Mr. Olusegun Olatunji

Howard University

Bio

Mr. Olusegun Olatunji is a Ph.D. student in the Department of History at Howard University. His dissertation examines law, science, and paternity adjudication in the Yoruba Atlantic world (1750–1960). He is the 2026–2027 Just-Julian Scholar at Howard University, a recipient of the ASMEA Research Grant and the American Society for Legal History's Early Career Global Legal History Fellowship, and a 2026–2028 HBCU-NMAAHC Scholar at George Mason University and the Smithsonian Institution.

He Is Your Pater, but Not Your Genitor: Biomedical Techniques and the Disruption of Yoruba Marriage Customs, 1884–1960

Abstract

Viral "paternity fraud" cases in Nigeria treat biology as the sole basis of fatherhood. This paper traces a longer legal history. Yoruba bride-price made the husband the legal father regardless of biology. From Cole v. Cole (1898) to Adegbola v. Folaranmi (1921), colonial courts removed Christian-married families from customary succession. Authority over fatherhood shifted from lineage to the state, laying the groundwork for scientific proof, codified in the 2003 Child Rights Act, to later gain force.