The Impact of the Nigerian Land Use Act of 1978 on Land Ownership and Land Grabbing Incidents

Abstract

This study critically examines Nigeria's Land Use Act of 1978, arguing that by vesting radical title in state governors, the Act has enabled state-facilitated land grabbing and entrenched insecurity of tenure. The thesis advanced is that while the Act sought to unify fragmented tenure systems and democratise access to land, its provisions on certificates of occupancy, governor's consent, and revocation have instead centralised power, fostered arbitrary dispossessions, and undermined constitutional property rights. Methodologically, the research adopts a doctrinal and documentary approach, analysing statutory provisions and landmark cases such as Ogunola v Lawal (1978) and Savannah Bank v Ajilo (1989), alongside a documentary compilation of secondary-source evidence drawn from NGO reports, media investigations, and government task force records. This dual approach highlights both the normative legal framework and its distortion in practice, evidenced by widespread displacement, litigation, and community resistance, while acknowledging, as detailed in the Limitations section, that secondary-source incidence data cannot be independently verified against a single canonical dataset. The study concludes that reform is imperative: compensation provisions must be amended to ensure prompt and adequate payment, statutory mandates should regulate the exercise of revocation powers, the governor's consent requirements must be streamlined, and community rights must be recognised. By combining doctrinal critique with documentary evidence, the paper advocates for a transparent, equitable, and sustainable land governance framework that can curb arbitrary revocations and restore public trust.