PROBLEM OF COMPULSORY ACQUISITION AND COMPENSATION UNDER THE LAND USE ACT OF 1978 (A CASE STUDY OF AKURE AIRPORT)

PROBLEM OF COMPULSORY ACQUISITION AND COMPENSATION UNDER THE LAND USE ACT OF 1978 (A CASE STUDY OF AKURE AIRPORT)

ABSTRACT

The word land means different things to different people and in different context. These different meanings notwithstanding, land, since prehistoric time, has been of elemental significance to the affairs of man.

In this thesis the various interests compulsory acquired were looked into. The compensation paid for these interests were adequately examined to determine the adequacy of the compensation. In the payment of compensation, time factor was also considered to determine the effect of inflation on the amount payable, using interest rate as the parameter of measurement..

This study examined the evolution and formation of acquisition laws in Nigeria with a detailed examination of the public lands acquisition Act Cap – 167 and the Land Use Act of 1978 as its objective. Another objection of this study is to see whether the acquisition and compensation of Akure Airport actually conformed with the provision of the law.

The necessary data required for this study were collected through interview, relevant documents and records were examined in the ministry of lands and Housing Akure.

Finally, it was discovered that serving acquisition notice through the family head is adequately efficient and cost effective as against the4 provision of the Land Use Act. There was delay in payment of compensation. Also, no interest was paid for the delay in payment of compensation as provided for by the law.

CHAPTER ONE

1.0 INTRODUCTION

The theme of this dissertation is acquisition and compensation under the Land Use Act 1978. Land is of tremendous importance to man because it is basic of all his endeavours. People look to land for their physical environment, for the food they eat and other materials needed to clothe their bodies and to provide housing and manufactured goods, for building sits, for recreational activities and for scenery and open space1.

“Also, it is the very foundation and framework upon which social, political and economic activities of a nation function”2. The explains why there are emotional, spiritual and financial attachments to land in Nigeria.

“The word land means different things to different people and in different contexts”3 has been variously defined by different disciplines. An ordinary person may regard land as a piece of the earth’s surface and its sub – soil. From economic point of view; it is a key factor in production and an economic good characterised by scarcity, utility and transferability. Land to the lawyer on the other hand is not the virgin, rent – bearing soil and other natural resources of economic theory, it is much more. “It includes all corporeal things subjacent and superjacent to the soil and annexed there to”4. The legal view of land does not only include, visible and tangible structures and object (corporeal hereditaments), but also includes intangible and abstract objects (incorporeal