Judgement of the Court
Delivered by Sir VaheBairamian. J.S.C In this appeal the husband, who is the petitioner in Suit K/46/61 of the High Court of Northern Nigeria (Kano Division), complains that his petition was wrongly dismissed.
He and his wife married in May, 1938. They lived in Kano, but they did not get on very well. She left in December, 1942; and they have lived apart since. In his amended petition he alleged adultery, cruelty on 12th December, 1950, and persistent nagging. The trial Judge (Bate J.) did not think the adultery was proved; he regarded the assault in December, 1950 as trivial; he found, however, that the wife had been guilty of cruelty before leaving Kano, but he dismissed the petition on the ground of culpable delay.
The learned Judge asked the husband about the delay, and his answers were:
Cannot say why I have taken so long to bring this Petition except that I gave my wife a long time to repent; i.e., to change her vindictive habit. When she committed adultery, I…