Land Administration

A REVIEW OF LAND ADMINISTRATION REFORMS IN NIGERIA.
BY:- MARTINS T. ADENIPEKUN
DEPT. OF ESTATE MANAGEMENT, LAGOS STATE POLYTECHNIC,IKORODU, LAGOS. [e-mail], 08023167702, 08036317528.
ABSTRACT
Administration of land is as ancient as the creation of man. In Nigeria, the socio-economic and political factors had overtime brought about different administrative reforms put in place to foster developments.

Certain patterns of land administration had emerged in Nigeria before and after the colonial administration but failed to meet up with the challenges that brought them in place. This paper therefore is an attempt to appraise the various land administration systems in Nigeria to date. It focuses at the systems of land resources management traditionally before the colonial era, compared with the changes established by the British Administration and to the present dispensation. The paper concludes with suggestions that could meet the challenges of the present time national land resources management.

KEY WORDS: LAND, ADMINISTRATION, REFORM, PROPRIETARY RIGHT

1.0 DEFINITION OF TERMS

Land Administration or management of land generally focuses on the various policy changes put in place over time. Within the context of this topic, the following interpretations would be used in this discourse.
The term “Land” is a word of many meanings which suggests different things to different people based upon their outlook, interest, and assessment at the moment. Land is synonymous to life as all aspects of human activities touches on land. Conceptually, land in African perspective is thought of as: spirit, space, situation, nature, factor of production, consumption good, property, and capital. With the continued process of modern civilization as well as population pressure and urbanization on the fixed land resources of the earth, the perception of land as a “free good” has shifted greatly. Land is now better appreciated as a “basic economic good”.

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