Lonarex Garden Estate, Isheri, Ogun State
Mr. Tayo Tolulope, an accountant with one of
the Federal Government Parastatals in Akure,
was furious when a middle-age man suddenly appeared at his residence located at Number 5, FUTA lane, alleging that the land he built his house belonged to him. He accused Mr. Tolulope of trespassing, threatening legal action against him if he refused to relocate the house or demolish it for him to take possession of the land.
“My first impression about the man was that something was definitely wrong with him.
I wondered how could any man appear from nowhere demanding that I should relocate or demolish my three bedroom apartment, which I built five years ago so that he could take possession,” Tolulope said. “I thought it was a joke until I noticed his seriousness and argument about how he bought the land some years back but failed to take possession due to lack of fund. He later showed receipt of purchase from the same family I bought the land. It was then I realized the genuiness of his claim,” he stated. Narrating his ordeals and how he eventually settled the matter without resulting to litigation, Tolulope said his accuser, whose name he refused to mention had bought the land earlier from the same family that sold the same land to him. He bought the land in 1997, from the father of the person that sold the same land to him (Tolulope) in 2000, but the former failed to take possession immediately. “I realized that though the same family issued the receipts but he bought the land before me and the date on his receipt confirmed that.
The father sold the land to him while his son sold the same land to me. Another thing I discovered was that if we go to court over the issue I may definitely lose the case. I therefore decided that we settled amicably,” he said. Narrating how they settled the matter without any fight or litigation, Tolulope said his accuser asked him to search for a plot of land in the same neighbourhood for him and, at the same time pay for it. After several search, he said they found a plot of land within the neighbourhood at a price two times the amount he bought his land and paid for it. He said, “That was how we settled amicably without resulting to protracted litigation.” Another victim of land dispute, Mr Ikenna Ogechi, living at number 102b Ikotun road, Lagos was persuaded by an estate agent to buy a piece of land at 4, Oyekanmade street, Alimosho.
He stated that after several consultations with other landlords living around the property, paid N2 million to the supposed owner of the land and began construction immediately. The irony of his case is that no sooner than he began development that a group of individuals showed up claiming the land belong to their father and that Ogechi should vacate the site or pay afresh for it.
Controversy over the genuine owner of the land raged for sometimes before they finally went to court. Three years after litigation, Ogechi is yet to recover the land or money.
When asked why he did not conduct search on the status of the land before parting with money, Tolulope and Ogechi said they had a genuine survey plan and an approved building plan from the agency of government in charge of building approval before embarking on construction. The above scenarios were among issues confronting intending homeowners and developers in bridging the gap of housing needs in the country. According to experts, who at different fora had expressed concerns on the protracted disputes over land blamed lack of access to genuine land by developers for mass and affordable housing in the country.
They also suggested the review of the Land Use Act for easy land documentation. They pointed out that despite the abundance and availability of land, its distribution and accessibility for development purposes remained a hard nut to crack by would-be homeowner or developer who has to contend with land speculators, high cost and cumbersome procedures of government when seeking title documents. These factors among others, experts noted have made cost of housing high with negative implications on the provision of low income housing in the country.
Expressing worry over non-availability of land for mass housing production, an Abuja based estate surveyor, Mr. Kehinde Olugbele, stated that favoritism on the part of government in allocating land to genuine developers, land speculation by government officials, politicians and their cronies who, he said are parading as developers to corner land allocation and later sold sell at exorbitant prices to genuine developers have made land inaccessible for housing development.
Besides, he mentioned that bureaucracy in land allocation procedure, inconsistent government policy on land allocation for mass housing resulting in revocation and reallocation of land already allocated for mass housing, litigation problem by contending community, family and government were factors discouraging intending homeowners and genuine developers.
He said, “The use of land speculators popularly known as the ‘Omooniles and thugs by families laying claim to land genuinely allocated for mass housing, rigid and cumbersome provision in Land Use Act for land allocation that government refused to review up till now are some of the problems affecting land accessibility and affordable housing.”
To get out of the problems, Olugbenle canvassed urgent review of the Land Use Act, which he said would engender transparency in land use allocation procedure and encouraged direct allocation of land to genuine developers with good track records. He also urged strict adherence to revocation clause for non-development of allocated land and reallocating it to genuine developers for housing production.
He appealed to government to collaborate with developers under the umbrella body of the Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria (REDAN) in allocating land and ensure prompt settlement of adequate compensation and settling of litigation problems arising from land compulsorily acquired from families or communities for mass housing.
