Oludele Sunday K.O
The preamble reads thus:
“Whereas it is in the public interest that the rights of all Nigerians to the land of Nigeria be asserted and preserved by law; and whereas it is also in the public interest that the rights of all Nigerians to use and enjoy land in Nigeria and the natural fruits thereof in sufficient quantity to enable them to provide for the sustenance of themselves and their families should be assured, protected and preserved.”
Have you ever considered your right on Nigerian land as a citizen of Nigeria? Little did majority of Nigerians know that land does not belong to the government the way it is popularly but erroneously discussed. We have been brainwashed to believe in illusion for too long a time. Meanwhile, when the wrong thing is allowed for too long without correction, it soon becomes the norm. Long standing lie, fallacy, propaganda and deception are capable of placing a question mark on the right thing. We either wake up to our right or die in silence.
It is our collective duty to resist any form of disfranchisement through government policies on land when they are discovered. Most of the activities going on in the rural areas against the peasant farmers are acutely illegal. So many unreported nefarious and vicious treatments against the less privileged Nigerians are going on in the background.
Many concerned Nigerians are groaning in silence. Ogun state under Senator Ibikunle Amosun’s government is a case study in recent times. The lies, fallacies, propagandas, deceptions and brainwashing that is deployed into the acquisition drive is inhuman, offensive and oppressive. The repressive tool under which these nefarious attacks are happening is the controversial land use act of 1978.
Many flagrantly wicked and impious individuals are using the government to threaten innocent Nigerians to illegally acquire their lands for personal, commercial and political benefits. There are many cases involving the government and the land owners that are supposed to be on litigation but are not due to the poor conditions of the individuals involved. I swear, the government shall loose many of the lands already acquired by veto and by technical deceptions if subjected to the rule of law.
When did our governments become merchants, speculators or sellers of land? It is not legal for any government to disfranchise any community, family or individual of their lands to resell same to third parties as we currently experience in Ogun state. The duty of the government is to create the conducive environment for land transactions to thrive and ensure that the benefits on land are evenly accessible to the fast majority of the Nigerian people without compelling bottlenecks.
Land as a communal natural gift is given to people to benefit therein individually and collectively. We have a government with zero social benefit. A government that is mismanaging the resources of oil and other natural endowments. A government that has failed in providing social amenities to its people. A government that can only repress its people to worsen their living conditions through various enactments and policies. In a clime like ours, the people are to be extra careful and ready to defend their rights, else, situations would only tow a worst curve.
It is no doubt that a lot of things is wrong with the national policy on land. The sufferings and artificial bottlenecks that Nigerian in Ogun state are subjected to are extremely cruel, very fierce, inhuman unacceptable and dehumanising.
A reasonably friendly law that finds universal solutions to the menace imposed on Nigerians arbitrarily through the land use act is what Nigerians are expecting from the restructuring committee on land tenure. The land use act, 1978 is a revolutionary law that seeks to reassert the right of all Nigerians on land. A number of questions arise going by the preamble to the land use act.
The reason why it is difficult for Africans to execute good things hook line and sinker remains a riddle? We lack selfless leadership in Africa. We are plagued by self centered and greedy rulers. If not, we have abundant natural resource of land and its sufficient fruits to be enjoyed by every citizen regardless of class nor societal status, connection nor power. This is one of the goals the act hoped to achieve. The question that arises on this is; are Nigerians truly enjoying the sufficient quantity of these natural endowments? obviously no. Why? the greedy are in power, class is created and the gap between the elites and the poor are widening with cruelty. Most regrettably, our justice system is aiding and abetting the nefarious political spell.
Oludele Sunday Kolawole Olumide is the head of the team of Nollywood Film Village project comprising Entertainment Village, Nollywood Farms and Nollywood for Children and Youths. Call/WhatsApp: 08033030614.
… To be continued