The LAND USE ACT was enacted to vest all Land compromised in the territory of each State (except land vested in the Federal government or its agencies) solely in the Governor of the State , who holds such Land in trust for the people and would henceforth be responsible for allocation of land in all urban areas to individuals resident in the State and to organisations for residential, agriculture, commercial and other purposes while similar powers will with respect to non-urban areas are conferred on Local Governments.(27th March 1978) Commencement.

1. When was it enacted?
The Land Use Decree (now Land Use Act) was promulgated on 29th, March 1978 following the recommendations of a minority report of a panel appointed by the Federal Military Government of the time to advice on future land policy. With immediate effect, it vested all land in each state of the Federation in the governor of that state (Fed. Rep. of Nigeria, 1978).

2. Why it was enacted?
The Act was enacted to effect structural change in the system of land tenure, achieve fast economic and social transformation, to negate economic inequality caused by the appropriation of rising land values by land speculators and land holders; and to make land available easily and cheaply, to both the government and private individual developers.
3. State governors are responsible for land allocation:
Under the Act, the Governor is responsible for allocation of land in all urban areas to individuals’ resident in the state or to organisations for residential, agricultural, commercial and other purposes while similar powers with respect to non-urban areas are conferred on the Local Government.

4. The government can seize your land:
In Nigeria, the government can seize your land or property without any form of compensation if you do not have a Certificate of Occupancy (CofO). The power to do this rests within the Land Use Act, which reads: “All the rights formerly vested in the holder in respect of the excess of the land shall in the commencement of this Act be extinguished and the excess of the land shall be taken over by the Governor and administered as provided in this Act.”

5. Ironies of the Act:
One of the objectives of the Act is to make land easily available and cheap, to both the government and private individual developers. However, experts have argued that rather than make land cheaper, the contrary has happened.