Engage a lawyer before buying land

Land is important to humanity, it makes 30% of the earth with water making 70%, and even the 70% of the earth covered by water, some still call land. Land is the giver of all natural produce, from agriculture, which is toiled on the surface, to natural resources placed beneath.  Land cannot be destroyed except […]

Land is important to humanity, it makes 30% of the earth with water making 70%, and even the 70% of the earth covered by water, some still call land. Land is the giver of all natural produce, from agriculture, which is toiled on the surface, to natural resources placed beneath. 

Land cannot be destroyed except on rare natural hazards like earth quake, or the recently experienced earth tremor in Kwoi, southern Kaduna, Nigeria, even at that, the land remains just not in good condition. 

Land outlives man, it was there before the creation of man, and might likely remain after the end of humanity (depending on beliefs, thought, or religion). A father who buys land will one day pass away, leaving behind the land for his children to inherit, depending on which child inherits; he/she will also pass on, and leave the land for his/her child/children. 

Land is one commodity that can be transferred to 10 generations and still remain intact – in the same nature and condition the first generation met it.

Land has been the cause of several conflicts in Nigeria between states, ethnicities, or languages; the Ebonyi/Benue land dispute of June, 2012; Akwa Ibom – Rivers and the Niger Delta region. We have heard of people killing each other through supernatural means over ownership of land; children rendered homeless because of the death of the head of a family who did not perfect a title before passing on. All these are the resultant effects of the importance of land to humanity.

Having considered the above, and with the current trend of globalisation, we still find people buying land without the services of a legal practitioner like a piece of cloth bought in ‘bend down select’, so casual believing it’s the right way. These, however begin to scamper around for a lawyer with a lesser professional charges when the purchase goes bad, or a dispute in ownership arises. The importance of a lawyer becomes important to the parties when a conflict arises as to ownership, then a purchaser realises that there was encumbrance on the piece of land.

In Nigeria, we tend to place attention on the 10% that will be paid for the services of a legal practitioner, ignoring the fact that the lawyer stands to protect the interest of parties involved. 

I once over heard a client saying to a lawyer, ‘why should I give you N3,000,000 (three million naira), when I am not running a charitable organisation’. To the client, paying a legal practitioner 10% of the purchase sum seems too much fee for the legal practitioner. To such clients they feel the job required for the successful transfer of money and title does not require much services of a lawyer.

The purchase of land passes through stages before a successful title in land is transferred from one to the anther. These stages and procedures may not be known to the unlearned mind, and even though explanation is proffered to the client, he/she cannot still imagine why it has to cost such high amount for such services. 

The idea is to protect the interest of all parties involved, including the unborn child who will lay claim to the property in the future. Encumbrances on land pass from one heir apparent to another, and where the original vendor and purchaser are not alive, how does one solve a conflict in the future when there is no proper foundation of transfer of title in the land?

There may arise instances where two siblings lay claim to one piece of land, then pass away leaving the battle for their kids to continue, who lack the capacity to appreciate the true position of things that transpired before their birth.

What has been done, cannot be undone; land already bought without the services of a lawyer does not render the title null, however, engage a lawyer to perfect the title. Prospective buyers of land, to avoid unseen conflict in the future, should engage the services of a lawyer before buying the land and secure the future of their heirs and their generations unborn.

Godspeed!

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