Analysis of the Land Use Act and Its Implications for Private Property Ownership in Nigeria

This study analyses the Land Use Act of 1978, examining its constitutional framework, operational provisions, and implications for private property ownership and real estate development across Nigeria. The Land Use Act vests all land in each state in the Governor, creating a right of occupancy system that has shaped property rights, land access, and housing investment behaviour for more than four decades and remains a subject of ongoing policy debate. The study employs a doctrinal and documentary analysis methodology, reviewing the text of the Land Use Act alongside relevant judicial decisions, legislative amendment proposals, academic critiques, and policy commentaries from the last five years. Analysis focuses on the right of occupancy concept, revocation powers, compensation provisions, consent requirements for alienation, and the implications of the Act's constitutional entrenchment under the 1999 Constitution. Findings confirm that the Act creates a system that is theoretically protective of land access but in practice generates significant transaction costs through mandatory consent requirements for all disposals and subleases of statutory rights of occupancy. Revocation compensation provisions have been found by courts to be inadequate relative to market values, discouraging private investment in locations subject to revocation risk. The Act's customary right provisions have been applied inconsistently across states. Recommendations include amending the consent requirement to cover only first-time conveyances, reviewing compensation provisions to reflect market value, and removing the Act from its current constitutional entrenchment to allow legislative reform. Keywords: Land Use Act, property rights, right of occupancy, Nigeria, land policy.