NGENVIRONMENT

Urban Planners and Planning issues

Monday, November 26, 2012

Summary of the Land Use Act Decree No. 6 of 1978 in Nigeria

Introduction 

From time immemorial through the period of

agriculture to the period of industrial development, land has remained the most
valuable property in the life of man and his development. It is a source of wealth to
those who have it and the mother of all properties. In other words, virtually all the basic
needs of human existence are land dependent. In view of the importance and usefulness
of land to man and his development as well as the development of his society, every
person generally desires to acquire and own a portion of land to achieve the various
ends for which the land is meant. Therefore, to make land in Nigeria available to all and
to ensure that land is acquired and put to a proper use for the needed development,
governments during and after colonial period enacted laws to govern the use or
administration of land in Nigeria. 
Prior to the enactment of the Land Use Act in 1978, there were three main sources of
land law: Customary Law (varied from custom to custom), English received law (which
comprises of the common law, doctrine of equity and statutes of General application),
and local legislation. There was also a duality of Land Use System in the southern and
northern parts of the country.
The Parliament of the then northern Nigeria passed the Land Tenure Law in 1962,
which governed all interest affecting land. The Land Tenure law vested all land in the
governor who was to hold land in trust for the people and only rights of
occupancy (not rights of ownership) could be granted to other people. The consent of
the governor was required before any alienation of interest in land could take place.
In the then Southern Nigeria, however, customary system of land tenure governed land
interest and land was owned by communities, families and individuals in freehold.
Land was acquired either by inheritance, first settlement, conveyance, gift, outright
purchase or long possession. There were also crown lands, which were acquired by the
British Crown by virtue of treaty, cession, convention or agreement. When Nigeria
attained independence, such crown land became known as state land.             
Notwithstanding the existence of laws regulating land, the problems of land tenure and
land administration persisted both in the Northern and Southern Nigeria. There were
new problems such as land racketeering and speculations. Exorbitant compensations
were demanded by landowners whenever the government acquired land for
development. Thus, acquisition of land by government or individuals was becoming
almost impossible in Nigeria.
In fact, one of the major factors that was said to be a stumbling block against efficient
implementation of the Second Development Plan 1975-1980, was lack of land for
development project. To break this barrier and monopolies of landlords, the Federal
Military Government set up some panels to consider how best to solve the problems
associated with land tenure and administration in Nigeria. The report of one of these
panels i.e., the Land Use Panel of 1977 eventually formed the basis of the Land Use Act
No. 6 of 1978.
The purpose of this essay is to show the relevance of the Land Use Act to Land-use
planning in Nigeria.
Summary the Land Use Act of 1978
The Land Use Decree (now Land Use Act) was promulgated on 29th of March 1978
following the recommendations of a minority report of a panel appointed by the Federal
Military Government of the time to advise 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).
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 trust for the people.                                                       
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 people. 

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.                                                             
The Act distinguishes throughout between urban and non-urban (rural) land. 
In urban areas (to be so designated by the Governor of a state), land was to come
 under the control and management of the Governor. 

In rural areas it was to fall under the appropriate local government.                        

      

“Land Use and Allocation Committees”, appointed for each state by the
Governor, were to advise on the administration of land in urban areas. 

“Land Allocation Advisory Committees” were to exercise equivalent functions

with regard to rural land.                                                                                                      
        
The Act envisaged that “rights of occupancy”, which would appear to replace all
previous system or rules of inheritance to land, would form the basis upon which land
was to be held. These rights were of two kinds: statutory and customary. 
“Statutory rights of occupancy” were to be granted by the Governor and related
principally to urban areas.  

“Customary right of occupancy”, according to the Act, means the right of a

person or community lawfully using or occupying land in accordance with
customary law and includes a customary right of occupancy granted by Local
Government under this Act.
Local governments were empowered to grant customary rights of occupancy to any
person or organisation for agricultural, residential and other purposes with the proviso
that grants of land for agricultural or grazing purposes should not exceed 500 or 5000
hectares respectively without the consent of the State Governor. With the minor
exception of land subject to Federal or State claims, the Act also empowered the local
government to enter upon, use and occupy for public purposes any land within the area
of its jurisdiction and to revoke any customary right of occupancy on any such land. The
approval of the local government was to be required for the holder of a customary right
of occupancy to alienate that right.                  
The Act prohibits the alienation by assignment, mortgage, transfer or possession, sub-
lease or otherwise, of customary right of occupancy without the consent of either the
Governor or the Local Government as the case may be. It also prohibits the alienation of
statutory right of occupancy without the due consent of the Governor (Land Use Act,
1978: section 21 subsections a and b).
Governors were empowered to revoke rights of occupancy for reasons of “overriding
public interest.” Such reasons included alienation by an occupier without requisite
consent or approval; a breach of the conditions governing occupancy; or the
requirement of the land by Federal, State, or local government for public purposes. Only
in the last of these cases would any compensation be due to the holder, and then only
for the value of unexhausted improvements on the land and not for the land itself.
There are four main objectives derivable from the act and these are:
 1. to effect structural change in the system of land tenure;
2. to achieve fast economic and social transformation;
3. to negate economic inequality caused by the appropriation of rising land values by
land speculators and land holders; and
4. to make land available easily and cheaply, to both the government and private
individual developers.

BOLAJI OSENI at 4:48 AM

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14 comments:

Anonymous June 25, 2013 at 3:05 AM

The paper was well constructed.I would have love to read the constraints and way forward for the
Act has been around for a while now.Land cost is still an issue in Urban areas Abuja specifically
Reply

Tommy Ojoge-Daniel October 27, 2013 at 2:22 AM

Very concise and inciting...
Reply

Anonymous November 20, 2013 at 11:52 AM

good
Reply

Anonymous December 16, 2013 at 5:46 AM

nice structure and explained appropriately with simplicity
Reply

Anonymous September 22, 2014 at 12:13 PM

awsome
Reply

Jonathan Acholoh January 23, 2015 at 3:29 PM

Thanks a lot this have gone a long way bin helping me
Reply

Anonymous September 12, 2015 at 1:15 AM

A well compressed straight to point analysis.
It has helped my assignment.
well done!
H I O.
Reply

smart jr Okotie November 10, 2015 at 5:34 AM

The 1978 Land Use Act is feudal. It has a colonial character! It denies Nigerians right to own land and
the range of resources contained in it! This is outright economic dis-empowerment by other means -
a trend that is synonymous with feudal and colonial rule. Basically, the law reduces Nigerians to the
status of squatters, as they are mere occupiers of land not owners, no matter how much they pay or
paid to acquire it. This truth highlights the silent reality of established and sustained special anti-
Nigeria relationship between British neo-colonial authorities and feudal Northern Nigerian elites. The
latter are known principal connivers against Nigeria's freedom and progress. For as long as Nigerians
cannot own land, they will remain unable to enrich their lives with the wealth of their land! Who then
owns or controls the wealth of Nigerian land? It is quietly the British who have sworn to extract every
bit of wealth from our soil. Northern leaders are willing tools for achieving this criminal objective.
Read this statement by a representative of the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons
(N.C.N.C), Magnus Williams, at the fifth pan-African Congress held in Manchester in 1945 and
headed by W.E.B Dubois. It basically illustrates the tragedy of Nigeria’s (and by representation, the
black world’s) enslavement to the West and the need for action with the following words: The
Colonial Office has always told us by words and implication that there is a happy land; and we have
always answered far, far away. . . Britain says that every wealth in the Nigerian ground must come to
them. While the people of Nigeria are contributing to revenue, the sons and daughters of rulers reap
the benefit. We must do our best to right these wrongs. Nigerians assume a lot! Slavery is still on!
Land is indispensable to survival and economic enrichment. For as long as man does not won land,
he remains a slave to whoever exercises the ownership. Someone must own land. It is either
Nigerians own land or some other people own it! Our government is actually holding land not in trust
for Nigerians but for the
British neo-colonial authorities who have the economic and technological power to suck our gold, oil,
diamond (etc) off our land while we all mope in worsening poverty and sqalour!
exploit which denuies
Reply
smart jr Okotie November 10, 2015 at 5:36 AM
The 1978 Land Use Act is feudal. It has a colonial character! It denies Nigerians right to own land and
the range of resources contained in it! This is outright economic dis-empowerment by other means -
a trend that is synonymous with feudal and colonial rule. Basically, the law reduces Nigerians to the
status of squatters, as they are mere occupiers of land not owners, no matter how much they pay or
paid to acquire it. This truth highlights the silent reality of established and sustained special anti-
Nigeria relationship between British neo-colonial authorities and feudal Northern Nigerian elites. The
latter are known principal connivers against Nigeria's freedom and progress. For as long as Nigerians
cannot own land, they will remain unable to enrich their lives with the wealth of their land! Who then
owns or controls the wealth of Nigerian land? It is quietly the British who have sworn to extract every
bit of wealth from our soil. Northern leaders are willing tools for achieving this criminal objective.
Read this statement by a representative of the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons
(N.C.N.C), Magnus Williams, at the fifth pan-African Congress held in Manchester in 1945 and
headed by W.E.B Dubois. It basically illustrates the tragedy of Nigeria’s (and by representation, the
black world’s) enslavement to the West and the need for action with the following words: The
Colonial Office has always told us by words and implication that there is a happy land; and we have
always answered far, far away. . . Britain says that every wealth in the Nigerian ground must come to
them. While the people of Nigeria are contributing to revenue, the sons and daughters of rulers reap
the benefit. We must do our best to right these wrongs. Nigerians assume a lot! Slavery is still on!
Land is indispensable to survival and economic enrichment. For as long as man does not won land,
he remains a slave to whoever exercises the ownership. Someone must own land. It is either
Nigerians own land or some other people own it! Our government is actually holding land not in trust
for Nigerians but for the
British neo-colonial authorities who have the economic and technological power to suck our gold, oil,
diamond (etc) off our land while we all mope in worsening poverty and sqalour!
exploit which denuies
Reply

Jennifer Thompson June 4, 2016 at 12:20 PM

This comment has been removed by the author.
Reply

Anonymous March 30, 2017 at 3:36 PM

Good and concise
Reply

Gabriel princess u. January 4, 2018 at 11:46 PM

Well, the land use decree has really helped me in my assignment, was really stranded looking for land
use Act cap L5 LFN 2004
Reply
 Ibrahimagbons January 8, 2018 at 12:36 AM
This is a great work. Keep it up. Kudos!
Reply

Unknown January 18, 2018 at 1:31 AM

To me is the source of the problems that we are facing because it did not mobilize and create proper
awareness to the people as of the time of signing the report into law.
Reply

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