Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Chapters 1 5
Chapters 1 5
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Abubakar Bukola Saraki made it clear right from the inception of his
whole1.
1
“Kwara in Progress”: (Special Edition) 2006, Page: 3
2
This development signaled the beginning of compulsorily land
On arrival at Shonga, our team met other assessors from the Kwara
State Ministry of Lands and Housing, Ilorin who were also in Shonga
Shonga town.
2
Appendix A: (Page 32)
3
Appendix B: (Pages 33-35)
3
Our terms of reference include to assess the economic trees,
trees within the “Forest Reserve” are paid directly to “Shonga Co-
operative Society”.
had also identified agriculture as one of the vital tools for economic
(a) It will provide cheap and affordable food for the people.
been made to ensure that the research is free from any political
various ethnic groups in Nigeria. Two (2) distinct land control systems
evolved namely, the “Communal Land Tenure System” and the “Feudal
in the southern parts of Nigeria, the “Feudal Land Tenure System” was
or individual families within the society. The “Head” of the family or the
or the “Oba” held the land in trust for the people. The “Emir” or the
“Oba” had absolute control over the land and approved parcel of the
approval of the “Emir” or “Oba” had been sought and fully obtained.
family land for housing, farming etc. The “Head” of the family or “Local
they allowed the “Customary Laws” to exist side by side with the
4
Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1968.
8
Section 2:- Provides that in computing compensation, account shall be
5
Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1976.
9
Some relevant provisions of the “Public Lands Acquisition Act” can be
Part I Section 1:- Spelt out the compensation payable for land
Act” in 1978.
The enactment of the “Land Use Act” also known as “Land Use
Decree No.6”6 in the year 1978 was essentially was to harmonize all
29th March 1978 by the then Military Head of State, Lt-Gen. Olusegun
Obasanjo. With the enactment of the “Land Use Decree”, all ownership,
6
The Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1978.
10
Thus, land ownership, control and administration were no longer
Right of Occupancy” over land in the urban centres while the local
In 1999, the “Land Use Decree” was passed into law and thus
to be known as the “Land Use Act” till date. Even though the “Land
Use Act” has remained the officially recognized law on land matters, it
7
Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999.
11
Section 43 (1):- Stipulates that every citizen of Nigeria shall
Nigeria.
compulsorily taken away from its owner except in the manner and
customary landowner.
the right to own a piece of land or building in any part of Nigeria. If for
hundred (200) years old history. “Shonga” town shares boundary with
“Tsaragi” town on the eastern side and “Lafiagi” town on the western
side. The town is bounded on the northern side by the “River Niger”.
Niger State.
the local dialect. Oral history has it that the first settlers in “Shonga”
migrated from “Lafiagi” town about 200 years ago. On arrival from
groups of people were already living there. These “Small Groups” were
invited to “Come Closer” and joined the “Larger Group”. This invitation
signaled the integration of the smaller group with the larger group and
13
was instrumental to the naming of the town “Tsonga” as it is known till
today.
en route “Share” town. The road linking “Shonga” had been tarred. It
catching up with “Shonga” town. Most of the old mud-houses are now
within the town. A new ultra modern Central Mosque had also been
built. The town had already been connected to the national grid.
Boreholes had also been sunk at strategic locations within the town.
Eight (8) “Emirs” had ruled “Shonga District” so far. The present
environs. The “Emir” was elevated to “1st Class Traditional Ruler” from
Plate 3:- Soya Bean Plantation at the Shonga Commercial Agric Farm
ethnic groups such as the Igbos, Yorubas, Fulanis, and Hausas etc.
There is no gain saying that over the last few years, “Shonga” had
The data used for this critical analysis were obtained mainly from
map was produced by the office of the “Surveyor General” wherein the
The Kwara State “Commissioner for Lands and Housing” with the
2005.8
six (6) weeks from the date of the publication of the “Acquisition
CHAPTER FOUR
flaws were still noticeable in the way and manner the assessment
8
Appendix C: (Page 36)
20
actual compensation paid and the amount computed by the “Estate
applied 100% of the recommended rates for economic trees9 while the
assessors from the Ministry of Lands and Housing, Ilorin adopted only
25% for their computation. This was responsible for the wide disparity
“Cash office” of the Ministry of Lands and Housing, Ilorin. Apart from
and also constructed some blocks of classrooms for them. The facility
of the existing clinic was upgraded with a sum of Three Million Naira
9
Appendix D: (Pages 37-38)
21
(N3,000,000:00). A Vocational Training Centre was established to
equip the youths with the required skills to make them self-sufficient.
ranging from N2,000 to N2.5 Million. The Kwara State Government had
350
300
250
No. of Claimants
200
150
100
50
0
001- 101- 201- 401- 600- 1,001- 1501- 2,001-
006-10 010-15 16-20 21-30 31-40 41-60 61-80 81-100
005 200 400 600 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500
Series1 79 145 143 232 306 231 241 81 94 171 148 62 30 9 5 3
70
60
40
30
20
10
0
Gboro
Gumbaj Chitta Chitta Chikan Chitta Gboro
Shonga Ogudu Todo Tsapata Mandja
i Mayaki Kanshi gi Woro Teefin Patigi
kwa
Actual Compensation Paid 13.3 2 3.7 3.2 0.6 1.7 3.2 2.6 2.4 1.7 0.4
Consultant's Computation 68.8 12 21.6 17.4 3.1 8 17.3 19.5 14.4 12.3 2.1
(a) Time-Constraints
(c) Litigations
Only nine (9) officials from the Ministry of Lands and Housing,
Ilorin and six (6) Estate Surveyors from the firm of Banji Olarewaju
Ministry of Lands and Housing, Ilorin and that of Banji Olarewaju and
However, most of the affected persons are stark illiterate who do not
language.
All the roads leading to the farm sites are sandy in nature. It is
very difficult even for motorcycles to ply the roads not to talk of
ordinary cars. Only jeeps and heavy-duty trucks can ply the sandy
personal cars could not make use of them in the sandy terrain. This
assessment exercise.
29
CHAPTER FIVE
and it’s environ has impacted positively on the lives of the people. The
enhanced. The people are now empowered better than before. It has
youths. The facilities that usually attract the rural dwellers to the cities
Initiative” had on the people, the acquisition exercise still suffers from
Consultant Estate Surveyor and Valuer shows a very wide margin. The
comparisons had further shown that the amount paid by the Kwara
its environs, the area lack basic amenities and other social
the affected persons by giving them cash and other incentives yet, the
5.3 RECOMMENDATIONS
exercise.
all affected persons before carrying out any project on the site. This
(vi) There should be adequate publicity using the local mass media in
the local language that the people understand. “Town-criers” can also
government.
(vii) Enough time like say three (3) months should be set aside for
identification right at the spot during the assessment exercise. The slip
(ix) The incentives given by the Kwara State Government in the form
(x) The government should ensure that the sandy paths leading to
all the seventeen (17) farm sites are made motorable to ease the