HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF LAND IN NIGERIA.

Land is essential for every human activity on earth as it is the source of all material wealth. In order to regulate the ownership, use and development of land, nations of the world over the years have instituted systems of land ownership which  aimed at consistent balancing of the interests of the government, the land owning class and the landless class.
 Ownership structure in Nigeria has evolved over the years until 1978 when a single land policy document, otherwise known as the Land Use Act of 1978 was established to harmonise and regulate land ownership in the country.
 The land system of a given society is the manner in which land is owned and possessed in such given community. The structure of ownership of these interests in Nigeria has evolved through three major periods. These are the pre-colonial, colonial and post –colonial periods.

LAND OWNERSHIP DURING THE PRE-COLONIAL PERIOD IN NIGERIA.

The predominant land tenure system in Nigeria during the pre-colonial period was the customary land tenancy where land holdings were owned by villages, towns, communities and families. Land was deemed not owned by individuals but by communities and families in trust for all the family members.
land belonged to the community or a vast family of which many are dead, few are living and countless members yet unborn. Thus individuals had no such interest as the fee simple absolute in possession as the actual ownership of land or absolute interest was vested in the community itself. Interests or rights of individuals in community land were derivative interests. Such community lands were supervised and administered by the chiefs and traditional rulers.  Land held under customary tenure cannot be sold or alienated. Such an act was generally regarded as capable of depriving the future generations of the opportunity to acquire land.

LAND OWNERSHIP DURING THE PRE-COLONIAL PERIOD IN NIGERIA

The land ownership structure in Nigeria under colonial rule was designed to suit the motives of the British imperialists.
 British colonial rule in Nigeria were based on two main motives. These were initially economic interest and later governance. The British occupation of Nigeria began on a very small scale. It first began along the coast and subsequently went from strength to strength until it had spread all over the country. The occupation was progressive rather than sudden. Traders led the way and their motive was purely economic. They came neither to acquire territories nor to administer the country. But there is no doubt that while they were trading, they were spreading the influence of their country at the same time, thereby paving way for the subsequent occupation of the country with which they traded ”.
As a major factor of production, land was inevitably required by the colonial authorities to achieve their economic, social, and political objectives. The British merchants who came to the country purely on economic motive required land to establish their merchandise. The National African Company and its successor, the Royal Niger Company required land to expand its business in Nigeria. The colonial governors also required land for public purposes. Because land ownership in pre-colonial Nigeria was communal, the colonial authorities initiated laws and regulations governing land ownership, land use and development among others to enable them acquire and convey titles to land for the purposes of commerce and governance. Principal among these legislations were the Treaty of Cession of 1861 which was the principal of all the treaties signed by the colonialists with traditional chiefs in Nigeria and its legal effect was that the root title to land comprised in the treaty was passed to the British crown.
In 1900, the Land Proclamation Ordinance was enacted by Lord Lugard .The legislation disregarded the principles of native law and custom and provided that title to land can only be acquired through the High Commissioner thereby killing the institution of family and communal land ownership
The Land and Native Rights Act was enacted in 1916 to vest in the colonial Governor all rights over all native lands in Northern Nigeria. This was later repealed and replaced by Land Tenure law of 1962, which governed land tenure in Northern Nigeria up till 1978, before the promulgation of the Land Use Decree( now Act).
Also in 1916, the Lands Transfer Act was enacted to enable the transfer of all land held by the British royal Niger company based on treaties and agreements made between  them and the people of Nigeria to the colonial government.
In 1917, the Public Lands Acquisition Act was enacted to empower the colonial Governor to acquire lands when required for public purposes. This law covered the then colony and protectorate of Nigeria. It empowered the colonial government to compulsorily acquire land whether occupied or unoccupied and provided for non-payment of compensation if unoccupied lands were acquired. Also in 1917, the Native Lands Acquisition Act was enacted to regulate the acquisition of land by aliens from the people of the southern provinces of Nigeria. It provided under section 3 that "no alien shall acquire any interest or right in or over any lands within the protectorate from a native, except under an instrument which has received the approval in writing of the Governor".
The Native Land Acquisition Act 1917 had, since the advent of the federal system of government in Nigeria, been replaced by the Native Land Acquisition Law of 1952 in the Western and Mid- Western states and by the Acquisition of Land by Aliens Law of 1956 in the Eastern states.
In addition, the State Lands Act was promulgated in 1918 to regulate the use, occupation and development of crown (state) lands in which the whole public have an interest.
In 1946, the Town and Country Planning Act was enacted as a law of general application.This law was replaced by the Nigerian Urban and Regional planning Decree (now Act) of 1992. However, while these laws were enacted to make lands available for use by the colonial government, they were implemented to eliminate the pre-colonial land tenural system in the country and facilitate private ownership of land, particularly in Southern Nigeria. Thus with the advent of colonial rule, commerce and commercializatio and the discovery of crude oil in 1956, it had become possible for individuals to own private land and deal with such land liberally and subsequently, land began to be sold, leased or mortgaged to individuals or groups.

LAND OWNERSHIP IN THE INDEPENDENCE PERIOD

Nigeria gained independence from colonial rule in 1960 and became a republic in 1963. After independence, private ownership of land by individuals, families and communities was the predominant land tenure system in the Southern States of Nigeria while all lands in the territory comprising the Northern States of Nigeria were regarded as owned by the state, based on the provisions of the Land Tenure Law of 1962.
Principal legislations were later enacted to regulate land ownership in Nigeria and chiefly among them is the Land Use Act of 1978.

 THE LAND USE ACT OF 1978

This was promulgated into law with effect from 29th March, 1978 as the nation’s land policy document. Since then, it has remained so in the country till date. To all intents and purposes, the Act regulates the ownership, alienation, acquisition, administration and management of land within the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Section 1 of the Land Use Act vests all land comprised in the territory of each state in the Federation of Nigeria in the Governor of that state and such land shall be held in trust and administered for the use and common benefit of all Nigerians in accordance with the provisions of the Act.
 Section 5(1) of the Act empowers the Governor of a state to grant statutory right of occupancy to any person for all purposes in respect of land, whether or not in an urban area and issue a certificate of occupancy in evidence of such right of occupancy in accordance with the provisions of Section 9(1) of the Act. Also, Section 5(2) of the Act provides that “Upon the grant of a statutory right of occupancy under the provisions of subsection (1) of this section, all existing rights to the use and occupation of the land which is the subject of the statutory right of occupancy shall be extinguished.” Thus, the statutory right of occupancy granted by a Governor is presently the highest right to land in Nigeria. This right of occupancy is a right which allows the holder to use or occupy land to the exclusion of all other persons except the Governor and is granted for a maximum holding period of 99 years, subject to the payment of ground rent fixed by the Governor throughout the holding period.
Sections 21 and 22 of the Act prohibit alienation, assignment, mortgage, transfer of possession, sub-lease or otherwise howsoever customary or statutory rights of occupancy in Nigeria without the consent and approval of the Governor of the state where such right of occupancy was granted

Statutory right of occupancy as interpreted in Section 50 of the Act is a right of occupancy granted by the Governor under the Act for a maximum holding period of 99 years. Customary right of occupancy as also interpreted in that section of the Act is the right of a person or community lawfully using or occupying land in accordance with customary law and includes a customary right of occupancy granted by a Local Government under the Act.
 Section 28(1) empowers the Governor of a state to revoke a right of occupancy for overriding public interest, subject to the payment of compensation for the unexhausted improvements based on the provisions of Section 29 (4) of the Act.