Identifying appropriate tools for land governance in Nigeria
Ukaejiofo, Andrus Nnaemeka
There is no doubt that land is socially embedded. Most African countries have land systems that have strong socio-cultural affinity. Consequently it remains difficult to severe land administration system in such countries from overbearing political, social and economic influences. Such systems do not freely support or encourage rapid economic development because they are resistant to transition to open market influences. In an effort to ensure sustainable economic development, most countries have accepted market economy and free enterprise as its economic model. This requires that good land governance is entrenched to encourage socio-economic development. Nigeria is working towards this. Such a system must give good attention to improved method for transferring rights and interests in land to facilitate commercial activities. The ultimate desire is to reform the land administration system. Part of the agenda of the present Government in Nigeria is to reform the system of land administration by introducing changes in various aspects of land transactions to assure security of tenure and certainty of rights in land to citizens and various stakeholders. It is believed that the national goal cannot be easily realized without liberalizing access to land. Various approaches are being adopted to enhance effective land governance in Nigeria. This paper intends to highlight these approaches and to appraise their impact in the land market.
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