Land Tenure System At Mgbid
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Land Tenure System At Mgbid
ABSTRACT
By 2030, it is anticipated that more than 4.6 billion people will live in cities around the world. In Nigeria, 48 percent of the population today lives in cities. The low-income population is the most vulnerable when it comes to securing land for housing.
This is due to a lack of consistent income and savings to meet the requirements for formal land purchase and occupation.
More than 40% of the population of Mgbidi, Oru West LGA, Imo State, lives below the poverty line.
In some of the city’s districts, it has surpassed 50%. This poor population’s battle for shelter has materialised in a variety of forms, ranging from living in dangerous tenement compounds to multi-purpose businesses (both business and dwelling).
The president’s seven-point plan includes a proposal to modify Nigerian land tenure law (the Land Use Act, which vests ownership of all lands in a state in the governor).
Section 5 of the act, which enabled the governor to issue rights (in leasehold), demand and revise rents on such lands, as well as authority to completely or partially waive the limitations related to the acquisition of rights in unusual circumstances, is one of the provisions recommended for revision.
The purpose of this article is to demonstrate that Section 5 of the existing land tenure law, as well as the current compensation methods, have the potential to improve low-income land access.
The paper proposed using community-driven land tenure systems in conjunction with the provisions of Section 5 of the Land Use Act and the existing land acquisition and compensation process as a proactive approach to promote positive urban development rather than the traditional reactive approach to informality.
This will also provide protection for low-income individuals from potential market temptations. Furthermore, the role and capabilities of NGOs (Non-Governmental Organisations) in this regard should be promoted, as NGOs appeared to be the bridge in all of the analysed cases between low-income communities, landowners, and policymakers.
Chapter one
1.0 Introduction
Today, the bulk of the world’s population lives in cities and towns. By 2030, nearly 4.6 billion people will live in cities (Wish 2009). Access to secure shelter is required for this urban population to gain access to other benefits such as economic opportunities, public services, and credit (Payne 2002).
As a result, tenure serves as the cornerstone for any effort to improve the poor’s standard of living. There are counter-arguments to this: Recent assessments of urban tenure policy reveal that titling has failed to meet its goals and is of little service to the poor (Angel 2001 and Fernandes 2001, in Payne 2002 (9).
Similarly, Oswald (1999) contends that the higher a country’s degree of property ownership, the higher its rate of unemployment. Oswald used Switzerland as an example, with the lowest rate of property ownership in the industrialised nations and only 1% unemployment, whereas in Spain, 80% of the population owns their homes and the jobless rate is 13%.
Oswald concluded that property ownership limits labour market mobility and so increases unemployment. The subject is not simply defined or presented in accordance with commonly accepted criteria.
This is because tenure has numerous historical, cultural, legal, and economic connotations that influence people’s perceptions and actions.
In 2008, 48% of Nigeria’s population lived in urban areas. Nigeria is also placed 158th out of 177 countries on the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Human Poverty Index 2007. People living in relative poverty decreased from 65.6% in 1996 to 54.4% in 2004 (UNDP 2007).
According to UN Habitat, Nigeria’s poverty rate rose to 76% in 2009 (This Day 2009). Similarly, nearly 77% of Nigerian city dwellers live in urban slums, and urban settlements are home to 99% of the problems expected to be addressed by the MDGs.
People living in poverty are frequently the most vulnerable in terms of access to land. This is because they typically lack a consistent source of income and resources to apply for credit and meet the demanding construction rules and other requirements for formal land purchase and occupation (Smolka and Damasio, 2005).
1.1 The Problem
More than 40% of the population in Mgbidi, Oru West LGA, Imo State, lives below the poverty line, which is consistent with national statistics (URP 2008). In certain districts, it has over 50% (Mgbidi, Oru West LGA, Imo State District).
This poor population’s battle for shelter has materialised in a variety of forms, ranging from living in dangerous tenement compounds to multi-purpose businesses (business and dwelling).
The Nigerian federal government recommended modifications to the 1978 Land Use Act in 2008 as part of the president’s 7-point Agenda. Section 5 of the Act is one of the sections proposed for modification, as it vests all land in the state in the governor and gives the governor the authority to issue statutory rights (in leasehold), demand, and revise rents on such lands.
The idea calls for the governor’s powers to be decreased. However, same abilities could be used to provide access to land, particularly for low-income people, given the small amounts required to acquire land for development.
According to Uwakonye and Osho (2007), land reform is concerned with changing the institutional structure governing man’s relationship with the land, which entails intervening in the current pattern of land ownership, control, and usage in order to change the structure of holdings, increase land productivity, and broaden the distribution of benefits.
The purpose of this paper is to describe the existing coping strategies of low income people in Mgbidi, Oru West LGA, Imo State for gaining access to land, as well as to investigate how the governor’s powers under Nigeria’s land tenure law (the Land Use Act) could be used to improve low-income people’s access to land.
The emphasis will be on Section 5, which gives an opportunity within the existing legislation to improve access to land for low-income people.
1.2 AIM
To investigate the various tenure arrangements by which low-income residents of Mgbidi, Oru West LGA, Imo State, obtain access to land. This is done in order to improve the profile of understanding, which will then encourage supportive policy intervention.
1.3 Objectives
Review the notion of land tenure in developing economies, as well as low-income populations’ access to land.
To analyse the land tenure arrangement in Nigeria prior to the Land Use Act.
To describe the current practice of land administration in Mgbidi, Oru West LGA, Imo State, and to investigate the governor’s authority under the Land Use Act as a tool for granting low-income people access to land.
To offer strategies to improve the status quo using the lessons learnt from the reviewed case studies.
1.4 Justification.
According to studies, the influence of rules has historically been restricting to the informal sector, which serves as a medium of access to land for not only low-income but also the majority of the people (Acioly 2007).
Similarly, while most spatial planners present themselves as advocates for social and environmental issues, they frequently overlook the relationship between the poor and the land. Is it sufficient, for example, to create room for social housing?
Although housing is crucial for the poor, Davy (2009) claimed that the current global discourse on poverty and property extends beyond social housing to include the vulnerability of land use by the poor.
The study is so topical in light of the present worldwide discourse on poverty and property, as well as growing awareness of its relationship to land laws, particularly in developing countries.
A lot of developing countries see the necessity for reform efforts to address the special interests of low-income people. Examples include South Africa and the Philippines.
1.4 Methodology
Existing literature on land tenure regimes will be reviewed to provide a foundation for discussion. The study will also employ accessible data from prior empirical studies on the present land administration procedures in Mgbidi, Oru West LGA, Imo State, as well as the varied tenure arrangements that exist in the city’s several districts.
The city is typically separated into five administrative districts for ease of data collecting and to account for differences in socioeconomic features (Mgbidi, Oru West LGA, Imo State City, Tudun Wada, Sabon Gari, GRA, and Samaru).
The discussion would progress from general to specific, linking apparent qualities to potential explaining variables in descriptive terms.
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