Assessing State Influence On Access To Land And Project Implementation Of Federal Government Building Construction Projects In South-South Nigeria (2006 -2016)
Rose Chinyere Okoro
Senior Lecturer, Dept. of Estate Management, Cross River University of Technology (CRUTECH), Calabar
Keywords: project implementation, land accessibility, indigenous people, Land Use Act (LUA), Federal Government Construction Projects, South-south Nigeria
Abstract
Despite the provisions of the Land Use Act (LUA), cap L5 of 2004, to make land available for all stake holders, Federal Government has continuously found it difficult to access land in the States for her developmental projects. Does this influence implementation of her building construction projects in South-South Nigeria significantly? To what extent does the State where the project is domiciled influence project implementation? In order to provide answers to these questions a survey approach was used in three States (Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa and Cross River) in South-South Nigeria, randomly selected with two projects in each State for study. Structured questionnaire was used to elicit data from screened 179 respondents. One hypothesis was formulated to guide the research work. The dependent variables were access to land and project implementation while the State where the projects were domiciled was the independent variable. The analytical tools used included simple percentages, one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Least Significant Difference (LSD) test. The hypothesis was tested at .05 level of significance. Findings revealed that State where the projects were domiciled had significant influence on project implementation due to land accessibility problems and that Cross River State was significantly different from Akwa Ibom and Bayelsa on both dependent variables. The research proffers that for Federal Government projects to be implemented in the States, land for the project must be available and accessed on time. To achieve this, Federal Government should enshrine in the Land Use Act, the customs, traditions and beliefs of the locals, take center stage in all levels of Land administration and educate her land administrative personnel on government’s rights in land matters