ASTRACT
This study was
intended to evaluate the effect of land use act on sustainable housing
development in Nigeria. This study was guided by the following objectives; to
examine the effect of land use act on sustainable housing development in
Nigeria, to investigate the influence of land use act on ease of land access by
Nigerians, to identify the factors limiting sustainable housing development in
Nigeria.
The study employed
the descriptive and explanatory design; questionnaires in addition to library
research were applied in order to collect data. Primary and secondary data
sources were used and data was analyzed using the chi-square statistical tool
at 5% level of significance which was presented in frequency tables and
percentage. The respondents under the study were 45 employees of the ministry
of housing,Lagos branch. The study majorly focuses on the effect of land use
act on sustainable housing development in Nigeria.
The study findings
revealed that land use act has a significant effect on sustainable housing
development in Nigeria; based on the findings from the study, efforts should be
made by the Nigerian government and stakeholders in providing sustainable and affordable
houses as this would enhance housing development in Nigeria.
CHAPTER
ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
Land
use regulations and controls are used to restrict the rights of private land
holders in the use of land. The regulations are used to protect public interest
in the use of private land. The regulations stem from the need to provide
public amenities, to increase the efficiency of land-use, to limit urban sprawl
and unnecessary encroachment on agricultural land, and to achieve economies of
scale and least-cost production of public services (Courtney, 1983). The
regulations are also used to ensure the availability of land to all groups, and
to ensure that the benefits of development go to the community as a whole.
Today,
if you buy land in Nigeria and you do not have the Certificate of Occupancy (C
of O) from thegovernment, it is not yours, all you have is a lease, that is,
you never have a freehold. You cannot even haveaccess to any loan or do
anything tangible if you do not have fund of your own, not even the National
HousingFund which was set up by the government to render such assistance. Yet
the Certificate of Occupancy is evenmore difficult than getting the land
itself. All efforts by some State Governments especially the Lagos
Stategovernment to ease the procedure and collection have been described as
mere gimmicks. We have heard seriesof cases where Governors wield their powers
to revoke legally acquired rights of occupancy in the interest of thepublic,
whereas it was obvious that they were done on political reasons especially
against oppositions. Theformer President of the federation who was the author
of the Act when it was promulgated during his firstmilitary administration had
to reassure Nigerians on 26th of September 2001 in Abuja that “no government
ownsland” and that “land belongs to the people”. This statement was made when
he was condemning the excesses ofthe Governors. As stated above, since it is a
known philosophy that laws are made by men for men and areoperated, implemented
and enforced by human beings through various legal institutions, our concern is
how theAct has affected sustainable housing development schemes in Nigeria.
Several controversies that were created
by the Act have been well documented in different reactions and
write-ups (Mabogunje (2007; 2011) and
Aluko (2007; 2009; 2010) dealtexcessively on the gory state of affairs about
the housing situations in Nigeria ingeneral and how it could be sustained. In
this research study, we try to examine the effects that the LandUse Act has had
on sustainable housing provision in Nigeria. Since one of the major areas of
the Act is tocontrol future uses and open new land for the needs of Nigeria’s
growing population especially in urban areas,yet there is still the outcry of
the people to affordable housing provision. In Lagos State for example, the
municipalities (localgovernments) have no say in the issue of Certificate of
Occupancy as all lands in the State has been declaredurban and are all under the
control of the governor.Whereas in the commencement of the Land Use Act 1978
No. 6 on 29th March, 1978, it was stated that “whereasit is in the public
interest that the rights of all Nigerians to the land of Nigeria be asserted
and preserved by law”. And that all lands comprised in the territory of each
State in the Federation are hereby vested in the Governor of the Stat. The Act
also provides that “all land in urban areas shall be under the control and
management ofthe Governor of each State”.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The concern of the researcher in this
study is not really another criticism of the Act but an in-depth evaluation of
how it has achieved its aim in the mass provision of housing to the people. However
the hope of the Nigerian masses lies in the Actwith the current wave of high
cost of acquisition of land. It should be noted that one of the cogentreasons
why the Act came into existence was because of the nature of trusteeship of
land in the past. It wasdifficult for anyone to get access to land. It is
important for the researcher to examine if the Act has made it easy for
Nigerians to get land for housing development. Ownership of a house starts from
the acquisition of a piece of land. That is to say the intending house
ownermust first of all have access to land. In urban areas access to land is
not quite easy and that is why one of theobjectives of the Land Use Act is to
ensure that land is made available promptly to all those who need it in
theinterest of the economy. Having regards to the fact that housing is one of
the best indicators of a person’s standard of living and of hisplace in the
society, it also serves as a place in which man seeks shelter, comfort,
security and dignity amongother things, it is important to examine the effect
of Land use Act of sustainable housing development in Nigeria.
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The
following are the objectives of this study:
1. To
examine the effect of land use acts on sustainable housing development in
Nigeria.
2. To
investigate the influence of land use act on ease of land access by Nigerians.
3. To
identify the factors limiting sustainable housing development in Nigeria.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. What
is the effect of land use acts on sustainable housing development in Nigeria?
2. What
is the influence of land use act on ease of land access by Nigerians?
3. What
are the factors limiting sustainable housing development in Nigeria?
1.5 HYPOTHESIS
HO: Land
use act has no significant effect on sustainable housing development in Nigeria
HA:
Land use act has significant effect on sustainable housing development in
Nigeria