Abstract
Nigerian conveyancers routinely resort to powers of attorney and agreements to sell (estate contracts) as tools to avoid the prohibitory clauses of the Land Use Act. Nigeria's Land Use Act, promulgated in 1978, is perhaps the most controversial legislation in the country. The Act, originally promulgated as a decree and annexed to the country's constitution, was ostensibly made to nationalize landholding in the country. However, the peculiar impact of the Act on the inhabitants of the Niger Delta region that hosts upstream activities of the oil industry has led to assertions that the Act was made specifically to deprive those inhabitants of the right to participate actively in the oil industry. This article examines the impact of the Act on the right of inhabitants to access justice. It argues that the Act obstructs their rights to environmental justice and is a fundamental cause of the violent conflicts that pervade the region.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
Land is of fundamental importance in traditional Nigerian society, and is communally owned, although family or corporate ownership existed side by side with communal ownership. In a way, customary laws of land tenure have in the past given the farmer «a feeling of reasonable permanence on the land he cultivates It is a source of wealth and is greatly valued as an indispensable factor of production. Agriculture, the oldest occupation of mankind, takes place on land. Traditional Africa in general and Nigeria in particular maintained a liberal policy of allocation of land resources. Land was allocated to families and individuals, while the community or clan maintained absolute ownership. The chief or the head of the lineage or clan was the custodian of the land. His position was that of a trustee, holding the land for the clan or the whole community. These custodians were invested with the power to manage and administer the communal property but in the interests of members of the community. Strangers and people with problems were easily absorbed and settled without discrimination and with land to use at their discretion. These traditions were based on the cultural beliefs and attitudes towards life and hospitality.
Due to Nigeria’s ethnic, geographical and cultural diversity, its pre-colonial land tenure system was largely complex. Various ethnic groups practised different customary systems. No formal records of land transaction existed until the colonial period. Its colonial government started formal documentation of rights and interests (with the land registration law) in Lagos in 1863. It extended to other parts of the country in 1894 (Ukaejiofor, 2007).
The land use Decree No. 6 of 1978 otherwise popularly called Land Use Act was promulgated on 29th March, 1978, the effective date of the commencement of its operation in Nigeria. It is a statutory approach or device used by the federal government to consolidate and harmonize the diverse tenures prevalent in the country before the promulgation. It aims at ensuring the protection of the rights of all Nigerians to enable them to provide for the sustenance of themselves and their families.
It abolished the age long tradition of private ownership of land in the south and introduced a uniform system of land tenure through out the country.
Land tenure under this dispensation means that; one can not have an interest in land beyond the terms granted to him by the statute (usually 99 years) and such interest is renewable on expiration.
The act vests all land comprised in the territory of each state (except land vested in the Federal Government for its agencies) solely in the hands of the military governors of the state who would hold such land in true for the people. Finally, the promulgation of this Act was as a result of two main factors; Firstly, was the diversity of customary laws on land tenure and difficulty in applying the various customs of the different peoples. The second factor was the rampant practice in southern Nigeria with regards to fraudulent sales of land. The same land would be sold to different persons at the same time giving rise to so many litigations.
Land being the most universal, most valuable, probably the most controversial assets, the one and the only foundation of all human activities, requires a planned system of holding, control and regulations so as to avoid misuse and abuse of rights thereof.
In the words of Taslim O. Elias, (a renowned Jurist). “The indigenous system does not admit that land can ever be without an owner” indeed, if land (Real property), were to be a “res nullius” (something belonging to none), it will be valueless in the economic sense, there will be no question of compulsory acquisition, purchase, revocation and subsequent compensation. It way not be out of place to suggest that without valid control and regulation, ownership of land may depend purely on the physical strength of an individual or how violent the person can be. Such situation will definitely be anchoretic.
This work therefore unraveled the effect of land use act on traditional land holding in delta state.
1.2 Statement Of The Problem
From the above discussions, certain questions might be identified that certainly, needs answers. They include;
- Is the land use decree 1978 (now Land Use Act) implemented to its fullest apart from over use of such powers by state governors?
- What are the problems associated with the techniques for valuing properties compulsorily acquired for compensation under the act?
- What is the effect of the Act on compensation?
- What adjustments should be done to the compensation, revocation of rights of occupancy for overriding public interests, allocation of land for Agriculture and grazing sections of this Act?
