Oludele Sunday K.O
Continued from last week’s C of O, The Time Bomb.
If the general public is said to be blamed, no one takes responsibility. Point blank; you and I are to be blamed for our failures to decode the risks contained in patronising the deceptive, oppressive and repressive land use act. We accepted and bought into the land use act to our detriment and chiefly to the disadvantage of our unborn generations. A Yoruba adage says: “when the flood is vehemently ready to pull down a building, it is the duty of the owner not to allow it.” Government might rise up anytime with a repressive law, duty bounds on the masses to confront disfranchising with massive objections.
The provision of 99 years validity on Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) to property ‘tenants’ is an executive fraud against the Nigerian people. When a people are complacent, their rulers ride on free; this is the case of Nigerians when it comes to fighting for our human rights. Rulers are exploiters anywhere in the world. The masses should learn how to curb the exploitative legislation of our government, else, the economy will suffer and life will become extremely unbearable. Sad to mention the obvious, the exploitation in Nigeria is profound through the provisions of the land use act.
To reason along with repressive governments and rulers is to short-change oneself and open the doors for misrule and anarchy. The only language all repressive democrats understand is massive protests. Protests against the ruinous land use act are long overdue. The agitation for its abrogation requires a concerted effort from the property stakeholders and the youths whose inheritance benefits are under serious threats.
For the obvious oppression through government’s policies on land policies, we are to be blamed collectively.
- We are to be blamed because we willingly jumped into the muddy waters of the land use act without proper consideration for the inheritance for the coming generations.
- We are to be blamed because we swallowed the lies and surrendered to the well thought deceptions of our federal and state governments.
- We are to be blamed because we chose to be tenants on our properties by exchanging our rights of ownerships for tenancies.
- We are to be blamed because we accepted to be disfranchised through laws.
- We are to be blamed because we freely accepted the less and bought into the C of O title document that devalues us and removes our rights of ownership from us.
- We are to be blamed because we allowed ourselves to be short-changed.
- We are to be blamed because we valued immediate gratification to forfeit trans-generational benefits over our properties.
- We are to be blamed because we failed to study the land use act, query its flaws and inadequacies. We neglected to challenge its terms before we began to patronise, apply and obtain the title document of C of O.
- We are to be blamed because we bought our ownership with money and exchanged it with tenancy also with our hard earned money.
- We are to be blamed because we behaved foolishly and ignorantly in this regard.
- We are to be blamed because we surrendered to be exploited like fools.
- We are to be blamed because we ate the bait and shall be pained afterward.
- We are to be blamed because we feel too big to support mass objection of the land use act to obtain freedom but too coward to face its consequences.
Under the C of O document title, you cannot fulfil a biblical requirement of a good parent as prescribed in Proverbs 13:22 “A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just.”
The provisions of the land use act conflict with biblical directive for Christians. Every good Christian is expected to work out an inheritance for two generations. Capacity building for our people could be achieved if we adhere to this requisite on our land policies. Our nation shall be good for it.
… To be continued