Compensation for expropriated community farmland in Nigeria: An in-depth analysis of the laws and practices related to land expropriation for the lekki free trade zone in lagos

In Nigeria, the recurring impoverishment and other negative socioeconomic impacts endured by landholders affected by expropriation are well-documented and call into question the Land Use Act’s (LUA) effectiveness in protecting local land rights. The World Bank’s Land Governance Assessment Framework found that, in Nigeria, “a large number of acquisitions occurs without prompt and adequate compensation, thus leaving those losing land worse off, with no mechanism for independent appeal even though the land is often not utilized for a public purpose”. Such negative outcomes may be due to a number of factors, including corruption, limited capacity, and insufficient financing as well as Nigeria’s weak legal framework. According to a recent study of compensation procedures established in national laws of 50 countries, Nigeria’s compensation procedure lags behind many of the countries assessed because the LUA mostly fails to adopt international standards on the valuation of compensation. This article examines Nigerian expropriation and compensation procedures in more detail by combining both an in-depth legal analysis of Nigeria’s expropriation laws as well as survey and qualitative research that indicates, to some extent, how expropriation laws function in practice in Nigeria. Based on our legal assessment, surveys, and interviews with both government and private sector officials involved in the LFTZ, we found that the Nigerian government failed to comply with international standards on expropriation and compensation, both in terms of its laws and its practices in the LFTZ case. This article expands our conference paper written for the UN Economic Commission of Africa Conference on Land Policy in Africa, which took place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in November of 2017. Under Nigeria’s LUA, affected landholders are not granted the right to participate in expropriation and compensation decision-making or otherwise be consulted on matters affecting their land and livelihoods. In 2004, the LUA enabled the Lagos State government to set aside 16,500 hectares of expropriated agricultural land from Lagos coastal communities to develop the Lekki Free Trade Zone (LFTZ). Following the expropriation, the Lagos State Government (LSG) and Lekki Worldwide Investment Limited signed a Memorandum of Understand (MOU) with nine affected communities in 2007. The MOU is a legally binding document that promises compensation, alternative land, jobs, healthcare, and educational opportunities to the communities affected by expropriation. However, our research suggests that the MOU has not been fully honored. According to a survey of 140 affected households conducted in August 2017, the government still had not paid sufficient compensation to all affected communities or had not yet provided them with suitable alternative land, jobs, equity shares and other entitlements promised by the MOU. While there are several reasons why the MOU has not been honored, this article mainly focuses on the failure of the LUA to establish binding obligations on government officials to compensation, resettle, and reconstruct the livelihoods of affected landholders. This article argues that the LUA must be reformed so that, whenever land is expropriated for development projects, the government and private sector entities (i.e., acquiring bodies) have a legal obligation to provide sufficient and prompt compensation, alternative land, jobs, equity shares, and other entitlements to affected landholders. Moreover, the LUA should obligate the government and acquiring bodies to follow a transparent and participatory process when expropriating land and compensating communities so that, if properly enforced, the reformed LUA can mitigate the risks commonly associated with expropriation, including landholder impoverishment, displacement, food insecurity, and conflict

Modelling vegetationloss and greenhouse gas emissions in Kaduna, Nigeria

Tropical forests and other vegetated landscapes like grasslands and wooded savannahs play a major role in the global carbon sequestration process and their conservation and protection offers immense potential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and global warming. This study aims to model the rate of vegetation loss as a result of diverse anthropogenic processes like urbanization, agriculture and infrastructural development in the fast growing city of Kaduna in northwest Nigeria . Land use change analysis between 1990 and 2009 is conducted and a transition potential map is produced based o n the established pattern of change and the land use change driver variables determined for the study area. This is achieved by a hybrid technique that integrates cellular automata, Markov chain analysis and artificial neural networks. The model is then us ed to predict land use change scenarios between 2001 and 2009 . Model validation is achieved by way of computing the ROC statistic using the simulated and actual land use maps of 2009 . Having obtained satisfactory outcomes, the model is then used to predict the urbanization scenario between 2009 and 2040 . Interventi ons are then proposed to reduce sprawl and loss of vegetated land based on certain constraints placed on the land use change processes and the sim ulation is then run again to 2040 to produce an alternative scenario of land use change to serve as a basis for the implementation of the REDD project. The REDD model utilizes a methodology for calculating and evaluating net anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions due to the implementation of a REDD project. This methodology is based on the World Bank’s BioCarbon Fund Project (BioCF) methodology for estimating reductions of GHG emissions for mosaic deforestation. Reductions in GHG emissions are calculated by subtracting the estimated carbon that would be saved through a REDD project intervention, along with the estimated carbon loss through leakage from the estimated carbon loss without the implementation of a REDD project intervention. The difference is known as additionality, and implies the net GHG emissions that are reduced owing to the implementation of the REDD project. The results obtained show significant reduction in GHG emissions based on the proposed planned interventions to reduce tropical land consumption and vegetation loss in Kaduna

Urbanization and the challenges of sustainable transportation: a developing country perspective

A major requirement in the development of a sustainable urban transportation system is the reduction of automobile dependence. This paper focuses on the ownership and use of private vehicles in the city of Kaduna in North West Nigeria. Travel behavior data used in the study was obtained through a city - wide socio - demographic and household travel characteristics survey that made use of structured questionnaires and the analysis employed was mainly descriptive statistical analyses. Spatio - temporal data used in the analysis of urban growth was obtained from remote sensing sources. The results show a city experiencing rapid urbanization and population growth alongside high level of private motorized vehicle owners hip and use . The paper concludes by highlighting the environmental, human health and social effects of rapid urbanization and increase in the use of motorized modes of transportation

City profile: Kaduna

Kaduna's colonial origin and function as an administrative town ensured that it was well planned and had good and well distributed urban facilities and services in the early years of its existence. However, the pressure of urbanization that has seen the city expand beyond its planned limits into hitherto rural settlements along the urban fringe has today given the city a different character from the once celebrated well planned and beautiful town. On the one hand you have the earlier settled areas of the city with good roads, quality housing and other necessary urban facilities while on the other you have the new expansion areas that have grown outside of formal planning control and are characterized by haphazard development, poor quality housing and lack of basic urban infrastructure and services. It is within this context and the scarcity of resources that the city authorities are struggling to cope with the challenges continually posed by rapid urban growth. The article emphasizes recent initiatives of the government aimed at confronting these challenges through a critical examination of their implementation and the outcomes therefrom

Integration of logistic regression and markov chain analysis in modelling and predicting future urban growth in Kaduna,Nigeria

Land use changes in developing countries generally occur in the form of new building construction in the peripheral areas of cities mostly for residential purposes. This fast pace of urban development has thrust to the fore a number of research initiatives that make use of new applications for modeling such phenomenon. In this study, urban expansion is examined in Kaduna, Nigeria, using a hybrid model that combines Cellular Automata (CA) techniques and Markov chain analysis with logistic regression. Land use change between 1990 and 2001 was analyzed and the results showed huge conversion of green areas and open lands to built-up areas. Environmental variables dealing with urban expansion were evaluated to determine their influence on urban expansion and operationalized to develop transition potential sub-models. A transition potential map is then derived from the transition potential sub-model which was employed to simulate future urban growth. The model was subsequently evaluated and validated using ROC statistics and the results were found to be acceptable