RSU Don Seeks Removal Of Consent Clause In Land Use Act

A Professor of Property and Human Rights Law at the Rivers State University, Port Harcourt, Prof Grace Ogbonda Akolokwu, has called for the removal of consent requirements in Sections 21, 22 and 28 of the 1978 Land Use Act.

The university don argued that the provisions are unnecessary and delay mortgage transactions and other benefits tied to land ownership.

Prof Akolokwu made the call while delivering the 130th Inaugural Lecture of the university in Port Harcourt, last Thursday.

The lecture was titled ‘Land as Man’s Epicentre: Interrogating the Roses and Thorns under Nigerian Law.’

According to her, instead of retaining the consent clause, government should digitize land registries to create a comprehensive database of land ownership across the country.

She said the lecture aimed to underscore the importance of land to man and expose how extant laws limit the full enjoyment of land as a natural gift.

Akolokwu, who is the Dean of the Faculty of Law, RSU, described land as a universal phenomenon around which human activities revolve, calling it the A to Z of man’s existence.

“Man is land and land is man. We are sustained by land and we cannot survive without it. Land is too important for man’s survival and existence,” she said.

The university’s first female professor of Law identified eleven “roses” of land that drive development and investment.

She also listed twelve “thorns,” including insecurity, age restrictions and multiple taxation, which she said are legal barriers that prevent full ownership of lands.

She told her audience that a Certificate of Occupancy is not conclusive proof of ownership, stressing that such titles remain subject to government control and revocation.

Akolokwu stated that Nigeria’s land rights framework is more precarious than it appears, and urged a review of the Act to reflect the present realities.

Among other recommendations, she proposed criminalizing land grabbing with penalties of 10 years imprisonment or a N10 million fine to deter offenders and safeguard property rights.

Earlier, the Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof Isaac Zeb-Obipi, commended the lecturer for bringing her wealth of experience to bear on the subject matter.

He said that universities have a duty to provide solutions to societal problems through inaugural lectures.

Akujobi Amadi