CRITICAL EVALUATION OF LAND REFORMS IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The system of land holding predates the colonial era. It was a system by which lands were held
by Families and Communities. Individual ownership of land was scarce then. Individual land at
the time was only on the basis of allocation of land for farming purposes. Land was managed
by traditional Rulers and Chiefs in such families. This was the land tenure system prior to the
colonial era. During the Colonial era, land was needed for the effective and smooth running of
the Colonial Administration. This gave rise to the need for acquisition of communal and family
land. The lands were so acquired through the Treaty of Cession 1861 which was principal of all
the Treaties signed on land between the Colonialists and Traditional chief in Nigeria. Others
were the Land Proclamation Ordinance (1900), Land and Native Rights Act (1916), The Niger
Lands Transfer Act (1916), The Public Land Acquisition Act (1917), Native Lands Acquisition
Act (1917), The States Lands Act (1918), The Town and Country Planning Act (1947) and
others. This work analyzes the effect of the Treaty and the above laws on ownership of land in
Nigeria. The work adopts the doctrinal method of research and recommends the restoration of
absolute land tenure system in favour of the native owners of the land and not in the diminutive
form in which it is provided for in the current land regime in Nigeria.