There is little awareness of the law of Contempt of Court in Nigeria due to insufficient materials and publications on the subject. Public critisms of judgment of courts’ are a common phenomenon in the Nigeria legal space. Similarly, publications and writings on active judicial proceedings are a common practice. The question of contempt does not arise where an article which relates to judicial proceedings is published in the interest of the public and is fair and temperate.
Recently in Nigeria, the issue of sexual harassment was topical and resulted in several court actions. Incidentally, a programme on a National Television discussed the facts of the sexual harassment to the extent that a guest who was interviewed stated that the alleged victim of the sexual harassment confessed to them that she was really not sexually harassed. This disclosure is prejudicial to a plaintiff who instituted action in court and claimed damages for sexual harassment because such evidence is not expected to be disclosed extra judicially. Thus, the authors of this book conceived and embarked on this project to raise awareness of the law of Contempt of Court in Nigeria and to achieve the need for a reference textbook.
This book is titled “A GUIDE TO THE LAW OF CONTEMPT OF COURT IN NIGERIA” and it comprises thirteen chapters. The authors considered the meaning, scope and significance of contempt of court. The concept of contempt in facie curiae and ex facie curiae as well as criminal and civil contempt is discussed. The jurisdiction of courts’ to try contempt cases is also explained. Appellate Courts’ have consistently advised that contempt proceedings are not intended for the personal aggrandizement of a Judge but intended to preserve the dignity and integrity of the court. Thus, chapter 8 of this book comprehensively dealt with “Attitude of Court to Contempt of Court”.
Lawyers are officers in the temple of justice therefore; a minimum standard of behavior and respect to court is expected of them. Thus, chapter 10 deals with “Counsel’s Conduct that may Constitute Contempt of Court”. Often times, a party in contempt of court bring application to seek the court’s indulgeance. How this application should be treated has always been a source of debate because the common law position contradicts the constitutional rights of fair hearing enshrined under section 36 of the Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999. This topic is comprehensively dealt with in chapter eleven. Enough attention is also given to Contempt Proceedings and Attachment for Contempt under chapter 12 & 13 of this book.

The authors express their appreciation to Miss Chinasa Precious who assidiously carried out research, typed and retyped the original manuscript and other secretarial duties which facilitated the publication of this work. We equally express our gratitude to the staff of Federal High Court and Court of Appeal Libraries, Enugu. Similarly, the authors express gratitude to their spouses, Professor Joy Anyafulude and Chief Daniel Nwomeh respectively. The Hon.Justice E. N. Nnamani PhD. FICMC, an erudite Judge of the Enugu State Judiciary obliged us with the request to write the foreword to this book. My lord dutifully and sincerely expressed his opinion about the nature and quality of this work. The authors are indebted to him.

Finally, Chief Tom Anyafulude and Dr. Nnenna Nwomeh take full responsibility for any error(s) or misrepresentation in this book