Professor of Wealth Management at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Dr. Bioye Tajudeen Aluko has described Nigerian governors as land grabbers in their respective states.
The professor said this yesterday in Abeokuta, the capital of Ogun state, during the 2021 Mandatory Continuing Professional Development (MCPD) Seminar of the Nigerian Institute of Surveyors and Appraisers (NIESV), with the theme “Effective Land Management System towards elegant and formal lands Market In Nigeria ”.
Aluko, who was the guest speaker at the seminar, said that governors had a habit of enriching themselves and their political partners by acquiring land from other people and assigning it to those in their good books.
According to the university professor, the governors put the administration of the land under their care, wondering how a governor would have enough time to manage the lands when he should be busy with other development projects.
Aluko condemned the Land Use Law and called for it to be removed from the Nigerian Constitution.
While saying that a new land law must be re-enacted, the academic said the lands must be handed over to their original owners to end the crises stemming from land grabbing.
His words: “Section one of the Land Use Law did not eliminate personal landowners as owners of their land. But the land grabbers hide under that cover: because the state is not the owner.
“The original owners of the land are the owners of their land. Hidden under that cover, that is why governors are seen enriching their friends, as a form of political patronage. If you don’t belong to your parties, you can’t get an assignment. It is land grabbing. Call it by any other name, it’s land grabbing.
“Most states will acquire land, they said it is public land. Before you know it, those lands will be divided between them. If you look at all the governors in this country, they put lands under their ministry. If a governor is serious and really interested in the development of his state, will he have time to manage the land? I would have let the professionals do it themselves.
“They all put the land under their ministry. So where there is a new site, they will first look at the site, take some good parcels for their potential political friends, and ask the land adjudicators to allocate the rest. So the land grabbers are the governors themselves.
“We need to revisit the Land Use Law and remove it from the constitution so that we can re-enact a good land law. There is no way we can do it, we must allow the original owners to own their land.
“If there is true privatization, should the government regulate the land? It is contradictory. The Land Use Law has no useful purpose. “
Also in his words, the president of NIESV, Mr. Emma Wike, asked the Federal Government to review the Land Use Law to address the issue of land grabbing in the country.
Wike said the land grabbing act in the country was becoming alarming, adding that the trend required immediate intervention before it spiraled out of control.
Wike, who was represented by the former president of NIESV in Lagos, Mr. Stephen Ola Jagun, advised Nigerians to approach professional appraisers and surveyors when trying to buy real estate rather than from agents.
The president emphasized that proper land management throughout the country would end land grabbing.
In his remarks, Ogun’s NIESV President Wale Ojo said the event was organized to assess the effectiveness of land administration in the country and how the institute can provide solutions to problems related to land ownership.
“In Ogun, we are very close to the state of Lagos. We are the next investment destination. All things are happening on the land, we all have to participate in how the land is used or managed. The government itself makes money from the land.
“For the Ogun state government, the use of online media alone may not be effective at this time for land enforcement and administration. Ogun should put desk officers in different places, ”Ojo advised.
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