribution. The NTT integrates indigenous communal trust norms, modern asset management principles, and digital asset trust governance into a coherent theoretical framework for Nigerian trust law. Findings reveal that Nigerian trust law is in a state of institutional underdevelopment that prevents trusts from serving their full potential as private law instruments for wealth preservation and charitable impact. Recommendations include a Trusts Act for Nigeria, a Trust Registration Agency, charitable trust regulatory reform, and academic curriculum development in trusts law. Keywords: express trusts, trust law theory, Nigerian private law, equity, wealth management