Review Paper an Appraisal of the Land Use a of Tenure In
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Continental J. Arts and Humanities 7 (1): 30 - 39, 2015 ISSN: 2141 - 4092 © Wilolud Journals, 2015 http://www.wiloludjournal.com Printed in Nigeria doi:10.5707/cjah.2015.7.1.30.39 REVIEW PAPER AN APPRAISAL OF THE LAND USE ACT, 1978 AND THE CUSTOMARY SYSTEM OF TENURE IN IKA SOUTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF DELTA STATE, NIGERIA Ajabor, Ifeanyi1 and Uwagboi ChukS2 1Directorate of General Studies, Delta State Polytechnic, Ozoro. 2General Studies Department, Delta State Polytechnic, Ogwashi-uku. ABSTRACT Before the introduction of the Land Use Act, 1978, Land tenure system in Ika South Local Government Area involved in a situation where land was owned, governed and administered by the community, village or family but never owned by an individual. However The Land Use Act, 1978 came up with different rules vesting the ownership of land in the urban areas to the Governor and the non-urban areas to the chairman of the local government council. How can this new development be reconciled with the notion by the communities that land cannot be owned by an individual? What then happens to the existing rights in land after the promulgation of the Act? This work seeks to examine the constraints, if any, of The Land Use Act, 1978 as it affects customary land tenure. It concludes by recommending interalia that the Act should be reviewed taking into consideration the culture and values of the people. Keywords: Land Use Act, Land Tenure System, Culture, Value, People, Constraints Received for Publication: 11/04/15 Accepted for Publication: 16/06/15 INTRODUCTION In a developing country such as Nigeria, the need for a good land tenure system cannot be over- emphasized; if there is to be any meaningful economic development. Economic and social activities of a nation are based on land. It is true that no society exist without some sought of regulation of its land, rights and use. In Ika South Local Government Area, rules of customary All rights reserved This work by Wilolud Journals is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License 30 Ajabor and Uwagboi: Continental J. Arts and Humanities 7 (1): 30 - 39, 2015 law vested ownership of land in the community, village or family. This rule of customary law created problems to various governments and companies which needed land for their projects, since they had to go to the communities, village or families that owned the land for negotiation before land could be obtained. The concept of inalienability of land was established one among the traditional societies. Land was regarded by the traditional societies as belonging to the past, present and future generation. Alienation of land was regarded as the greatest disservice not only to the corporate group but also to posterity. Consequently, the communities or families that owned land were rarely willing to alienate them. As a result of this, government and companies that may want to construct hospitals, ports, industries, etc. may be frustrated due to the failure to secure land for such project. Having been aware of the importance of land in her economic development and the problems encountered before land could be obtained, the federal military government promulgated in 1978 the Land Use Act. The Act vests ownership of land in Governors. For it was thought that by so doing, the problems occasioned by the customary land tenure system could be averted. Background of Ika South Local Government Area The area called Ika South Local Government Area of Delta-State is bounded in the west by Orhionwan Local Government Area of Edo State, in the East by Ika North East Local Government Area, in the south by Aniocha South Local Government Area and the North by Ndokwa West Local Government Area. It is inhabited by Ika speaking people living west of River Niger. It has the administrative headquarters at Agbor. The Ika people operate a monarchical system of government. Absolute power rests in the Obis in Ika land. The Obi is the head of the political organization. The economic mainstay of the Ika people is farming. This is manifested from the fact that God blessed them with a very fertile geographical local. Definition of Concepts Land “Land” belongs to that realm of property classification generally covered by the term reality. To the layman “land” means nothing other than the land surface upon which they trek daily. But to a lawyer, land means more than this. It includes, interest and right in land. Generally, land includes not only the surface of the earth and the subsoil but also the air space above it as well as all appurtenances attaches to it, there include building, pods, trees, stream etc.Section 18 of the Interpretation Act 1964 and corresponding provision in regional laws, states that immovable property or land include land and everything attached to the earth. All rights reserved This work by Wilolud Journals is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License 31 Ajabor and Uwagboi: Continental J. Arts and Humanities 7 (1): 30 - 39, 2015 The Land Use Act No. 6 of 1978 The land use Act of 1978 came into force on the 29th of March, 1978. This was the result of studies carried out by three different panels. The Anti-inflation Task Force and the Rent Panel were set up by the Federal Government in 1975 and 1976 respectively to carry out certain studies which were both directly and remotely linked to land. They recommended that all land should be vested in the state. The Government white paper on the report of the Rent Panel accepted this recommendation in principle, but called for a further study of its practical implications. The Federal Government in 1977 inaugurated the Land Use Panel to formulate a land policy for the country. The result of these studies was the Land Use Act 1978. The object or purpose of the Act is implicit from the various public statements and other writings of some of the architects1 of the Act, during and after its enactment and also from the preamble which expressed the view that the land is “owned” by all Nigerians. All these sources considered, it may be safely concluded that the Land Use Act was intended interalia to (1) provide a uniform land tenure system in the country.(2) Make land easily and cheaply available to all Nigerians and the government for development purposes.(3) Check the practice of land speculation whereby some wealthy individuals took trade in land as their calling. In all, these objectives were to ensure an egalitarian system in Nigeria. Customary Land Tenure in Ika South Local Government Area before the Introduction of the Land Use Act, 1978 Under customary law generally, the notion of individual ownership of land was not recognised. Land was either family owned or communally owned. The dictum of Lord Viscount Haldane in the celebrated case of Amodu Tijani V Secretary, Southern Nigeria2emphasized the characteristics of customary law. According to the learned Lord “….The notion of individual ownership is quite foreign to native ideas. Land belongs to the community, the village or the family, never to the individual…..”When land is communally or family owned, then it is vested in the chief or family head respectively that holds as trustee. They cannot purport to alienate or otherwise deal with the land as their own property. Individual acquired land either by allotment, sale or partition. 1Speech of the Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarter, Brig. Shehu Yar Adua while inaugurating the Land Use Act. See page 5 of the report of the panel; the broadcast by the Head of state, Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo While introducing the Act to the Nation (see Daily Times of March 29, 1978) 2 1921 AC 399 P. 404 All rights reserved This work by Wilolud Journals is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License 32 Ajabor and Uwagboi: Continental J. Arts and Humanities 7 (1): 30 - 39, 2015 The Role of the Chief vis-à-vis Community Land The position of the Chief vis-à-vis community land is again discernable from the celebrated dictum of Haldane in Amodu Tijani V Secretary Southern Nigeria3 where he averred that “……… the chief or headman of the family has charge of the land, and in loose mode of speech is sometime called the owner. He is some extent in the position of a trustee, and as such holds the land for use of the community or family. He has control of it and members who want a piece of it to cultivate or build upon go to him for it…….” From the learned Lord’s dictum ore can inter that the chief had administrative or management power of the land on behalf of the community. However it is not uncommon for chiefs to claim beneficial rights over the land of his domain. Some chiefs were known to have sold or leased community’s land to business concern or refused to account to the native treasury to their people. The argument of such rulers was not based on a claim of outright ownership of the land, but on the ground that as they are the embodiment of the political society itself, they are entitled to any income or benefit coming to the society as an entity. This however is completely dishonest. No doubt an Oba or Obi is vested with authority over the land, but is on the understanding that because of his pre-eminence and customary reverence in which he is held, he is in the better position to administer the land for the benefit of all. Individuals Right in Community Land The rights which an individual may hold over the community land which he occupies vary from place to place, but such common feature is the distinction drawn in all the known system between the position of members of the community and that of a ‘stranger’.