Analysis of the Legal Obligation of Suppliers and Manufacturers to Consumers in Nigeria and the United Kingdom

This paper analysed the obligations of the suppliers and manufacturer of goods to the consumers under the legal regime for the protection of consumers in Nigeria and the United Kingdom. The work examined the legal framework in Nigeria and United Kingdom, which governs the relationship between the manufacturers, producers, suppliers and consumers. The work also compared the legal regime in the two jurisdictions for the purpose of observing the similarities and differences in the suppliers/manufacturers and consumers relationship. Doctrinal Legal research methodology was adopted with the use primary and secondary sources of legal material. It was discovered that the attitude of Nigerian courts to the obligations of the manufacturers to the consumers has been strictly viewed from the negligence point of view (fault theory) contrary to what obtained in the United Kingdom, where the courts make use of the negligence theory and the strict liability theory whenever the court is called upon to adjudicate on issues bothering on the obligations of manufacturers to consumers. The work concluded that the obligations of the manufacturers to consumers must be reviewed in Nigeria, using the United Kingdom’s combined approach of the negligence and strict liability theories, in addition to criminal prosecution, in appropriate cases, of erring manufacturers in the discharge of their obligation to the consumers. This will in no small measure rid the Nigerian market of fake and counterfeit products from manufacturers who are only profit-oriented. The work made attempt at proffering solutions or better way of doing business in the supplied chain in Nigeria considering the global best practices around the globe