Justifying the Requirement of Consent under the Land Use Act: A Historical and Equitable Perspective

Abstract

In Nigeria, there are several laws that regulate land tenure, but the Land Use Act of 1978 is the principal legislation that governs the use and administration of land. Since its promulgation on March 29th 1978, it has generated a lot of controversies both in juristic and academic circles, more so, as it brought about many innovations in the use and enjoyment of land. One of the controversial provisions of the Land Use Act has to do with the requirement for the Governor’s Consent first had and obtained before the alienation of interests in land. Majority of persons have argued that the said provision constitutes a clog in the wheel of commercial transactions and economic development. It has to be presumed that the framers of the Act, while making the Act, had the benefit of the country as a corporate entity and the good of the citizens as the constituents of the corporate entity at heart. This, at least, may be inferred from the language of the Preamble to the Act. In the light of this presumption, this work undertook a critical examination of the consent policy from a historical and equitable perspective. The work found that the policy is predicated on the need for the Governor to be in control of the land which has been vested in him by virtue of section 1 of the Land Use Act and has its origin from the requirement to obtain the consent of the family head before alienation in communal land holding. The work also found that the consent provision is not the problem but the implementation of same. In response, the study proposes an improvement of the implementation regime.