The House of Representatives has, among other things, requested Nigerians to examine whether the Land Use Act 1978 should be removed from the 1999 Constitution or not.
I hereby submit with reasons, my response to this request.
The Act, as it has been implemented by the government of most states, has become a source of political and social abuse. Most importantly, it has given rise to unprecedented corruption in the ministry that processes the so-called Certificate of Occupancy.
The level of corruption starts from the messenger that carries applicants' files and rises to the level of Permanent Secretary in the ministry. The governor gives the final approval.
In the states, social miscreants who call themselves Omo Oniles in the South-West states, insist on having their share before any meaningful construction work can be done, to the detriment of the land owners.
As a result, the process of obtaining the C of O is not only time-consuming but also unduly expensive.
Meanwhile, citizens who have C of O are generally at the mercy of government which frequently uses the document as an instrument of generating revenues, which can be increased at will.
Of recent, some state governments have introduced new Land Use Decree which could circumvent the provisions of the Land Use Act 1987 and attempt to persuade all those who were under 1978 Act to embrace the new law.
Since the various state governments have grossly abused the implementation of the 1978 Act, such that the law can no longer tackle the problems it was intended to solve before 1978, the Act should be removed from the constitution and abolished.
The country should return to the pre-1978 status.
•Joseph Osakwe,
Fellow, Nigerian Economic Society/ex-Director, Central Bank of Nigeria.
