The LAND
USE ACT was enacted to vest all Land
compromised in the territory of each State (except land vested in the Federal
government or its agencies) solely in the Governor of the State , who holds
such Land in trust for the people and would henceforth be responsible for
allocation of land in all urban areas to individuals resident in the State and
to organisations for residential, agriculture, commercial and other purposes
while similar powers will with respect to non-urban areas are conferred
on Local Governments.(27th March 1978) Commencement.
1.
When was it enacted?
The Land Use Decree (now Land
Use Act) was promulgated on 29th, March 1978 following the
recommendations of a minority report of a panel appointed by the Federal
Military Government of the time to advice on future land policy. With immediate
effect, it vested all land in each state of the Federation in the governor of
that state (Fed. Rep. of Nigeria, 1978).
2.
Why it was enacted?
The
Act was enacted to effect structural change in the system of land tenure,
achieve fast economic and social transformation, to negate economic inequality
caused by the appropriation of rising land values by land speculators and land
holders; and to make land available easily and cheaply, to both the government
and private individual developers.
3.
State governors are responsible for land allocation:
Under
the Act, the Governor is responsible for allocation of land
in all urban areas to individuals’
resident in the state or to organisations for residential, agricultural,
commercial and other purposes while similar powers with respect to non-urban
areas are conferred on the Local Government.
4. The
government can seize your land:
In
Nigeria, the government can seize your land or property without any form of
compensation if you do not have a Certificate of Occupancy (CofO). The power to
do this rests within the Land Use Act, which reads: “All the rights formerly
vested in the holder in respect of the excess of the land shall in the
commencement of this Act be extinguished and the excess of the land shall be
taken over by the Governor and administered as provided in this Act.”
5.
Ironies of the Act:
One of the objectives of the
Act is to make land easily available and cheap, to both the government and
private individual developers. However, experts have argued that rather than
make land cheaper, the contrary has happened.
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