Land Acquisition and Use in Nigeria: Implications for Sustainable Food and Livelihood Security

Abstract

Land acquisition and use remain a critical issue of great policy relevance in developing countries such as Nigeria. This study therefore examined land acquisition and use in Nigeria within the context of food and livelihood security. The chapter used secondary data obtained from the World Bank website, National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and other sources. It was found that there are gender, location and income-group considerations in the allocation of land in Nigeria. While the urban land market is relatively more formal, the rural land market is informal and the transactions were not documented in most cases. The study found that bureaucratic bottlenecks, high cost of registering land and long registration procedures, and inconsistent policy regimes impede the development of land market in Nigeria. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that the government should reduce and make the processes to be completed in registering lands in Nigeria easier. The Land Use Act 1978 should be amended to capture the prevailing realities around customary laws and informal markets. The government should reduce the cost of land registration in Nigeria. Multilateral organisations and government should co-create and co-finance innovative interventions to improve activities in the land market.

Evaluation of Equity in Informal Land Development Systems in Two Nigerian Cities

“…Literature on land ownership and administration practices in Nigeria is often categorised into three epochs namely: pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial eras (Adeniyi, 2013;Lamond et al, 2015;Oluwatayo et al, 2019). Prior to the colonisation of present-day Nigeria, lands in the country were held under communal and family ownership (Adeniyi, 2013;Oluwatayo et al, 2019). Traditional rulers and family heads were, thus, vested with the right and authority to administer and manage lands for the benefit of their people.…”

“…Traditional rulers and family heads were, thus, vested with the right and authority to administer and manage lands for the benefit of their people. Land administration and management during this period were based on political, socio-economic, cultural and traditional norms and practices that existed and individual community and family members were granted use rights whilst the absolute ownership or interest in the lands were vested in the community and family heads (Lamond et al, 2015;Oluwatayo et al, 2019). Land use patterns and development outcomes also reflected the political, socio-economic, cultural and traditional norms and practices that existed at that time.…”

“…The colonial period saw the introduction of formal land administration and management predominantly by British colonialists (Lamond et al, 2015;Oluwatayo et al, 2019). This period was therefore characterised by the transfer of British land tenure systems and practices to Nigeria.…”

“…This period was therefore characterised by the transfer of British land tenure systems and practices to Nigeria. This was done through the promulgation of several land and land use legislation (Adeniyi, 2013;Oluwatayo et al, 2019). For example, although the land tenure system based on the Muslim Maliki Law that conferred ownership and control to the ruling class had replaced indigenous land tenure system in Northern Nigeria by 1804, the British colonial administration passed the Land and Native Proclamation Ordinance to change this arrangement (Adeniyi, 2013;Lamond et al, 2015).…”

“…Thus, a trust land administration system was created giving rise to two forms of ownership namely legal ownership, which was vested in the colonial governor and equitable or beneficial ownership that was enjoyed by the natives. Lamond et al (2015) (Lamond et al, 2015;Oluwatayo et al, 2019) andOrdinance No. 9 (1914), which was passed to enable the colonial government to undertake compulsory acquisition of land for public purposes (Lamond et al, 2015).…”