Land is of basic importance in traditional Nigerian society, and is communally owned, although family or company ownership exists side by side with communal ownership. It is a source of wealth and is greatly valued as a crucial factor of production moreover people acquire land for many different reasons.
Land constitutes a sensitive asset whose administration must be based on meaningful policy decisions to benefit the people. Hence, no society exists without a regulation of some kind peculiar to it to rationalize the mode of ownership and the use of land, because land is limited, the law must step in to discourage land speculation.
According to the 1999 constitution (as amended), which is the ultimate legislation in Nigeria, one’s right to one’s property is an entrenched constitutional right which is inviolate. It follows therefore that any purported acquisition which is not according to a law containing the above provisions or conditions is no acquisition at all in the eyes of the law.
In the same vein, The Land Use Act, 1978 was enacted to address the importance of land to mankind and therefore provide viable management options to land administration in Nigeria. The Act more or less establishes a uniform system of landholding for the entire country. It is therefore correct to say that acquisition of land in Nigeria would involve the same basic legal principles, regardless of the particular State of the Federation in which the land is located.
The Act also provides that all land in a State is to be held in trust by the State Governor for the benefit of 'all Nigerians'. As this provision does not show favoritism between indigenes and non-indigenes of the State in question, properly applied it would mean that all Nigerians have equal opportunity for acquiring land throughout the entire country. By law, foreigners may also acquire land wherever it is located in the country.
The Land Use Act is a vague legislation in the sense that in theory the radical title to the land is in the Governor but in practice, the radical title in the community, family and individual has been maintained and preserved only with the requirement that alienation of these interests must be with the consent of the Governor.
Any person interested in land ownership, it is advisable that you investigate and confirm, with the help of a lawyer, that the seller has good title to pass on to you. The last thing you want is for the supposed seller to part with your money and find out that it was a sham.