ALIENATION OF LANDED PROPERTY AND ITS EFFECT ON BUSINESS TRANSACTIONS IN NIGERIA

By

Author

Presented To

Department of Law

ABSTRACT
The economic realities of these times have shown that utility of landed property, does not only result in the best use of the property, but also in the creation and accummulation of capital. It need not be over emphasised that the availability of capital is absolutely necessary to stimulate business growth and development in a society. Landed property would effectively serve the above purpose through the mobility of rights and interest in such properties. This can easily be facilitated by the concept of alienation. But alienation does not exist in vaCuo nor does it have a universal content. It exist in response to the laws and rules of a particular land tenure system, which determines its relationship with business transactions in properties. The aim of this thesis therefore, is to determine to what extent does the Nigerian Land Tenure System provides the necessary framework for alienation in landed properties. More importantly it examines to what extent does the rules of alienations provides the adequate incentives to stimulate business transactions in landed properties. Chapter one gives a general introduction to the whole subject matter. It deals with the importance of land in the economic setting of both traditional and modern societies. It also discusses the concept of alienation in Nigerian Land Tenure System and the existence of the inalienability theory of land rights in customary societies. The chapter also highlighted the relationship between alienation, business transaction and development in a polity. In chapter two, the nature of property in Nigeria was discussed. This covers both customary and statutory land tenure systems. This approach is designed to understand the basic principles of the rules of alienation in both systems. The types of land holding in each system and the quantum of individual rights in each land holding was subject to systematic analysis. Chapter three discusses the modes of alienation of landed property in Nigeria. These are modes of alienations which are by their nature, business transactions in landed properties. They are the ways by which holders of rights and interest in land, transter their property to raise income or capital as the case may be. Our discussions are not limited to urban land transactions which are popular but also with those practiced under customary law or in rural communities.