What consideration means
Consideration is the price of a promise. Not necessarily money, but something.
If I promise to give you my laptop and you promise nothing in return, that is a gift, and if I change my mind you generally have no claim. If you promise me fifty thousand naira for it, each of us is now giving something up, and the law will hold us to it.
That exchange is what turns a conversation into a contract, alongside offer, acceptance and an intention to be legally bound.
How it is used
It usually only becomes visible when somebody tries to enforce a promise that was never paid for. An employer promises a bonus and does not pay it. A relative promises to transfer land and changes their mind. A supplier promises an extra month of support after the contract was signed and then withdraws it.
In each case the first question is whether the person claiming gave anything in return. Where they did not, the promise often turns out to be unenforceable, however unfair that feels.
Key features
- Must move from the person seeking to enforce the promise
- Needs to be sufficient, meaning it has some value, but need not be adequate or fair
- Can be money, goods, services, or a promise to do or not do something
- Past consideration, meaning something already done before the promise, generally does not count
- A deed is enforceable without consideration, which is why gifts of land are made by deed
How this works in Nigeria
Nigerian contract law follows the common law rules, so the analysis is familiar. The place it bites hardest in practice is family and land arrangements, where a relative promises to transfer property and nothing is given in return.
The route around it is the deed. Because a deed is enforceable without consideration, a gift of land in Nigeria is properly made by a deed of gift rather than a bare promise or an informal letter. Courts look at the form of the instrument, and an informal note recording a promise to give land is worth very little.
Contract vs deed
An ordinary contract needs consideration. Each side must be giving something.
A deed does not. It gets its force from its form instead, which is why it has stricter execution requirements, including proper attestation and delivery. That is the trade. You escape the need for consideration by satisfying formalities.
This is why deeds are used for gifts, for transfers of land, and for powers of attorney, where one side is receiving authority without paying anything for it.
Limits and risks
Consideration must be sufficient but need not be adequate. A court will not rewrite a bad bargain simply because one side got far less than the deal was worth, which surprises people who expected fairness to be the test.
It also does nothing about pressure. A contract with perfectly good consideration can still be attacked on other grounds, such as duress, undue influence or misrepresentation.
Worth knowing
A promise made in exchange for something you had already done, such as work completed before the promise, is usually past consideration and generally cannot be enforced.