Compulsory acquisition of land in Nigeria: A case study

Agricu$uro/ Adminisrrahm (I (1980-81) Z-269

COMPULSORY ACQUISITION OF LAND IN NIGERIA: A CASE STUDY

SEGUN FAMORIYO

Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, Instiiuie for Agricultural Research, Ahmadu Be110 University, Zaria, Nigeria.

(Received: 4 February, 1980)

SUMMARY

For many centuries, the issue of compulsory land acquistion in Nigeria has constituted one of the most important issues confronting many Nigerian communities.

In pre-colonial times, lands of many village communities were regularl~v required forpublicpurposes such as burialgrounds. fetishgrounds, playingfields, etc. Since then, naturally, the demand .for lands for public purposes has increased tremendously, particularly with the need for more land for agricultural and industrial development projects.

Consequently, Nigerian Federal and State Governments as well as Statutory Corporations have had occasion to exercise theirpowers of compulsory acquisition of occupied and unoccupied lands; and in 1978, the Federal Government promulgated the Land Use Decree.

This article looks at these developments within an empirical framework, and argues in favour of a diligent and adequate implementation of the decree at this its initial stage.

INTRODUCTION

From time immemorial in many Nigerian communities, land has been put to various public uses under the customary tenure system. Land use for public purposes included common grazing, defence, fuel, hunting, forest areas, sites of worship, market sites, public footpaths and shrines.

Particularly in the pre-colonial era, the amount of land required for public purposes among Nigerian communities was relatively small and society could easily

255 Agriculrural Administration 0309-586X/ 8 l/0008-0255/$02.50 0 Applied Science Publishers Ltd, England, 1981 Printed in Great Britain

256 SEGUN FAMORIYO

cope with the demand. Nevertheless it was part of the code of the customary tenure system that private rights could be extinguished on lands required for public purposes. For example, according to Umeh, the expression ‘Iweputa ana/a/u’in the Ibo (a Nigerian ethnic group) dialect means ‘bringing out land’. The expression was always used to indicate the fact that lands were to be made compulsorily available to members of the extended family, the village, the rural town, ‘or any other appropriate traditional socio-political authority for public purpose of the authority demanding such a compulsory taking of land’.’

The expression ‘appropriate traditional socio-political authority’would mean a town, village, or any genetically linked group that needs public lands in order to perform its functions effectively. Appropriation of land for deities also falls under this category.

As far as compensation was concerned, in cases where this was paid, it was usually done by providing alternative lands to the individuals concerned, not by monetary payment.

It is generally recognised that under the customary tenure system in Nigeria, particularly in pre-colonial times, lands were compulsorily acquired without bitterness, disputes or rancour. There was usually mutual understanding between the authorities acquiring lands and the owners of such lands. The reasons for the existence of this favourable situation included effective communication and contact with each other, the relatively small amount of land required and the low tempo of economic development which did not require the acquisition of land for major development schemes.

Acquisition since 1900 Since the beginning of this century, the situation described above has undergone

profound changes. The pattern of acquisition, based upon age-old practices under the customary tenure system, has given way to an era of unparalleled expropriation of extensive areas of land by Federal and State Governments in Nigeria.

This change has occurred in order to meet the peoples’ aspirations and to fulfil their demand for rapid social and economic development. But in the early years of this century, when Nigeria was under colonial rule, the colonial government acquired lands for public purposes either through force or through gifts from local authorities and community elders.

While the colonial authority may not have had much recourse to compulsory acquisition, nevertheless legislative measures to govern public acquisition were introduced into the country’s legal machinery and have remained until the present. The acquisition of large areas of land for public purposes now takes place on a larger scale than in the pre-colonial and colonial times. This is because rapid population growth and urbanisation are now features of development in Nigeria.

Thus. more and more lands are now being sought for establishing schools, hospitals, universities, airports, recreation parks and game reserves. Furthermore,

COMPULSORY ACQUISITION OF LAND IN NIGERIA : A CASE STUDY 257

the public acquisition of these lands means making further incursions into agricultural lands, thus depleting the latter. Consequently, in many cases, thousands of farmers become landless and unemployed, often being left to start from scratch again all by themselves. The matter thus raises both economic as well as social issues. Hence, large scale expropriation usually raises a number of issues such as the purpose for which the land is intended, the number of people to be affected by expropriation, the site, extent of acquisition, occupational shift. social disequilibrium, etc. The existence of these crucial issues constitutes the raison d2tre for making an objective study of public acquisition of land in Nigeria.

Objective The object of this paper is to present the theoretical principles of compul-

sory acquisition of land for public purposes under the existing customary land tenure systems in Nigeria, using the results of a study for illustrative purposes.

In order to achieve this major object, the presentation is divided into five parts. In the first part, concepts of land and land ownership are explained in the context of the customary land tenure system.

In the second part, the legal and historical background to compulsory acquisition, both in pre-colonial and post-colonial Nigeria, is closely examined.

The third part contains a presentation of the results of the survey on compulsory acquistion of lands taken by Federal and former Western State Governments from 1953372 and a discussion of compensation.

The fourth part is a summary of the problems encountered during compulsory acquisition and of when payments of compensation were made.

The fifth part contains the conclusions as well as a description of some relevant policy guidelines.

I. CONCEPTS OF LAND AND LAND OWNERSHIP UNDER THE CUSTOMARY TENURE SYSTEM IN NIGERIA

Land has always been of great importance to nations since it is involved in the social, economic, political and cultural arrangement of societies. Whether a nation is predominantly agricultural or is industrially oriented. the success of the nation depends on the extent to which that nation realises the full potential from its land. Prudent use of the nation’s land resources involves establishing measures of control of land use and the proper organisation of individuals in the use of, and transfer of rights in, land.

Among different professions and under varying circumstances, different connotations are attached to land. For instance, among surveyors, land is defined as ‘the resources of nature, including physical assets like oceans, minerals, crops and man-made extremes like manure and skyscrapers’.* The land economist. however, considers land as ‘a sum total of the natural and man-made resources over

258 SEGUN FAMORIYO

which possession of the earth’s surface gives control’.” Economists however also differ in their interpretations of the concept of land. The difference arises as a result of the different production and economic relationships which arise from regarding land as a property object or a factor of production; differences in the interpretations are also a product of each economist’s background, as well as his predilections.4

Furthermore, the economist’s definition is essentially analytical, in the sense that it singles out land as a factor of production, divorces it from fixtures and improvement, considers it as a gift of nature, and distinguishes it from both capital and labour. The abstract conception is useful for purposes of economic analysis. But for using land for productive purposes. the economist’s conception is not sufficient.

The legal profession perhaps gives a more thorough and strict definition of land. In the land lawyer’s conception, ‘land includes land as a natural resource, and it includes it in its fulness, all that nature gives of soil, water, minerals, trees and vegetation and, in addition, all the works of man upon the natural resource.. . all buildings, roads, fences, shafts, ditches and all erections and excavations which are physically attached to or identified with the soil . . . all things superjacent and subjacent above and below the earth’s surface’.s In essence, the legal conception of land recognises both the abstract property rights aspect and the physical soil itself, all within a proprietary land unit.

In Nigeria, as in many other African countries, various concepts of land have been recognised. First, there is the physical land, at a fixed location. Secondly, there is the abstract concept concerning property rights when land transactions take place. It is the land with property rights that is purchased since there are no market dealings in virgin land. Thirdly, the economic concept considers the economic potential of land for development purposes.

A land tenure system has been defined by Malinowski as ‘the relationship of man to soil in the widest sense’.6 This was elaborated by Timmons to mean ‘the relationships between individuals, and between individuals and society growing out of the use of land. This includes relationships between mortgagees (public and private) and mortgagors, landlords (public and private) and tenants, operators and laborers, as well as between managers on the one hand and owner operators and laborers on the other. In a broader sense, it includes the relationship between society and landowners, operators and labourers-through use of the police, eminent domain and tax powers-in all instances where these relationships impinge upon rights in land’.’

In Nigeria, land is important as a commodity for daily use for many purposes. Over the decades therefore, land has continued to influence the lives of Nigerians socially, economically and politically.

Under the Nigerian customary land tenure arrangements, no land exists without an owner. It is a basic truism. Superior (absolute or ‘freehold’) interests as well as


inferior (usufructuary or ‘leasehold’) interests are vested in landowners who in Nigeria may be individuals, supernatural persons, corporate bodies and the State.8

Individuals, by virtue of membership of a family or clan become entitled to portions of family land. While the individual enjoys rights of occupation and use over land, he may not alienate it permanently without the consent of other members of the family. An individual however enjoys absolute rights of ownership if he is the first to clear the land. Consequently, the individual may pledge, lease, mortgage or sell property rights in such land to other parties. Supernatural persons comprise deities, cults, oracles and secret societies, with which ownership of certain lands is associated in Nigeria. Lands owned by the deity are usually administered on the deity’s behalf by appropriate individuals. For example, ‘stool’ lands are administered by the head-chief on behalf of the stool.

Corporate bodies own land ‘under a corporate or communal ownership system as corporations aggregate, they are various socio-political groups found in Nigeria, namely, the rural town, the extended village, the patrilineal or matrilineal groups, the extended family and the nuclear family ‘.9 From the commencement of British rule in Nigeria, the State has acquired land through grants, gifts and the principle of compulsory acquisition as made operational under the relevant legislations. But even before the colonial era, customary tenure systems in Nigeria made provision for allocating land to public purposes. In this sense, the customary tenure systems had rudiments of the power of compulsory acquisition.

In some parts of the (geographically) southern States of Nigeria, and in many parts of the (geographically) northern States of Nigeria where land is abundant and population density is low, the rule of land tenure is not always strictly enforced. In these cases, rigid demarcation of land between individuals and groups is rare. An individual may farm anywhere within the area of his community, continually clearing fresh bush and not claiming any rights over the abandoned farmland.

However, with growing population density, increasing urbanisation and/ or rapid transactions in landed property, permanent rights become established in land, Under this situation, once a man has farmed a piece of land, he has the right to return to it after its fallow period. He loses the right of return only if he has exceeded the specified number of years-that is the fallow period. But for members of the landowning group, permanent rights in land are held for life and can be inherited on the death of the farmer.lO

One therefore belongs to an ownership (landowning ) group either by birth or by being absorbed into the group. The group exercises rights of ownership while the individuals exercise rights of use. The latter rights involve more than mere physical control by the allottee on his allotted land. He can exclude from the land strangers to the group as well as others of the same group, provided that by doing so he himself has not committed any breach of the customary rules with respect to the rights of other group members.

260 SEWN FAMORIYO

II. COMPULSORY ACQUISITION OF LAND BY THE STATE

The legal base Before examining the case study of compulsory acquisition, it is germane to look

at the legal basis of the process. Records of the pre-colonial system of customary land tenure in Nigeria are

inadequate to give an unambiguous documented interpretation of the pre-colonial legal base of compulsory acquisition of land. Besides, Nigeria was not one country before 1914.

During the colonial period, the interests of the British were in ensuring that law and order prevailed so as to fully utilise the country’s potential resources. This was obvious from the declared aim of the colonial government which was directed ‘primarily, mainly and eventually at the development of the agricultural resources of these countries through the agency of their indigenous inhabitants’. l1 The colonial government’s attitude to customary land tenure in Nigeria was both paternalistic and laissez-faire.12

When the British conquered the Fulani in 1902-03, they took control of all the lands in the (then) northern region of Nigeria. The nature of the rights acquired by the British was not defined. But the first significant effort made to regularise land matters came in 1910 with the declaration in the Lands and Native Rights Proclamation that all the lands of Northern Nigeria whether occupied or unoccupied had become native lands. (Before this, however, was the Crown Land Proclamation of 1902. This gave statutory authority for British colonial administrators to replace Fulani rulers. It also declared all native lands in the (then) northern region of Nigeria as ‘public lands’.) Control and jurisdiction over these lands were vested in the (then) Northern Nigeria government on behalf of, or in trust for, the ‘native’ people.

The government was to give regard to the customs of the people with respect to land matters in the local areas. Each occupier was to retain rights of use against all persons except the government.

The 1910 Proclamation was revised and re-enacted by the Land and Native Rights Ordinance, No. 1 of 1916, which declared that all lands whether occupied or unoccupied, with few exceptions, were to be regarded as ‘native lands’.

In the (geographic) southern parts of Nigeria,.legislation, relating to public acquisition of land goes as far back as 1863, with the town improvement scheme in Lagos. This was followed by the Public Lands Act of 1876, which gave the first powers of acquisition to Lagos and later to the rest of Southern Nigeria in 1906.13 There was also the Ikoyi Lands Act of 1907, which was specially enacted to enable the government at that time to secure lands from the Onikoyi family in order to create the lkoyi estate in Lagos.

The Native Lands Acquisition Proclamation (Laws of the Colony and


Protectorate of Southern Nigeria) of 1910 made it illegal for any alien to acquire rights in land from a native except with the written approval of the governor.

The same principles were embodied in the Public Lands Acquisition Act which was first enacted in 19 17 (amended as ref. 14). This act was based upon the Land Clauses Act of 1845 and the Land (Assessment of Compensation) Act of 1919 of England. The colonial government introduced this legislation in order to monitor the paths of land development particularly with regard to provisions of services and government residential areas (‘reservations’ of the colonial era). The Public Lands Acquisition Act, Cap 167, has been extensively used by the Federal Government throughout most of Southern Nigeria while its principles have been copied in legislations of the Southern States.

Post-colonial era According to the 1962 Land Tenure Law, most of the lands in the (then) northern

region of Nigeria were still legally regarded as native lands. The idea of ‘native’ and ‘non-native’ lands in the northern states was a kind of

legal taxonomy which, as far as farmers were concerned, was an anomalous if not a nebulous concept. This is so because despite the legal taxonomy, the categories of ownership which were recognised in other parts of Nigeria

‘still existed in the minds of the natives and native communities (of the northern states) who thought that they still owned the proprietary land ownership rights to which they were entitled under their respective native laws and customs, not knowing that these have been taken away from them by statute and vested in the state’.r5

In modern times, the Nigerian State, like any other political entity, uses its prerogative of the principle of eminent domain to take privately owned land and use it for public purposes. The principle of eminent domain is a sure means of circumventing many of the problems associated with attempts to acquire lands from private land-owners in Nigeria. Thus the State does not need to contend with problems raised by the principle of inalienability, which still constitutes a living force in the customary tenure arrangements, particularly in different localities of Southern Nigeria.16

Although the State puts the principle ofeminent domain into practical operation when it sets out to acquire rights in land from private holders, nevertheless the State does so under stipulated legislations. Some of the legislations applicable under Nigerian conditions have been specified by Harriman2 and Elias.

The typical procedure for compulsory acquisition in Nigeria is as follows: acquisition is usually preceded by a notice appearing in a gazette which describes the land by means of co-ordinates indicated on concrete pillars. The latter are usually erected by government land surveyors after which ‘notice to treat’ for

262 SEGUN FAMORIYO

compensation follows. Within six weeks of the government’s publication, all who have claims in the land must send particulars of such claims to the Ministry of Lands in the state where the land is to be acquired. After the notice, the acquiring authority may ‘enter’the land. If no claim is forthcoming at all, the land is declared ‘unoccupied’and the acquiring authority can ‘enter’the land within 24 hours of the notice being published.

The legal position is therefore uncompromising, it has powerful underpinnings and it is decisively unambiguous with regards to the State’s right of compulsory acquisition. There is, in fact, little or no room for vacillation once the State has decided to ‘enter’ private lands after following the set procedure.

In accordance with the 1963 Constitution, however, any acts of compulsory acquisition of land had to be followed by ‘adequate’or ‘reasonable’compensation. This Constitution has now been superseded by the new Constitution which took effect in Nigeria on October 1, 1979.

III. COMPULSORY ACQUISITlON AND COMPENSATION-RESULTS OF A STUDY

In this section, results of data on compulsory acquisition of land are presented. The cases examined were those that involved lands compulsorily acquired in the former Western State of Nigeria by either the Federal or Western State Government. (Nigeria is a Federation of nineteen States. The former Western State to which reference is made in this study has become three separate States, that is, Oyo, Ogun and Ondo States of Nigeria.) The major source of reference was the acquisition register which contained records of the acquisition. A total number of 103 cases of compulsory acquisition of land were randomly selected from a population of 500. The selection covered acquisition over the period 1953-72. What follows hereafter is, therefore, a presentation of the results obtained.

As shown in Table 1, the cases of acqisition involved both Federal and former Western State Governments. The functions to which the lands compulsorily acquired were put are stipulated in Table 2 for the former Western State acquisitions. Prominent among the uses to which such lands were put by the State

TABLE 1

SELECTION OF CASES OF COMPULSORY ACQUISITION 1953-72

Acquiring authority Number Percentage

Western State1 53 51.46 Federal Government 50 48.54

Total 103 I 00.00

tNow comprised of three States, that is, Oyo, Ogun and Ondo States


TABLE 2

SELECTION OF CASES OF COMPULSORY ACOUISITION- FORMER WESTERN STATE, 1953-72

Purpose of acquisition Number Percentage in sample

Farm settlements Industrial estates Agricultural estates Rest houses Hospitals Educational institutions Road building Dam construction Others7

Total

tSee text for explanations

8 15.09 1.89

: 13.21 7 13.21 8 15.09

: 1 I.32

7.55

1: I.89

20.75

53 100~00

are the establishment of farm settlements, building of hospitals, government rest houses, agricultural estates and educational institutions.

Most of the lands compulsorily acquired by the Federal Government in the sample were put to urban uses such as building of ‘rest houses’, defence purposes, and so on.

In considering all cases in the sample, a large proportion of the land compulsorily acquired was customarily occupied-that is, was occupied by individuals in the rural areas who were using the land in accordance with the rules of the land tenure system.

Since rights to land in Southern Nigeria were held by private individuals as members of different family groups; it follows that all lands compulsorily acquired by the State in this sample were held by private individuals and groups, who belonged to larger family or corporate units that constituted superiorauthorities in the exercise of ownership rights in the land.

Occupiers of land acquired in the sample had varied occupations although the predominant occupation was farming. The occupational distribution of individuals whose lands were acquired is shown in Tables 3 and 4. For the former Western

TABLE 3

OCCUPATIONAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE DISPOSSESSEDt-WESTERN STATE

Occupafion Number Percentage

Farming Non-farming Undisclosed

Total

32 60.40

1: 3i.g

53 100~00

tSee explanation in text

264 SEGUN FAMORIYO

TABLE 4

OCCUPATIONAL DlSTRlBUTlON OF THE DISPOSSESSEDt-FEDERAL

Occupation Number Percentage

Farming 21 Non-farming

(including recreation)

Undisclosed 2:

Total 50

tSee explanation in text

42.00

6.00 52.00

I00~00

State, for instance, more than 60% of the sample were lands given to agricultural production, while in 34% of the cases, the original use of expropriated land was not disclosed.

In the case of lands acquired by the Federal Government in the sample, Table 4 indicates that in about 52% of the cases of acquisition, the acquisition register did not disclose the uses to which such lands were put prior to compulsory acquisition. But it was disclosed that 42% of the lands acquired in the sample were previously used for agricultural purposes prior to compulsory acquisition.

It should be stated , with regard to Tables 3 and 4, that these figures actually indicate the proportional uses of lands acquired before the compulsory acquisitions took place, as shown on the register. The figures are, therefore, only an indirect indicator of the occupational distribution of the dispossessed, under an a priori

assumption that the dispossessed, or a large proportion of them, must have been engaged in the uses to which the lands were put before compulsory acquisition.

Compensation As indicated earlier, compulsory acquisition of property in Nigeria is

constitutionally expected to be accompanied by payment of compensation. In this context, compensation is what is paid to the landowner(s) either in the

form of cash or in the provision of alternative lands when their original rights have been compulsorily extinguished by the State, Local Authorities orstatutory bodies in Nigeria. The basis for payment of compensation is that when an acquiring authority takes lands compulsorily, the landowners lose what has hitherto constituted a source of income, in addition to a loss in social status. The right to payment of compensation has existed in Nigeria for decades, and since the colonial period compensation has been dictated by statute, military decrees and case law.‘8 According to Decree No. 38 the State Lands (Compensation) Decree 1968, in determining the amount of compensation to be paid for resumed State lands, due cognisance was to be taken of buildings crops and any other installations on the land. Compensation was therefore to be paid first on the resumed land, secondly on


buildings or other installations on the land, and thirdly on crops growing on the land.

The terms of this decree have been heavily criticised in many quarters particularly by the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers. The basis of their criticism was that the decree did not make it possible to discount

‘the benefits already realised and enjoyed by the lessee of the resumed land. . . it disregards interests in land contingent upon future expectancy which should have been taken into account, and compensates for interest whose benefits have been known and enjoyed and which have no present value and are disregarded in proper valuation’.19

The inference of the above is that under the Decree, one who owns inferior interest in land is paid compensation with interest for the period he has already enjoyed on the land (the exhausted period), instead of being compensated for the remaining (unexhausted period) period of the lease. Thus the owner is overcompensated whenever the exhausted period is greater than the unexhausted period and he is undercompensated whenever the exhausted is less than the unexhausted period. The need is therefore for a recognition of the existence of unexhausted improvements on resumed land and a full acknowledgement of the security aspect by recognising unexpired interests in land.

Apart from the legal difficulties relating to payment of adequate compensation, there are other problems that may be identified. Foremost among these is the basic but rather nebulous concept of ‘adequate compensation’ itself. There is lack of agreement as to what constitutes adequate compensation.

Secondly, if the compensation is not paid on the date when notice to treat is given, the actual value paid is usually less than adequate. Thirdly, delays as a result of administrative bottlenecks are usually accompanied by a rise in land values. Delays can be disastrous in terms of monetary values especially during an inflationary period. Delays also arise from the lack of provision for quickly identifying all those who have rights or interests in land. The problem is not with the family system of landholdingper se, but with the procedure for disbursing cash to all the individuals concerned. Fourthly, there is the problem associated with valuation of property for compensation purposes. There is a dearth of qualified valuation surveyors in Nigeria.

IV. PROBLEMS RELATING TO COMPULSORY ACQUISITION AND COMPENSATION

This paper is concerned more with the mechanisms for the act of compulsory acquisition and compensation, rather than with the monetary value of the payments. This is because improvements in the mechanisms can ensure ease and

266 SEGUN FAMORIYO

convenience in the bureaucratic procedure set up for expediting both compulsory acquisition and compensation.

Consequently, attention is focused on the problems encountered.

(1) Interrelated factors Various factors are interrelated in determining the rate of compensation. For

instance, there are differences in quality of land. Also, differences in locations and market situations add to differences in land values. Local variations show their influence on land values, and these may be reflected in the amount of compensation paid for land acquired. There have, of course, been differences in the values of rural and urban land in Nigeria.

(2) Existence of practical difficulties There are practical difficulties in the actual process of determining

compensation. In the urban areas, for instance, determining the rate of compensation is fraught with the problem of urban dwellings that have to be demolished. Issues that have to be considered here include the rate of depreciation, terms and title to land upon which the houses stand. These are problems that have to be resolved before determining the actual rates of compensation.

In the agricultural sector, other sets of problems emerge whenever lands hitherto devoted to agricultural use are to be compulsorily acquired by the state. In this case, the Ministry of Agriculture uses crop enumeration as basis for crop evaluation. This enumeration involves a classification of crops and indicates the rate of compensation paid for each class. Thus the full appraisal, which involves crop enumeration and final determination of compensation, is done by the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources. The details are considered to be confidential information and it is not always possible to predict precisely what the rate of compensation for particular crops will be.

Some attempt is usually made to introduce quality differentials into crop valuation, however. This is done through classification of tree crops into grades like ‘very good’, ‘good’, ‘average’ and ‘poor’, in grades A, B, C, and D respectively.

(3) Claims of rights in land There have been problems of conflicting claims of rights in land whenever

compensation is to be paid for lands compulsorily acquired in Nigeria. But this problem is not particular to the agricultural sector.

The core problem has always been how to scrutinise the claims of different groups and individuals to the same areas of land. The need has been to establish a source of vital information on who has certain rights in specific portions of land. Only after a thorough scrutiny can such information be stored, to be drawn upon later when cases of acquisition and compensation emerge. Such information can


also be referred to during negotiations between parties taking part in land transactions.

Lack of this kind of information has created a situation, for instance, where in 1961 a total of 13 852 acres of land were compulsorily acquired for the University of Ife and families made up of about 25 000 farmers claimed to have rights in the land .20

(4) Problems of assessment Apart from assessing crops, there is also the problem of assessing compensation

for bare land that is devoid of economic trees. Further, it is not easy to assess the fair market value for fixed structures on the

land, partly because of limited information available to the valuer, and partly because in many localities in Nigeria, there is a complete absence of open market transactions in landed property and farm structures. 21

This problem is occasionally compounded by the incidence of ‘dictated valuation’ by interested parties, or even the possible offer of bribes by the affected community or farmers. This practice may lead to overpayment or underpayment of compensation.

V. CONCLUSIONS AND POLlCY GUIDELINES

The above comments serve to identify certain areas for policy changes with regard to compulsory land acquisition by the State and compensation. Both aspects are part of an existing land tenure system. Therefore, there is a need to formulate a clear land tenure policy, which should be all-embracing and include realistic guidelines as to the procedures to be adopted when acquiring lands compulsorily by the State and when making compensation payments.

Towards this end, reference has been made to an intensive, nationwide study of land tenure problems in Nigeria by Famoriyo et al. ‘0 The study attempted to relate the problems to the nature of agricultural development in Nigeria.

The three-man study dealt with the customary land tenure system in Nigeria in all its ramifications, but with particular emphasis on the need to preserve agricultural land for future agricultural development in Nigeria. The research team argued that Nigeria’s land tenure problems are very complex and that there was need for careful and pragmatic reform.10

Some of the recommendations made included a reform of the Nigerian land law, and the need to introduce regulatory measures with regards to ownership, acquisition and disposition of land.

The research team also suggested that rights in unused lands in the country should be vested in the State, with registration of rights or interests in land being made compulsory in all States.

268 SEGUN FAMORIYO

Other measures suggested by the research team included: effectively reorganising the machinery for rating and taxation of landed property without destroying anyone’s initiatives or incentives, regulating competition in favour of rural land use, establishment of cooperatives, promoting continuous study of Nigeria’s land use, regulation of the inheritance system, etc.10

Lund Use Decree Recently, the Federal Government, at the completion of a round-the-States tour

by a panel which it set up headed by a High Court judge, promulgated a decree which was aimed at producing a major change of emphasis from land ownership to land use.2*

Cited as the Land Use Decree of 1978, the decree considered it ‘in the public interest that the rights of all Nigerians to the land of Nigeria be asserted and preserved by law’.

The decree is in eight parts of 5 I sections. The decree vests all land in the urban areas of each State in the Governor of that State while rural lands are vested in the Local Governments exercising jurisdiction in the particular areas. In the urban areas, the decree provides for the establishment of a Lund Use Allocation Committeee (LUAC) to advise the Governor generally on matters relating to control and management of urban lands. The committee is also to advise on issues such as revocation of rights of occupancy, compensation, resettlements, and so on. Lands are to be used for the benefit of society and in the public interest.

In the rural areas, a Land Allocation Advisory Committee (LAAC) advises the local government generally on issues relating the effective management of land. The Governor is empowered ‘to grant statutory rights of occupancy, to any person for all purposes’, and to issue certificates of occupancy, levy rents, impose penalties, extend, curtail or waive conditions pertaining to statutory rights of occupancy in the urban areas. Although the decree took effect from March 29, 1978, it has come under a barrage of criticisms. While some critics argue that it is ‘exploitative’, others argue that is too ‘petty’ and inadequate! (See sources of both remarks in Famoriyo.23)

It is sufficient at this point to stress that the terms of the decree, if adequately implemented, could sufficiently stabilise the state of the nation’s agricultural land by controlling the amount of land that can be usefully exploited by any single person. In this sense, 500 hectares and 5 000 hectares for agricultural and grazing land respectively would tend to deprive many smallholders of their smallholdings, except only where acquisition of these large areas is in bush and thick forest areas that have to be cleared.

In any case, it has been argued that the smallholder lacks the technology to clear such vast areas of land and that it is only the large scale commercial farmer who can command the resources (capital and technology) necessary for a full utilisation of large areas of land. This argument concludes, therefore, that at least in the


agricultural sector, the decree may tend to favour the already ‘large’ farmers. As indicated earlier, it would be necessary to follow the trend of implementation

of the Land Use Decree, both in the urban and rural areas of Nigeria. in order to meaningfully assess its future socio-economic effects on the development of agriculture.

REFERENCES

I. UMEH, J.A., Compulsory acquisition of land and compensation in Nigeria, Sweet and Maxwell, London, 1973, p. 17.

2. HARRIMAN, H., Land acquisition and valuation, Seminar on Land Administration and the Development of African Resources, Universiiy of Ibadan, 27 November-2 December, 1972.

3. BARLOWE, R., Land resource economics, Prentice-Hall Inc. Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1958, p. 7. 4. ABOYADE, O., Land policy for national economic development, Seminar on Land Administration

and the Development ofAfrican Resources, University of Ibadan, 27 November-2 December, 1972. 5. DENMAN, D.R. & PRODANO, S., Landuse:An introduction toproprietarylanduseanalysis, Allen &

Unwin Ltd, London, 1972, Chapter II. 6. MALINOWSKI, &Coral gardens and their magic. Vol. I-Soil tilling and agricultural rites in the

Trobriand Islands, Allen & Unwin Ltd. London, 1935. 7. TIMMONS, J.F., Land tenure policy goals. JournalofLandandPubhc Utility Economics, 19,(1943),

165-79. 8. FAMORIYO. S.. Land tenure. land use and land acauisition in Nigeria. naner nrcsented at the

Symposium ou Land use and development in Africa, south of the-Sahara: h smallholder’s logic and technical rationality, ORSTOM-CVRS Conference held at Quagadougou, Upper Volta, 4-8 December, 1978.

9. Ref. 1, p. 9. IO. FAMORIYO, S., FABIYI, Y. & GANDONU, A., Problems of land tenure in Nigerian agricultural

development. Report to the Federal Department of Agriculture, Lagos, 1977, 200 pp. 1 I. BUCHANAN, K.M. & PUGH, J.C., Landandpeople in Nigeria,UniversityofLondonPressLtd, 1966. 12. FAMORIYO, S.. Elements in developing land tenure policies for Nigeria, The QuarterZy Journal of

Administration, VII, (1972) 55-67. 13. The Laws of Northern Nigeria 1963, Volume II, Cap. 59. 14. The Federal Laws of Nigeria 1958, Cap. 167. 15. Ref. 1, pp.ll-12. 16. FAMORIYO, S., Changing land tenure in Nigeria, Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University ofLondon

1971. 17. ELIAS, T., Public acquisition of land, Seminar on Aspects of Land Tenure, University of Zbadan,

24-28 July, 1972. 18. Ref. 1, p. 39. 19. Ref. 1, pp. 53-4. 20. FAMORIYO, S., Some problems of the customary land tenure system in Nigeria, Land Reform, Land

Settlement and Cooperatives No. 2, 1973, FAO Rome 1974, pp. 13-23. 21. FAMORIYO, S., Significance of security under the traditional tenure arrangements in Nigeria, Rural

Africana, No. 23, Winter 1974. African Studies Centre, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, pp. l-14.

22. Federal Military Government of Nigeria, Decree No. 6, ‘Land Use Decree, 1978’. 23. FAMORIYO. S.. Land tenure. land use and land acauisition in Nigeria. Paner oresented at the

Symposium bn Land use and development in Africa, south of the-Sahara: b smallholderk logic and technical rationalify, ORSTOM-CVRS Conference held at Quagadougou, Upper Volta, 4-8 December, 1978.

24. FAMORIYO, S., Some issues in the social development of Nigerian agriculture, Journal of Administration, Overseas, XIV, (I 975), 25 I-8.

Documents

Compulsory acquisition of land in Nigeria: A case study