NIGERIAN LAND USE ACT: IMPORT AND CHALLENGES

1. By PROF.Wahabegbewole 16TH JUNE,2014. DELIVERED AT NIGERIAN ARMY SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, SOBI, ILORIN eabdulwahab@yahoo.co.uk 07031084046 NIGERIAN LAND USE ACT: IMPORT AND CHALLENGES

2. INTRODUCTION • EVOLUTION OF LAND OWNERSHIP IN NIGERIA • LAND USE ACT IN NIGERIA • OPERATIONS OF LAND USE ACT IN NIGERIA • CHALLENGES OF THE LAND USE ACT • CONCLUSION OUTLINE

3. Land as a common heritage • Centrality of land to humanity • African concept of land ownership • Land as a function of wealth and well being in Nigeria • The doctrine of quid quid plantatur solo solo cedit • The commonwealth of family and personification of the family head control • The struggle for control and the bitter contest over land in Nigeria • Ownership and Possession of land dynamics INTRODUCTION

4. Customary land tenure as the basis and operation of ownership of land • Native Land Rights Ordinance in the North • Land Tenure Law of 1962-North • English Conveyancing Act for the South • Military and unitarization of land in Nigeria • Land Use Act to the rescue? EVOLUTION OF LAND OWNERSHIP IN NIGERIA

5. Why Land Use Act? Ownership of land criticized on 3 main planks- i) No security of title ii) Difficulty of acquiring land for private and public use and iii) Cost of obtaining land for public use prohibitive • 11 member Panel set up by the Federal Military Government to: i) Study various land tenure, use and conservation practices in Nigeria ii) Implication of uniform land policy for Nigeria and examine its feasibility iii) Examine future needs of government –See Omotola, J.A. Essays on the Land Use Act, 1997 LAND USE ACT

6. Objectives of the Act are: To remove bitter controversies associated with land ownership; Streamline ownership and management of land in Nigeria; Simplification of process of acquisition of rights to land in Nigeria; Government to bring land use and management under control. • Key Provisions of the Act includes: All lands in Nigeria vested in the Governor • Urban and rural dichotomy • Statutory Right of Occupancy and Customary Right of Occupancy • Governors powers on fixing rents, rates and penalty LAND USE ACT (CONTD)

7. No transfer of title by way of assignment, mortgage, pledge or gift without Governor’s consent • Power to revoke for public interest • Payment of compensation in case of acquisition or on revocation • Nigerians left with only equitable rights • Governor’s power to control only? Concept of federalism at play • The position of FCT LAND USE ACT (CONTD)

8. Constitutional clothing of Land Use Act and its controversy of amendment • Imposition of the Act underscored by the Supreme Court in Abioye V. Yakubu (2000) NLLC 18 • Expropriation controversy- The Governor as concurrent holder of occupancy and the argument that the Governor to be in a position to use the land must revoke and must be for overriding public interest. • Land speculation minimized • Easy control of land in Nigeria with sort of certainty OPERATIONS OF THE LAND USE ACT IN NIGERIA

9. Fraud and corruption in land administration • Disruption of existing traditional land ownership • Public interest equating private and selfish interest • Creating a new group of land speculators • Cost of land beyond the reach of average Nigerian • Governor’s consent and challenge of bureaucracy • Economic development hampered • Attitude and the discharge of statutory duty in a democracy driven by federalism CHALLENGES OF THE LAND USE ACT

10. Land Reform as epitomized by the LUA done without recourse to the existing regime • Fundamental right to property rubbished • No buy-in for citizens CHALLENGES OF LAND USE ACT (CONTD)

11. Its time for a review of the LUA • Rethink the constitutional toga • Democratization of land ownership within federalism • Process of acquisition to be simplified • Public interest to be properly defined • Advocacy on land speculation • Good governance and extermination of corrupt tendencies on the part of leaders CONCLUSION

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