The Ominira Initiative for Economic Advancement, a non-governmental organisation, has called on the federal government to create separate courts to handle land related cases across the country, noting that 50 per cent of cases in courts nationwide are land related matters.
The group made the call during a press conference in Ibadan, Oyo State capital to inform the public about the findings of its research and economic freedom summit.
Executive Director of the group, Lanre-Peter Elufisan, while addressing the journalists, noted that the land use act of 1978 is having a negative effect on the country’s economic and social development.
Elufisan, who revealed that absence of clear land administration is hindering development and encouraging land grabbers to thrive, called for the amendment of land use act of 1978.
He maintained that this will help people to own their lands without intimidation or fear.
“The issue of land is related to opportunities. Nigeria is one of the poorest countries in the world because many people have been denied access to thrive because they cannot get genuine land for their businesses due to the problem of land grabbers and lack of proper documentation.
“We have seen that 50 per cent of cases at different courts in Nigeria are land related matters simply because there is no proper land administration in Nigeria. If we refuse to do something about the land use act of 1978, Nigeria will continue to have problems. The problem of poverty and opportunities.
“We cannot have proper land administration until there is rule of law in Nigeria. If we don’t have proper land administration, land grabbers will continue to have their ways. For Nigeria to be properly governed, we must have a rule of law. The Land use act of 1978 is affecting the economy. It brings lack of opportunities and hinders people to acquire land to do businesses and other things.
“We are saying that the land use act of 1978 should be revisited and reviewed to suit the current situation. There is a need to have specialised courts for land related matters. There is a need to have separate courts to handle land-related matters. Just like what have for labour related matters. We have industrial courts for labour and industry related matters. When we have these courts, it will help to decongest our courts across the country”.
Lending his voice, Professor Olawale Ogunkola, noted that Nigeria cannot do well when most of the industries and companies depend on generators to power their machines.
He said, “When we are talking about ease of doing business, Nigeria is 159 out of 164 countries. What we did is that we did a comparative analysis of countries. It is now for the people to judge if we are doing well. We are not just theorising, we are looking at how the policies are affected individuals. Look at the issue of electricity or power generation, you will agree with me that we are lacking. How can we cope while using generators. This will affect the cost of production. These are some of the challenges facing Nigerians when we are talking about economic freedom.”
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