By Dotun Ibiwoye, who was in Washington DC

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has berated  state governors for impeding the effectiveness of the Land Use Act saying that land commission and registration are needed  to make ownership of a  valuable asset effective.

Olusegun Obasanjo

Obasanjo who was speaking at the weekend added that  the Land Use Act worked very well initially, through the land allocation committees at the state  and  local government levels, which were part and parcel of the law, but the governors abandoned the committees because of the powers vested in them.

Speaking at the annual World Bank’s Land and Poverty Conference 2017 with theme: ‘Responsible Land Governance—Towards an Evidence-Based Approach’, at the World Bank Headquarters in Washington D.C, United States, on the necessity of the Africa Land Advisory Group, Obasanjo said that the African culture supersedes the government and the law in most scenario.

The former President affirmed that one of the things that he learnt from President Julius Nyerere of Tanzania was the attachment of Africans to their ancestral land.

He said that Julius Nyerere told him that it was the reason why his (Nyerere) Ujamaa programme failed because he wanted to move people from their small settlement to a better place so that they could have water and electricity and good life, but the attachment of the people to their ancestral land negates the plan.

“In Nigeria, we had formulated a policy called Land Use Act. We tried to harmonise land tenure system and I think that from what my sister from Uganda said, they are trying to do something like that. We had committees for land allocation at the state level and at the local government level. What the Land Use Act did mainly is to make the state governments hold land in trust for the citizens and those who needed to use the land had to harmonise the land tenure system, he said

“Initially it worked very well because of the land allocation committees at the state level and the local government levels, but later the governor because of the power given to them, they abandoned the various allocation committees, which was part and parcel of the law. That was embedded in the Land Act.

On land reclamation by the Lagos state government, Obasanjo noted that it is important to create land for agricultural purposes not just for residential and official building.

“In one part of our own country Nigeria, Lagos, they keep filling the lagoon to create land but I found that the land that they are ‘creating’ is only for housing. They haven’t created land for agriculture yet and agriculture is very important.

“So because of the finiteness of land, that is why the equitable distribution and access to land is very important. I cannot say that I want to create land for some people, I have to take out of the land that has already been there.

The Africa Land Advisory Group is a group of eminent strategists and experts who connect to power with skill, commitment and integrity to assist stakeholders to unlock pathways to realize the transformative potential of land.

In 1967, President Nyerere published his development blueprint, which was titled the Arusha Declaration, in which Nyerere pointed out the need for an African model of development and that formed the basis of African socialism.

The Swahili word ujamaa means ‘extended family’, ‘brotherhood’ or ‘socialism’; as a political concept it asserts that a person becomes a person through the people or community.

Nyerere used Ujamaa as the basis for a national development project.

“We also had another law called the Women Rights Act, to protect the women’s interest. To allow women to own land but it would appear that our culture is stronger than the law. This one also achieved its aim initially but later was difficult to implement. This shows that our culture is stronger than the government.

“One of the things that I learnt from President Julius Nyerere is the attachment of Africans to their ancestral land. And he told me that that was why his Ujamaa programme failed. He wanted to moved people from their small settlement to a better place so that they can have water and a electricity and have a good life, but the attachment of the people to their ancestral land where their forefathers were buried was too much.

“If anybody has more than what he should have, and other  people do not have, then there  is a need for  the equitable distribution of the land to eradicate any form of poverty.  Land use policy has several factors that we should note. Land not used is land wasted. The essence of land is to make use of it. I want to talk about the land use in Africa.

“ Women particularly in the rural areas are doubly disadvantaged. They are mainly workers on these lands and not owners which shows that they are doubly oppressed. In one country which I will not mention, I went there and found out that women working on the farms and their babies laid under the trees and the men the men were drinking in the nearby village.

“It is not only that, the land that the women are working, they cannot own it. Infact they pay money to the men who are supposed to be the owners of these lands.

”Because the law is there and the culture is also there operating in all ramifications. I leave you to make your guess if the law can overpower this culture. I want to advise the African land advisory group that they should think and plan continentally but act and implement locally.

“We have to reach out to our leaders, this effort should not be state owned, this effort must be made to continue and must not be allowed to die, this effort must be sustained, this effort should be included on the plate of the African Union Summit. It can be done and must be done.

I would suggest that as soon as possible, this group should look out for the chairperson on land they would listen and implement what is necessary.

“In Nigeria, we need land commission and land registration, so that ownership can become valuable assets. It is very important. The way to do that is land registration. I seen a few countries trying to do that. I hope this will succeed in Nigeria.

”The theme of this WorldBank’s conference  land and poverty is not a right topic, it should be land and wealth creation. We are tired of poverty in Africa. Let’s have land and wealth creation.

How do we land to create wealth and employment?

“The importance of land does not need to be emphasized. We also need land to bury our dead. It is great that group of land experts and professionls have come together and form themselves together as African land advisory group. It very good , timely and I hope and pray that it will be sustained because we have started many things in Africa and have not been sustained.

“The importance of land cannot be emphasized because we all know its necessity. One of our panelist stated  all the importance of land including aquaculture but left out one important thing, we need land to bury our dead, since we have not developed the culture of burning our dead. And after burying then, we need land.

“I noted all the points that my fellow African sister gave for the formulation of this group and I also like the word advisory that you pointed our as the mission of this group, but who are you going to advice?

”How are they going to use it? How are you going to reach them? How will they take your advice? How will they act on your advice? These are very important things you should note. You have a formidable group of experts from across our continent. Apart from the uses of land, one important aspect of land is that it is finite. Many things can be created but land cannot be created’’.