LAND AS THE LIFE OF A PEOPLE: NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT, LAWS AND INDIGENOUS LAND MATTERS

Abstract

The Nigerian socio-cultural polity was set agog by a statement credited to a Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, where he was quoted to have stated, “you can only have ancestral attachment when you are alive.”If you are talking about ancestral attachment, if you are dead, how does it matter” Expectedly, his assertions at a platform with domestic and international coverage, have instigated reactions from agitated groups in the country, who have vouched to resist any attempt by the federal government to earmark their ancestral domains for ranching. Considering the protracted herdsmen-farmers tussles which have taken political and bloodier dimensions, the presidency re-iterates the primal consideration for national security over individual or communal attachments to lands.With emphasis on Nigeria, the paper examines basic principles on indigenous land ownership and governments’ powers. The work relies on primary and secondary sources of law including laws, treaties, customs, agreements, theories, and journals. The multi-disciplinary assessment relates to land rules and their shortcomings, vis a vis indigenous persons rights to self-determination. Recommendations are made in support of African centric regulations that are in line with that mission to improve humans, preserve lands and achieve sustainable development.