International Journal of Research (IJR) Vol-1, Issue-9, October 2014 ISSN 2348-6848 An Appraisal of Nigerian Legal System in the Light of Savigny’s Philosophy of Law Emmanuel Okonkwo Page | 371 An Appraisal of Nigerian Legal System in the Light of Savigny’s Philosophy of Law Emmanuel Okonkwo (B.A, LL.B, B.L), Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka- Anambra, Nigeria, Department of Philosophy; Department of Law. emmanuelokonkwo2013@gmail.com , +2348063013630 ABSTRACT Upon the monstrous advent of the colonial masters and the parochial amalgamation of 1914, different cultures, politics and religion were forcibly fused and draconian Laws distinct from the people, were made to safeguard and keep in check, these distinct entities. This was done with impunity without regard to the ‘Spirit’ of these various communities, therefore running contrary to the merits of the Historical School of Jurisprudence as championed by F.K Von Savigny. The result was the massacre of 1966, the 1980 Kasuwan Magani incident, the Kafanchan bedlam of 1987, 1991 Tafawa Balewa, 1992 Zango Kataf, 2010 Boko Haram bomb blast, Religious intolerance in all parts of the country, continuous disregard of the Law and the insurgence of the Boko Haram sect. Some have opined that a true deduction of the law must follow from the premise of the commander and the command and therefore the subject has no voice but to bow for fear of sanction. Others in philosophizing severed the Law from the Volk. Amidst these turbulent winds, this research seeks to delve into the merits of the Volksgeist as a concept in historical school of philosophical thought, with a view of exposing the reason behind the non-workability of Nigerian laws and the problem of the sustainability of ‘One Nigeria’. Indeed this analysis will not only affect the Nigerian country but every other multi-ethnic cum multi-lingual country within the international sphere. The analytic method of philosophy is used. Keywords: Savigny, Legal System, Nigeria, Confedralism, Culture, Custom, Philosophy of participation, Philosophy of Law, Volksgeist, Nigerian Constitution, Islam, Nigerian Customary Law, Jurisprudence, Right to cultural identity, Emmanuel Okonkwo 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 A Background to the Study The German Historical School of Law is a 19th-century intellectual movement in the study of German law. With Romanticism as its background, it emphasized the historical limitations of the law, and what the law ought to be. It stood in opposition to an earlier movement called Vernunftrecht (Rational Law).