THE EFFECT OF LAND
USE ACT ON SUSTAINABLE HOUSING DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
Land
use regulations and controls are used to restrict the rights of private land
holders in the use of land. The regulations are used to protect public interest
in the use of private land. The regulations stem from the need to provide
public amenities, to increase the efficiency of land-use, to limit urban sprawl
and unnecessary encroachment on agricultural land, and to achieve economies of
scale and least-cost production of public services (Courtney, 1983). The
regulations are also used to ensure the availability of land to all groups, and
to ensure that the benefits of development go to the community as a whole.
Today,
if you buy land in Nigeria and you do not have the Certificate of Occupancy (C
of O) from the government, it is not yours, all you have is a lease, that is,
you never have a freehold. You cannot even have access to any loan or do
anything tangible if you do not have fund of your own, not even the National
Housing Fund which was set up by the government to render such assistance. Yet
the Certificate of Occupancy is even more difficult than getting the land
itself. All efforts by some State Governments especially the Lagos State government
to ease the procedure and collection have been described as mere gimmicks. We
have heard series of cases where Governors wield their powers to revoke legally
acquired rights of occupancy in the interest of the public, whereas it was
obvious that they were done on political reasons especially against
oppositions. The former President of the federation who was the author of the
Act when it was promulgated during his first military administration had to
reassure Nigerians on 26th of September 2001 in Abuja that “no government owns land”
and that “land belongs to the people”. This statement was made when he was
condemning the excesses of the Governors. As stated above, since it is a known
philosophy that laws are made by men for men and are operated, implemented and
enforced by human beings through various legal institutions, our concern is how
the Act has affected sustainable housing development schemes in Nigeria.
Several controversies that were created
by the Act have been well documented in different reactions and
write-ups (Mabogunje (2007; 2011) and
Aluko (2007; 2009; 2010) dealt excessively on the gory state of affairs about
the housing situations in Nigeria in general and how it could be sustained. In
this research study, we try to examine the effects that the Land Use Act has
had on sustainable housing provision in Nigeria. Since one of the major areas
of the Act is to control future uses and open new land for the needs of
Nigeria’s growing population especially in urban areas, yet there is still the
outcry of the people to affordable housing provision. In Lagos State for
example, the municipalities (local governments) have no say in the issue of
Certificate of Occupancy as all lands in the State has been declared urban and
are all under the control of the governor. Whereas in the commencement of the
Land Use Act 1978 No. 6 on 29th March, 1978, it was stated that “whereas it is
in the public interest that the rights of all Nigerians to the land of Nigeria
be asserted and preserved by law”. And that all lands comprised in the
territory of each State in the Federation are hereby vested in the Governor of
the Stat. The Act also provides that “all land in urban areas shall be under
the control and management of the Governor of each State”.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The concern of the researcher in this
study is not really another criticism of the Act but an in-depth evaluation of
how it has achieved its aim in the mass provision of housing to the people. However
the hope of the Nigerian masses lies in the Act with the current wave of high
cost of acquisition of land. It should be noted that one of the cogent reasons
why the Act came into existence was because of the nature of trusteeship of
land in the past. It was difficult for anyone to get access to land. It is
important for the researcher to examine if the Act has made it easy for
Nigerians to get land for housing development. Ownership of a house starts from
the acquisition of a piece of land. That is to say the intending house owner must
first of all have access to land. In urban areas access to land is not quite
easy and that is why one of the objectives of the Land Use Act is to ensure
that land is made available promptly to all those who need it in the interest
of the economy. Having regards to the fact that housing is one of the best
indicators of a person’s standard of living and of his place in the society, it
also serves as a place in which man seeks shelter, comfort, security and
dignity among other things, it is important to examine the effect of Land use
Act of sustainable housing development in Nigeria.
1.3 OBJECTIVES
OF THE STUDY
The
following are the objectives of this study:
1. To
examine the effect of land use acts on sustainable housing development in Nigeria.
2. To
investigate the influence of land use act on ease of land access by Nigerians.
3. To
identify the factors limiting sustainable housing development in Nigeria.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. What
is the effect of land use acts on sustainable housing development in Nigeria?
2. What
is the influence of land use act on ease of land access by Nigerians?
3. What
are the factors limiting sustainable housing development in Nigeria?
1.5 HYPOTHESIS
HO:
Land use act has no significant effect on sustainable housing development in
Nigeria
HA:
Land use act has significant effect on sustainable housing development in
Nigeria
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The
following are the significance of this study:
1. Findings
from this study will educate the general public, government, students on the
state of housing development in Nigeria and also enlighten them on land use act
and its impact on sustainable housing development in Nigeria.
2. This
research will also serve as a resource base to other scholars and researchers
interested in carrying out further research in this field subsequently, if
applied, it will go to an extent to provide new explanation to the topic.
1.7 SCOPE/LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
This
study on the effect of land use act on sustainable housing development in
Nigeria will cover all the existing housing development and schemes by
government and how the land use act has affected the ownership of land for
housing development.
LIMITATION OF STUDY
Financial constraint– Insufficient fund tends to impede the
efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature
or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire
and interview).
Time constraint– The researcher will
simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. This consequently
will cut down on the time devoted for the research work.
1.8 DEFINITION
OF TERMS
Housing:
houses and flats considered collectively.
Land: the part
of the earth’s surface that is not covered by water.
Development:
an event constituting a new stage in a changing situation.
REFERENCES
Aluko, Ola.
(2007). Renal Sub-sector and Housing Delivery System in Nigeria a paper
presented at the National
Workshop on Private Sector Driven Housing Delivery; Issues, Constraints,
Challenges and Prospects organized
by University of Lagos, Department of Estate Management in collaboration with
Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria (REDAN), at Main Auditorium,
University of Lagos, between (July 30-31).
Aluko, Ola.
(2009). The role of the professionals in the built environment, in Aluko, Ola
Editor (Eds.), Introductory
Course in Environmental Sciences.
Ibadan: Kins.
Aluko, Ola.
(2010). Housing Provision and Development in Nigeria: The Dashed Hope of the
poor, paper presented at the National
Conference and Exhibition on Challenges of Sheller and Environment for Nigeria
in the coming Decades (CEENACON)
organized by College of Engineering and Environmental Sciences, Imo State
University, Owerri (April 6-9).
Courtney, N. (1983). Cases and Materials on Nigerian
Land Law (pp. 1 – 49). Mabochi Books.
Mabogunje
A. L. (2007). Developing
Mega Cities in Developing Countries, being text of a lecture delivered at a Colloquim organized
by the 2007 Graduating Class, Department of Geography, University of Lagos on Wednesday
(September 12).
Mabogunje,
Akin L. (2011). Promoting
Good Governance: What Can We, The People, Do? Paper presented at 4th Anniversary Public Lecture of the
splash 105.5 FM, Ibadan on Friday (July 8).