THE LAND USE ACT, 1978: A CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF ITS MERITS AND DEMERITS IN PRACTICAL APPLICATION.

ABSTRACT Land, which is the paramount object of the Land Use Act, has carried innate importance since the origin of time. It is a foundational object of trade and the mother of all properties. In other words, the basic necessities of human existence and interaction are largely dependent on land. By and large, individuals and societies strive to gain advantage at any opportunity for their own endeavours and goals. Prior to the advent of colonialism, land tenure and administration were subject to the various customary laws of different locales or communities. This naturally implies that there was no body of law that gave instruction or guideline on land tenure and administration. Landlords could hold and administer land interactions however they saw fit, without proper regulation. This made the acquisition of land to become too expensive for both government and individuals — it is believed that it stood as a mitigator against the execution of the second development plan of 1975–1980. This consequently precipitated the Military Government to set up some panels to investigate the issue. The report of one such panels, particularly the Land Use Panel of 1977 gave birth to the Land Use Act No. 6 of 1978. It is trite to assert that every substantive body of law is subject to reform just as the immediate importance of any law serves some purpose. Our research therefore is burdened with looking at two sides of the same coin; from the necessities of the Act to the lacuna that arose from the nature of its provisions, we critically examine to understand the nature, appraise the prospects and criticize the problems generated by the Act with the aim to proffer solutions to the problems.