Brief: Nigerian Land Markets and the Land Use Law of 1978 | Land Portal
focus on land in Africa

Resource information

Date of publication: 
January 1978
Resource Language: 
License of the resource: 

Among the main objectives of the Nigerian Land Use Decree of 1978 were:

  1. reducing land conflicts among citizens;
  2. unifying and simplifying land tenure concepts and land administration procedures throughout the country;
  3. achieving a more equitable distribution of and access to land rights for all citizens regardless of wealth or position; and 
  4. facilitating greater government control over land use and development. 

Today, almost 35 years after adoption of the law, questions continue to be raised about whether the law has achieved its objectives, and, if so, whether it has created as many new problems for Nigerian land markets as it has solved. This brief reviews some of the apparent outcomes of the 1978 Land Use Law (Ch. 202 of the Laws of Nigeria 1990, as amended; herein the “Land Law”) from the perspective of how they are affecting the development of formal land markets in Nigeria.

Authors and Publishers

Author(s), editor(s), contributor(s): 

Stephen Butler

Publisher(s): 
FOLA

 


 


Focus on Land in Africa (FOLA) is an educational resource for development practitioners and policy makers that explores how land and natural resource rights affect, and are effected by, development in Africa.  Through raising awareness of these issues, FOLA aims to elevate land and natural resource rights as an urgent priority for development in Africa. 


Data provider

FOLA

 


 


Focus on Land in Africa (FOLA) is an educational resource for development practitioners and policy makers that explores how land and natural resource rights affect, and are effected by, development in Africa.  Through raising awareness of these issues, FOLA aims to elevate land and natural resource rights as an urgent priority for development in Africa. 


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