Assessing State Influence On Land Acquisition Difficulties For Federal Government Project Implementation In South-South Nigeria (2006 -2016)
Rose Chinyere Okoro
Department of Estate Management, University of Cross River State, Calabar, Nigeria.
Sylvester Ina
Department of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Cross River State, Calabar, Nigeria
Emmanuel Bassey
Department of Estate Management, University of Cross River State, Calabar, Nigeria.
Keywords: land accessibility difficulties, federal government construction projects, South-South Nigeria, Land Use Act (LUA)
Abstract
Despite the provisions of the Land Use Act (LUA), cap L5 of 2004, namely, to make land available for all stake holders in Nigeria, Federal Government has continuously found it difficult to access land in the States for her construction projects. Does this influence the implementation of her building construction projects in south-south Nigeria significantly? To what extent does the State where the project is domiciled influence land accessibility difficulties? 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 variable studied was land accessibility difficulties, while the State where the projects were domiciled was the independent variable. The analytical tools used included simple percentage tables, one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), Pair-wise and Least Significant Difference (LSD) tests. The hypothesis was tested at .05 level of significance. Findings revealed that State where the projects were domiciled had significant influence on land acquisition difficulties and that Cross River State was significantly different from the other States studied. The research proffers that for land to be acquired with minimal difficulties for Federal Government projects, Federal Government should enshrine in Nigerian operating Land Policy, the customs, traditions and beliefs of the indigenous people, take centre stage in all levels of land administration and educate her land administrative personnel on government’s rights in land matters.