Governors hide under Land Use Act to grab people’s land – Don

A Professor of Estate Management at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Bioye Tajudeen Aluko, has labelled Nigerian governors as “land grabbers,” by hiding under the Land Use Act to acquire and allocate land to their cronies. Aluko said this in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, during the 2021 Mandatory Continuing Professional Development Seminar (MCPD) of the […]

A Professor of Estate Management at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Bioye Tajudeen Aluko, has labelled Nigerian governors as “land grabbers,” by hiding under the Land Use Act to acquire and allocate land to their cronies.

Aluko said this in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, during the 2021 Mandatory Continuing Professional Development Seminar (MCPD) of the Nigerian Institute of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV), with the theme, “Effective Land Administration System Towards Elegant Formal Land Market In Nigeria.”

The Don, who was the guest speaker at the seminar, said governors were in the habit of enriching themselves and their political associates through acquiring other people’s land and allocating same to those in their good books.

According to him, the governors put land administration under their care, wondering how a governor would have enough time to administer lands when he should be busy with other developmental projects.

Aluko condemned the Land Use Act, asking that it should be removed from the Nigerian constitution.

While saying a new land law should be re-enacted, the academic said lands should be handed over to their original owners so as to put an end to the crises arising from land grabbing.

In his remarks, Ogun Chairman of NIESV, Wale Ojo, said the event was organised to assess the effectiveness of land administration in the country and how the institute can provide solutions to issues surrounding landed property.