Dons want Land Use Act removed from constitution

The Chairman, Presidential Technical Committee on Land Reform, Professor  Peter Adeniyi and the Chairman of the Lagos Megacity Development Authority, Professor Akin ‎Mabogunje  have advocated for removal of the Land Use Act from the constitution to fast track development. ‎The duo spoke at a seminar organised by the Ibadan School of Government and Public Policy […]

The Chairman, Presidential Technical Committee on Land Reform, Professor  Peter Adeniyi and the Chairman of the Lagos Megacity Development Authority, Professor Akin ‎Mabogunje  have advocated for removal of the Land Use Act from the constitution to fast track development.

‎The duo spoke at a seminar organised by the Ibadan School of Government and Public Policy (ISGPP) tagged “Land Reform and Development Imperatives in Nigeria.”

Adeniyi said the Land Use Act should be removed from the constitution to be able to review it thoroughly.

He said before you make a law,  you must first of all have a policy, adding that Land Use Act was not based on any policy.

He said,  “The manifesto of APC specifically indicated that they will review the Land Use Act, that they will take it away from the constitution in a manner that will make them give what we call  ‘freehold’ and ‘leasehold’ certificate to every land owner so that they will empower them economically, and that Federal Government should partner with the states and local governments to raise the money that will make that one possible. And that is what we are looking for. The committee has been working on the issue of getting everybody to get a certificate over his land.”

Mabogunje, in his address, said the need for land reform and also noted that the autonomy of local government being clamoured for  would not work, until the third tier of government can generate its own sufficient revenue and stopped depending on  Federal Government’s  allocation. 

“The land can serve two values, one is the use value and the other is economic value. But as long as it is not titled, meaning to be surveyed and until you get title for the land, you cannot use it as economic asset. That is why banks cannot relate to rural people, although they have land and they can grow crops, they do not have asset that is economic.”  

The Executive Vice Chairman of ISGPP, Dr. Tunji Olaopa, tasked  development experts in Nigeria to come up with   home grown appropriate model to fast track  development.