Developing an Original Theoretical Framework for Reconciling Traditional and Statutory Land Law in Nigeria’s Plural Legal System

The coexistence of customary land tenure systems, Islamic land law in Northern Nigeria, and the statutory framework of the Land Use Act 1978 creates a plural legal order that generates systemic uncertainty, competing claims, and access to justice failures for the majority of Nigerians whose land rights are primarily governed by non-statutory norms. This study develops an original Plural Land Governance Reconciliation Framework (PLGRF) for Nigeria, providing a theoretically coherent model for articulating the relationship between competing land tenure normative orders. The theoretical contribution draws on legal pluralism theory, constitutional property rights jurisprudence, and comparative land governance scholarship from Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana, and Ethiopia. The PLGRF is developed through three phases: conceptual development through systematic literature synthesis and fieldwork interviews with 60 customary land rights holders, Islamic land law scholars, and statutory land lawyers across four geopolitical zones; empirical testing through comparative analysis of land tenure security outcomes across 500 land parcels under different tenure types in four states; and normative specification of reconciliation mechanisms that respect customary and religious land norms while providing statutory certainty and constitutional property protection. Results indicate that the principal reconciliation barrier is the Land Use Act's vesting of all land in state governors, which structurally conflicts with customary ownership rather than merely regulating it. The PLGRF proposes a Community Land Rights Act recognising and codifying community land governance while reducing the scope of state tenure vesting.

Keywords: legal pluralism, customary land tenure, Land Use Act, land governance, Nigeria