EVOLUTION OF LAND TENURE IN NIGERIA

Before the advent of the British Government in 1861, Nigerians operated

customary land tenure system which was indigenous to the people. Like all
other customs, the customary land tenure system varied from place to place
The system continued after the arrival of the British Government. Although
there were statutory erosions into customary law here and there, the system was
allowed to maintain its essential character.
Following the enactment of the Foreign Jurisdictions Act 1890 to 1913, the
British Crown or government, which included Parliament and the Crown, had
powers to legislate on Nigeria. A major reception legislation arising from the
jurisdiction of the British Government was the Interpretation Act, Cap 89 Laws
of the Federation and Lagos. By section 45 of the Act, the English Common
Law, the Doctrines of Equity and the Statutes of General Application that were
in force in England on the 1st day of January, 1900 were in force in Lagos in so
far as the limits of the local jurisdiction and the local circumstances permitted
and subject to Federal Law, the following statutes have been held to be Statutes
of General Application in Nigeria, they include the Wills Act, 1837, Limitation
Acts of 1882; Real Property Act 1845, the Partition Act 1868, the Settled Land
Act 1882 and the Land Transfer Act 1887 etc.
On the strength of section 45, the English Law of Real Property was applicable
in Nigeria, subject to the exceptions contained in the section. Accordingly, the
English Common Law rules relating to tenures, dispositions of real property,
estates, inheritance, perpetuities and a number of others became applicable in
Nigeria.
One of the earliest legislations introduced by the Colonial Administration is that
dealing with acquisition of land for public purposes. The first of such legislation
was the Public Lands Ordinance of 1876 later re-enacted as Public Lands
Acquisition 1917. The Act empowered the Government to acquire land
compulsorily for public purposes subject to the payment of compensation to the
land owners. The land acquired becomes state (formerly crown) land, and
therefore becomes property of the state. This strategy helps the government to
free land from the prevalent customary land tenure which restricts the land
ownership and holding strictly to the family and communal and hardly
individual. In effect land needed for developmental purposes must be
compulsorily acquired by government for this purpose. The state Lands Acts or
Laws empowered the Government to grant leases of state Land to private
individuals. The title of such grants is therefore free from any communal claims.
A number of Ordinances were passed with the aim of acquiring land for use of
government and private developments, these include Native Lands Acquisition
Proclamation 1900, the Native Lands Acquisition Proclamation 1903, the
Crown Lands Management Proclamation, 1906, as amended, the Native
Acquisition Ordinance 1917, the Niger Lands Transfer Ordinance 1916 and the
Crown Ordinance 1918. In 1935, the Registration of Title Act of that year was
enacted. This Act provided for the registration of land instruments recognized
under the Act, Land Registration Act Cap 99 and the Registered Land Act 1965
was also enacted for the purpose of registration of titles to land.
In 1958 the State Lands Act Cap 45 was enacted which vested the ownership of
all public lands in the state. In the Western Region, the Region enacted the
Property and Conveyancing law, Cap 100 Laws of Western Nigeria 1959. In the
Eastern Region, the Land Tenancy Law 1935 was enacted. In the Northern
Region, series of legislations were enacted by the British Crown. The first is the
Crown Lands Proclamation 1902, which was an agreement between Sir
Frederick Laggard and representatives of the Royal Niger Company under
which all lands, rights and easements were vested in the High Commissioner for
the time being in trust for His Majesty. This was followed by the Niger Lands
Ordinance of 1916. The next was the Land and Native Rights Proclamation
1908 which was re-enacted with amendments by the Land and Native Rights
Ordinance of 1916. This was the position until the Land Tenure Law 1962 was
enacted by the Northern House of Assembly. This Law basically re-enacted the
1916 Law with some amendments.
Additionally, various Decrees and Edicts affecting land in Nigeria were
promulgated during the military government era, thus, using the term decree to
define their laws and policies.

LAND TENURE & ADMINISTRATION

1. Freehold Tenure System:
Individuals who subscribe to the Freehold tenure system pay a predetermined
amount for the right to own a plot of land. Upon obtaining it, you can use it as
collateral for a loan. Larger the land, the greater the payment. The land is
surveyed and closed by signing backup documents.
2. Inheritance Tenure System:
In this case, land ownership is transferred to the next of kin. Thus, lands are
provided for both born and unborn children. Some villages transfer lands to the
children upon their parents’ death.
3. Communal Land Tenure system:
The community becomes the ruling power of the land under this system. The
head of the community determines the sharing ratio. Farming on a large scale is
often encouraged, but a single individual cannot claim ownership of the land or
even use it as security.
4. Leasehold Tenure System:
An individual is granted temporary ownership of a plot of land by some form of
a title from the owner. During the lease period, an individual may have
temporary access to the land, but cannot use it as collateral for loans.
5. Gift Tenure System:
This type of land ownership is when the landowner gives up his or her land
voluntarily and without being coerced by anybody. Since the new owner now
owns the full and permanent title to the land, he can use it as collateral for a
loan.
6. Rent Tenure System:
The tenants pay a rent amount to the landlord for a period of time that they use
the property. Depending on the agreement and terms, the rent period could be
one to two years.
7. Tenants at Government Will:
According to this system, land is leased by the Nigerian government to farmers
for cultivating. The land is mostly used for large-scale farming and crop
production. The land is relatively inexpensive to acquire.

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WOMEN ACCESS TO LAND

Extensive studies have been carried out on women contributions to household

and national economy, especially in the area of agriculture and food security
(Fabiyi et al, 2007; Enete and Amusa, 2010; Sofa Team and Doss, 2011). One
area that lacks adequate research is gender access and ownership rights to
land and its implication on the wealth of women. Even though theoretically,
the Nigerian land use Act of 1978 gives men and women equal right to access
and own land, in practical terms, women unlike their male counterparts are
handicapped in making decisions on the acquisition, use and disposal of the
important piece of real estate.
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LAND UTILIZATION
Not surprisingly, the country that is home to the largest population of the region
also has by far the largest area under cultivation. In 2013, rainfed agriculture
accounted for 380,000 square km in Nigeria, covering over 40 percent of its
national territory, up from 20 percent in 1975. From 1975 to 2000, 130,000
square km of new agricultural land were taken under the plough, with an
additional 110,000 square km from 2000 to 2013. The magnitude of these
transitions — together exceeding the size of the entire country of Ghana— is
unparalleled in the region. Nigeria is also the only country of the region in
which agriculture has traded places with savanna, and doubled its area in 38
years, to make it the largest land cover type.
The expansion of agriculture was observed across all ecoregions from the forest
zone of southern Nigeria, where root and tree crops dominate, to the forest-
savanna transition of the centre of the country, where mainly root crops are
found, to the grain belt of semiarid northern Nigeria. The Niger and Benue
Basins, promoted as a prime agricultural development area and future bread
basket since the 1970s, has seen the most prominent encroachment of
agriculture into the savanna, sharpening the outlines of the remaining protected
areas. Not all protected savanna areas, however, have been spared from the fast
agricultural expansion.
While the transition from savanna to agriculture constituted the largest land cover change
in terms of area, some changes in the smaller land cover categories also stand out as
important. High rates of change were observed for settlements, irrigated agriculture,
plantation, and open mines, with gains accelerating from 1–2 percent per year between
1975– 2000 to 2–4 percent per year in the 2000–2013 period. Under the pressures of a
rapidly growing population and economy, forests, gallery forests and woodlands, in
addition to the savanna land cover types, were all being diminished, with loss rates
increasing to over 2 percent per year during the 2000–2013 period. Forest area decreased
by 45 percent from 1975 to 2013.
PROTECTION OF SENSITIVE AREAS
It is trite beyond any cavil or peradventure that the security of interest acquired
by a purchaser is no doubt a corollary of ownership of real property just as
possession is said to be an incident of ownership and that where ownership of
land is in dispute, the law presumes the possessor as the owner till the contrary
is proved.75 The purchaser of an estate in fee simple (freehold estate) or a term
of years (leasehold estate) is interested in acquiring a valid and indefeasible title
or estate together with the relevant incorporeal hereditaments or derivative real
rights appurtenant or pertaining to or benefiting the land. Adverse third party
right however, undermines this aspiration especially in the context of the
unfortunate problems faced in unregistered conveyancing.
As Land has become a tradable commodity with a concomitant demand for easy
transferability of title,77 the imperative for the protection of the purchaser
becomes more paramount in contemporary real property law.78 One of the
central features of contemporary real property law is the way in which it
operates to facilitate property transactions to protect property interests of third
parties against purchasers and to protect purchasers.
The idea of land as a marketable commodity is so common place today that it
may be easy to lose sight of the consequences of land alienation for the vendor
as well as the purchasers. For purchasers of real property, especially in common
law jurisdictions like the Bahamas, Nigeria; etc. buying property can be a
nightmare in these jurisdictions that retains old common law unregistered
(deeds) conveyancing system which poses some problems. Consistent with the
preoccupation of a materialistic and increasingly affluent age, stability of title
has become an ever more central focus of social (and therefore legal) concern.
There are two practical problems here in the context of the foregoing.
The first is that deeds may get lost. Without them, in the common law; one has
to resort to possession as the ancient basis of title, which can be proved in a
number of ways, none of them especially reliable.
The second problem is that deeds, even a full set of them, may not give a whole
picture; a prospective purchaser may not be able to ascertain with any degree of
certainty and clarity from them all the rights affecting land. Deeds registration
guards against the first problem, but not the second, by setting up a record of
deeds, so that there is a public record of private paper-work.
how then are occupier’s interests dealt with so that the buyer/purchaser takes
free of them? It is also in practical conveyancing context possible to add a
special condition (while drafting the contract) to the contract dealing with any
occupiers at the property. In this regard it is common for the buyer to raise a
pre- contract enquiry asking the seller to confirm whether there are any
occupiers (apart from seller) and if there are, whether they may have a
beneficial interest in the property and whether they will agree to vacate the
property on or before completion of the transaction. This underscores the
importance of the need to make actual inspection of the property where this is
reasonably possible by the purchaser/buyer before concluding the transaction. If
there are occupiers, the buyer should insist that the seller should provide for a
special condition or clause to be inserted in the contract confirming that the
occupier has no interest in the property, and that the occupier agrees to vacate
on completion.

DISPOSITION
Inheritance:
In Yoruba families; In Yoruba land, distribution of a deceased estate, who dies
without a valid Will, is per stripe (idiigi). The properties will first be divided
equally by the number of wives, and then the share due to each wife will be sub-
divided equally among her own children. Polygamous families where an only
child of a wife will get the same share as with the many children of another wife
might bring up some dispute. In such cases, input from the family head might be
necessary.
Another mode of estate distribution in Yoruba land is the ‘OriOjori’ mode
where each child of the deceased enjoys an equal share of their father’s
property. It has been argued that this mode will result in a fair distribution and
prevent dispute within families.
Daughters have equal rights to inherit from their father’s property. Whereas, it
is said that in Yoruba native law and customs, wives have no right of
inheritance in their deceased husband’s estate. The way a wife can inherit from
her late husband is when a property given to her can be proved to be a gift.

In Igbo families; The oldest son of a deceased has exclusive rights to the entire
estate left behind. He is entitled to a special property by virtue of being the
eldest son. He has the right to manage and administer other properties of his
deceased father for the benefit of himself and his brothers and sisters.
When a woman dies, whatever property she acquired before marriage, goes
back to her family.
Under Igbo Customary Law, the female child was excluded from inheriting the
property of their father or their husbands. This however stirred some discussion
and in a Supreme Court decision in April 2014, the Court found that the Igbo
inheritance rules that exclude women from inheritance violates the country’s
1999 Constitution which guarantees freedom from discrimination.

In Northern Nigeria; Northern Nigeria largely operates using Sharia law.

Under Sharia law, a daughter can inherit from her father’s estate. The widow to
the deceased has the right to one-quarter of the estate if her deceased husband
was without beneficiaries. If there is more than one widow, one-eighth portion
of the deceased property is shared between them.
In general, women can acquire property. Likewise, they can pass it on to their
heirs, inherit from their deceased parents, husbands, brothers, sisters, daughters
and other relations.

REVOCATION:
The word “revocation” was not defined by the LUA, but it has the effect of
extinguishing all rights of a possessor of right of occupancy. Usually, the basis
for most revocations of rights of occupancy is acquisition of the land for public
purpose. The terms “revocation of right of occupancy for public purpose” and
“compulsory land acquisition for public purpose” appear to be synonymous,
because if either of them (is carried out by the government), it has the effect of
extinguishing all existing rights in the land. It is in this light that the theoretical
underpinning of compulsory acquisition will be used to explain the term
“revocation of right of occupancy” being the term used by the LUA.
Compulsory acquisition of land as it relates to the LUA will be explained
herein.
According to Umeh (1973) compulsory land acquisition is the forcible taking or
acquisition of private lands (communal or individual) for public benefits or
purposes. Also, Zhang and Lu (2011) explained compulsory land acquisition as
government act of transferring ownership in land from private to state owned
where the interest of the public is involved. Furthermore, Otubu (2013)
explained it to be government’s authority to acquire rights in land without the
owner’s consent for the benefit of the community.
One issue which arises for consideration after a valid revocation of right of
occupancy is compensation for the possessor or holder of the right.
Compensation is payable under the LUA if the revocation is for public purpose
or for mining of building materials (section 29(1) LUA) and not for a bare land.
Also, section 44(1) of the Constitution makes payment of compensation
mandatory to the possessor of the right of occupancy which has been revoked. It
is pertinent to note that both sections 44(1) of the Constitution and 29(1) of the
LUA that make payment of compensation mandatory. The Supreme Court also
confirmed the right of a citizen to compensation.
ACQUISITION
Acquisition of land in Nigeria involves various steps and stages which are
necessary for both the vendor and purchaser. Before progressing with a sale or
purchase of a land, it is advisable one involves a solicitor to guide and ensure
that the acquisition smooth and proper.
Summary the procedure for acquisition of land in Nigeria.
The Procedure for Land Acquisition
1. ENQUIRIES ON THE LAND
This is needed to determine the existence or otherwise of any defects in the land
to be purchased. It is also necessary to determine if the land is suitable for
habitation, commercial purposes or any other activities depending on the
purchaser’s need for the land.
Enquiries made about the land would reveal existing encumbrances, pending
disputes and more about the land to be purchased.
The purchaser’s solicitor owes a duty to the purchaser to examine the title of the
land, any existing or potential disputes, and the appropriate method of sale of
the land.
2. DEDUCING TITLE
The vendor must prove to the purchaser that he has good title to the land he
seeks to sell.
Deducing title is just a means of proving to the purchaser that the vendor has
title to the land to be sold and also has the right to sell the land.
The vendor’s solicitor must deduce title, and in doing so he must present the
purchaser/purchaser’s solicitor with the following documents:
Abstract of title - which is an analysis of all the major transactions if any that
has been done on the land.
Epitome of title – which contains a list and particulars of all documents
affecting the land as well as the copies of the said documents.
3. CONTRACT OF SALE
To show the interest and willingness of the parties toward the acquisition of
land, a formal Contract of Sale of Land must be prepared. This contract may be
prepared by vendor or purchaser’s solicitor. But usually, the vendor’s solicitor
prepares it.
The purchaser’s solicitor where handed the Contract of Sale of Land prepared
by vendor’s solicitor must inspect the same and if satisfied proceeds with a
meeting involving all the parties where the following events may take place:
Payment of deposit of the purchase price by the purchaser to the
vendor/vendor’s solicitor.
Signing of contract of sale by the parties and their witnesses.
Issuance of purchase receipt by the vendor to the purchaser.
Handling over all information and documents that affect the title to the land by
the vendor to the purchaser.
4. INVESTIGATION OF THE TITLE
Investigation of the title is done by the purchaser’s solicitor after the vendor’s
solicitor has deduced tittle. This step is very important and necessary as
documents presented by the vendor’s solicitor is not the final proof of the title to
the land to be acquired.
The steps for carrying out the investigation are as follows:
Collection of the abstract of title and epitome of title from the vendor’s solicitor
and examination of the documents.
Search to be done in the following places depending on type of title the land:
I. Land Registry - compulsory.
II. Court Registry - if the land has been subject to litigation.
III.Probate Registry - if it is the land of a deceased person.
IV. Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) – if it is a company land.
V. Physical inspection of the land.
VI. Traditional history.
VII. Search report - prepared by the purchaser’s solicitor detailing the
outcome of the search conducted on the land.
5. PREPARATION OF THE DEED OF ASSIGNMENT
After the contract of sale of the land has been exchanged and the investigation
to the title of land has been conducted successfully, the next important stage is
competition, which involves preparation of a deed of assignment.
The steps for completion include the followings:
The purchaser’s solicitor prepares the deed of assignment and hands them over
to the vendor’s solicitor for a review.
Where the vendor’s solicitor agrees with the terms contained in the deed of
assignment, he sets up a meeting in his office for the completion of the sale of
land.Balance of the purchase price is paid by the purchaser.
Execution of the deed of assignment by the parties and their witnesses will
follow.
The vendor’s solicitor hands over the original copies of all documents, duly
registered survey plan, copies of the duly executed Deed of Assignment for
perfection and the duly executed Form 1 for the Governor’s Consent.
Once the deed of assignment is executed by the parties, their designation
changes from vendor and purchaser to Assignor and Assignee.
6. PERFECTION OF TITLE
This is the final stage to the acquisition of land in Nigeria and it is done to
perfect the assignee’s title to the land through the approval of the Governor in
line with the Land Use Act.
Essentially, the procedure for the perfection of title includes three major stages
to wit:
I. Governors Consent.
II. Stamping
III.Registration
In conclusion, land acquisition in Nigeria requires a lot of attentiveness as
purchasing a land does not come at a small cost. Hence a solicitor must exercise
due diligence from the enquiry stage down to the perfection stage ensuring that
his or her client is informed of the progress of the transaction and give cautions
and warnings where necessary.

LAND ADMINISTRATION
The current law on land administration in Nigeria is the Land Use Act. Hitherto,
there existed separate and different land policies and administration in the
different parts of Nigeria. In southern Nigeria, the policy was dualism with
customary land tenure system operating side-by-side and at times overlapping
with the English land tenure system enacted as State Land Laws. The Northern
policy was characterized by a paternalistic system, which essentially
nationalized all lands by turning former owners into tenants as enacted in the
Land Tenure Law. This fragmented land policy framework was fostered and
encouraged by the fact that there was no national land policy for the whole
country irrespective of the importance of land to the development of the nation.
Furthering this haphazard arrangement was the fact that land matters and
management was regarded constitutionally as a residual matter within the
legislative competence of the various states that constitute the country, a
position which encouraged the development of multifarious land legislation and
policies in the country.
Objectives of Land Use Act 1978
I. Make land accessible to all Nigerians
II. Prevent speculative purchases of communal land
III.Streamline and simplify the management and ownership of land
IV. Land available to governments at all levels for development
V. Provide a system of government administration of rights towards
improving tenure security
The Individuals that Oversee the Administration
I. The National Council of States: The Land Use Act empowers the
National Council of States to “make regulations for the purpose of
carrying the Act into effect particularly with regard to the transfer by
assignment or otherwise howsoever of any rights of occupancy, including
the conditions applicable to the transfer of such rights to persons who are
not Nigerians.
II. 2 The State Governor: The Act vests all land comprised in the territory of
each State in the Federation in the governor of the State, in trust, to be
administered for the use and common benefit of all Nigerians in
accordance with the provisions of the Act. The governor has several roles
to such are:
I. Power to Grant Right of Occupancy
II. Power to Revoke Right of Occupancy
III. Revocation for Overriding Public Interest/ Public Purposes
IV. Penal Revocation