THE POLICY OF NON-ALIENATION OF NON-URBAN LAND SUBJECT TO DEEMED GRANT UNDER THE LAND USE ACT: A CRITIQUE

Abstract

Land occupies a central position in economic development in developing
countries. This stems from the fact that most of the developmental projects
executed by the government, individuals or corporate bodies are done on
land. It is based on the foregoing reasons that the Constitution has
guaranteed the rights of all Nigerians to lands. The Land Use Act also
introduced the right of occupancy system and empowers persons to alienate
same subject to Governor’s consent. However, by virtue of section 36(5) of
the Act, the Act places an absolute restriction on the alienation of land
subject to deemed customary grant. In the light of the fact that the current
trend on agricultural development and indeed any other kind of
development requires the acquisition of land, this work undertakes a critical
examination of the non-alienation policy under the Land Use Act with a
view to ascertaining whether it serves or can serve its purpose. It was found
that the non-alienation policy will, if implemented to the letters, form a clog
in the wheel of development in land use and administration. In response,
the work recommends that the provisions of the Act relating to the nonalienation policy be expunged so as to bring deemed customary rights of
occupancy under the general scheme of the Act.