A Historical Overview of Enabling Laws Governing Compulsory Land Acquisition and Compensation in Nigeria (Published)
It is said that where the right of one person ends, then the right of another commences. This saying buttresses the relevance of the inalienable human rights which accrue to all humans equally. The 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as Amended aptly entrenches these fundamental human rights in Chapter Four particularly at sections 43 and 44. Article 17 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Right also provides for the right to own immovable property. The Constitution in section 43 guarantees that all citizens of Nigeria may own immovable property without restrictions but then goes ahead to acknowledge the possibility of compulsory land acquisition by the government and provides for a strict procedure for compulsory land acquisition which acknowledges the supremacy of the citizen’s unfettered rights to own property and guarantees an independently valued compensation payable to a dispossessed property owner. The subject of this research is therefore beyond domestic land law. It delves into the constitutional and international law spheres in historically examining what legislations and legal frameworks have been in place to guarantee the right to own immovable properties and what more can be done to strengthen the protection of the right to own immovable properties in Nigeria.
Keywords: Compensation, Compulsory land acquisition, Constitution, Federal Republic of Nigeria, Immovable properties, land use act
Compensation Issues in the Niger-Delta – A Case Study Of Boboroku, Jesse, Delta State, Nigeria (Published)
It is common to find oil companies operating in the Niger Delta region acquiring expansive farmlands to facilitate their operations in the area while the natives of affected communities are generally left in precarious conditions arising from acquisition of their farm lands. The paper examines issues of compulsory acquisition, evaluating the quantum of compensation paid to natives of communities whose farmlands are acquired and issues that must be dealt with to provide adequate compensation to claimants. Using an oil well acquisition base in Boboroku, Jesse in Ethiope-West Local Government Area of Delta State as a case study, various compensation claims were examined vis-à-vis open market claims in compulsory acquisition. It was found that many claimants received N1000.00 or less as full compensation claims for their crops while families lucky to own lands received more reasonable payments. It was established that there was no statutory provision for disturbance losses from revocation of land interest. Also, the productivity of economic crops and trees was not considered nor was computation of claims based on market-values. The paper established that claims should be compensated on the basis of productivity value and lifespan of interests being acquired and not on arbitrary rates supplied by the acquiring authorities.
Keywords: Boboroku, Compensation, Compulsory acquisition, Delta State, Niger-Delta, Nigeria