Land and power : the impact of the land use act in Southwest Nigeria

This study examines the impacts of the Act (the text of which is appended) upon peasant and commercial farmers in Oyo State in southwest Nigeria, with particular attention to the responses made by different groups to the opportunities and constraints created by the Act. In general, the Act has exacerbated tenure insecurity, hindered agricultural investment and performance, increased the number of land disputes, warped land markets, and inhibited changes that might otherwise have occurred in customary and commercial tenure arrangements. Those hurt most by the Act have been peasant farmers, especially women peasant farmers. The Act has also proven impossible to implement or administer in practice, as many landholders continue to rely upon customary tenure rules and mechanisms. Three alternatives are proposed. (1) The Act would remain in force, but in an administratively streamlined, decentralized, and more responsive form. (2) The Act would be streamlined, and, in addition, families, communities and other legally recognized groups would be encouraged to register their land. (3) The Act would be abrogated, and land nationalization abandoned as the primary method of regulating land tenure, agricultural development, and resource management. Instead, the State would recognize and support the continued development of both customary and commercial land tenure systems. The study favors the third alternative. Includes 21-page bibliography.