Land Development and Planning Laws in Nigeria: The Historical Account
Land Development and Planning Laws in Nigeria: The Historical Account
1. Introduction
Traditional Nigeria settlements are structure according to the local customs and practices, also according to the
agrarian nature of the economy, and the existing mode of transportation. In the traditional setting, natural rulers or
community heads like Oba, Obi, Obong or Emir are in charge of communal lands while family heads are in charge of
family land. One could say that their legal status is that of trustee-beneficiary who can allocate, re-allocate and
supervise land use. In effect, traditional Nigeria settlements are established around palaces of traditional rulers, thus
ensuring efficient communal interaction and reducing cost of transportation. The development and control of the total
environment are the joint responsibility of the entire community.
Some settlements, particularly in the northern and western parts of the country, are located there because of the
factors of defense, religion or trade. For instance the walls around some traditional cities like Zaria and Kano serve
the purpose of defense and religion, with gates provided in strategic locations to facilitate trade and communication.
Topography also attracted settlers mainly as strategic defence sites in times of external attacks, such sites can be
found at Koton Karfi and Okene in Kwara State, Toro and Billiri in Bauchi State; Abeokuta in Ogun State and Idanre
in Ondo State, all in Nigeria, West Africa.
While some of these settlements still retain their identity till date. Land use patterns in them are not uniform. As
customary laws vary from locality to locality, land use patterns respond accordingly. With the passage of time,
population increases and human activities become complex, control of land and land use got out of hands of the
traditional rulers, chiefs and heads of families and physical development started springing up in haphazard manner.
This necessitated a serious need for a new order in the control of land and land uses. This was the genesis of the
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documented type of laws and legislation. This paper is essentially an historical account that examines the land
development and the planning laws in Nigeria at different points in times as discussed under three main headings
below. In addition, the author identifies some flaws in some of the land and planning laws, and makes some
recommendations and policy guidelines which could be of immense benefit to other countries of the world.
2. Colonia era
The traditional settlement development patterns gradually gave way to the colonial approach with the annexation of
Lagos as a British Colony under the Treaty of Cession in 1861, and the consequent promulgation in Lagos in 1863 of
the Town Improvement Ordinance to control development and urban sanitation.
Lord Luggard’s Land Promulgation of 1900 in respect to title to land in Northern Nigeria and the introduction of
indirect rule served as the pivots for changes in land administration and settlement development in Nigeria. For
instance, under the policy of indirect rule, urban settlements were administered by the native rulers of kings, chief
and family heads, while European quarters and Government Reservation Areas, created pursuant to the Cantonment
Proclamation of 1904, were administered by the colonialist. Different planning standards were specified for the
various segments of the city while physical planning and provision of infrastructure were concentrated in the
European or Government Reservation Areas.
The enactment of the Township Ordinance No. 29 of 1917 was the first attempt at introducing spatial orderliness into
the land use pattern in Nigerian cities. It was a landmark in the evolution of Town and Country planning in the
country. The impact of the Ordinance, which laid down guide lines for physical layout of towns, is still visible in
such towns as Aba, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Jos, Minna and Kaduna today. The ordinance, more or less, legalized the
separation of the European from the African residential areas and established a management order for different towns.
A first class township, such as Lagos, had a town council with a wide range of functions. All the major towns on the
rail lines, and on the river or sea ports, were classified as second class townships, managed by local authorities with
ordinary power to collect rates.
They were under the control of District Officers or Assistant District Officers. They were mainly small towns,
probably having some administrative functions, but not very important to the colonial economy at the time.
In 1914 town-planning committees were established for the Northern and Southern provinces mainly for the class
towns to initiate develop planning schemes, as well a approving building plans. This role was performed by the local
Advisory Board and District Officers in the second and third class towns respectively. The Town Planning
Committees were abolished in 1941 due to absence of legal backing of their existence and were substituted with
Health Board.
Up to the Second World War, urban planning and development were much of a day-to-day affair, carried out by
senior civil servants under the Health Boards. A number of improved plans and layout were produced. However,
apart from the normal administration, no spectacular development in the town planning was observed.
The Lagos Executive Development Board (LEDB) was established in 1928 and charged with the general
development of the Lagos territory. It was set up under the Lagos Town Planning Ordinance of 1928 in response to
an outbreak of bubonic plague. The board (LEDB) had extensive powers to undertake comprehensive improvement
schemes within the city limits. The LEDB concerned itself mainly with minimal slum clearance on Lagos Island, the
reclamation of Victoria Island, Housing Schemes in Surulere, South-West Ikoyi and Apapa, and the industrial layouts
at Iganmu and Ijora. It was not directly concern with the “city planning”, since maintenance of public service was the
responsibilities of the Lagos City Council (Ola 1984).
The preparation of a 10 year Plan of Development and Welfare (1946-1956) by senior government officials marked
the beginning of systematic development plans. The decision of the board was subjected to the approval of the
Governor-General. One of the major schemes of the plan was the Town Planning and Village Reconstruction.
Information from the plan indicated that there was scarcely a town in the country that was not in dire need of
re-planning and proper layout for future expansion. The colonial government consequently enacted the Nigeria
Town and Country Planning Ordinance (No 4 of 1946) to provide for the planning, improvement and development of
different parts of the country, through planning schemes initiated by planning authorities. The ordinance was based
on the 1932 British Town and Country Planning Act (Ola, 1984 and Omole, 1995).
The implementation of the Nigerian Town and Country Planning Ordinance of 1946 created a situation in which
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planning and development of an urban area was equated with the provision of more physical and attractive layout,
with architecturally well-designed housing units. During this time, planning authorities were not seen to be
concerned with other problems facing urban centres under their areas jurisdiction; problems such as erosion control,
waste management, environmental education, and even training of staff.
Other related legislations during the colonial era, that had bearing with the town and country planning, were the
Mineral Act (1945), which touched on issues like drainage and pollution (air, water), Public Health Laws (1957)
which controlled over-crowding, diseases and general urban squalor. Others were the Land Development (Roads)
law of 1948 which dwell on acquisition, safe and disbursement of land, the Building Lines Regulations of 1948
which later became Chapter 24 of the Laws of Nigeria of 1948 which provided for positioning of buildings and other
obstructions with reference to roads. All these laws came around the same time.
3. At Independence
The 1946 Town and Country Planning Ordinance was retained at independence as the Town and Country Planning
Laws tagged Chapter 123 of the Laws of Western Nigeria. This law was domesticated in 1959 as Chapter 130 of the
Laws of Northern Nigeria and Chapter 155 of the Laws of Eastern Nigeria. As the law was retained, so also were the
problems of discriminatory legislations, inappropriate standards and ineffective administrative frameworks in the
post-independence development plans.
For instance, the first National Development Plan was largely concerned with economic growth per se. That
is, the rise of per capital income, without regards to the actual living conditions of the people. The plan, like the
colonial plans, neglected issues of urban development in its formulation and execution. For example, out of a total
expenditure of 84 million Naira (Nigerian Currency) allocated to town and country planning including housings,
only 39.2 million Naira was disbursed at the end of the plan period (Onibokun, 1985). However, emphasis was
placed on the provision of infrastructure. For example, transport and communication claimed about 26 percent, while
electricity gulped 15.1 percent of the total revenue allocation during the plan period. Apart from the 13.4 percent of
the revenue allocation made to primary production, one could rightly say that as much as 66.6 percent of the total
revenue, during the first national development plan period, was invested in the urban areas. The huge investment was
however, largely uncoordinated, owing to lack of a comprehensive national urban development policy. The result
was a chaotic pattern of urban development in the country (Nigerian Institute of Town Planners, 1991).
The Second National development Plan (1970-74) was launched immediately after the civil war in 1970
represented only a slight departure from the first development plan. The huge investments in the various sectors of
urban development were still largely uncoordinated with only about seven per cent of the total revenue allocated
went into town and country planning (including housing, water and sewage). Presumably the plan still considered
town and country planning as social overheads and, as such, was not bothered with any machinery for promoting or
planning an orderly urban development. The plan however, was a promising departure from the previous plans as it
set aside 44 million Naira for urban and regional planning and development. That was a modest beginning by the
Federal Government for better urban management in the country. Some policy statements were made during the plan
period on urban matters. There was a call for controlled dispersal of social overheads and infrastructural facilities.
The third National Development Plan (1975 – 1980) was the first to produce the most thoughtful and
coherently conceptualized urban development policy, its five chapters dwell on urban and regional development,
(water, sewage, housing, town and country planning, co-operatives and community development) allocated 12.6 per
cent of the total revenue to the various activities.
The plan also came up with a better definition of national urban development strategy. It provided for
integration of urban-rural development, urban infrastructure, correction of physical planning inadequacies,
reformation of local government machinery for efficient management of towns and cities responsibility and better
involvement of states in urban matters. The creation of a federal ministry responsible for housing and urban
development and co-coordinating urban policy was also put in place.
The structure of the Fourth National Development Plan (1981-1985) was not entirely different from the
third national development plan. However, it noted the role of physical planning as a tool for achieving national
development objectives. The plan further recognized that regional and environmental planning were not fully
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entrenched in the planning and management of the urban and rural areas, and that the machinery for physical
planning and administration was rudimentary. Attempt to address this flaw was a thoughtful programme on land
reform
The land reform issue was the first attempt at organizing the administration and development of land at the
grassroots was the enactment of the Local Government Reform Law (1976). The law made town and country
planning a Local Government Affair. Thus State Governments established Local Planning Authorities to control
development and initiate planning schemes at the local level. The gains of Town and Country Planning through the
Local Government Reform Law were cut short with the promulgation of the Land Use Decree Number. 6 of 1978.
The Decree, designed to curb land speculation, ease the process of land acquisition by government, co-ordinate and
formulate tenure modernization, has several effects on the practice of Town and Country Planning Law, encouraging
preparation of planning schemes among others. Unfortunately, this law has many flaws; worrisome is the fact that the
Land Use Act has no provision that a state should cause the preparation of master plans, or layout plans in a
designated urban centre. Consequently, private lands are sold out without proper supervision by Town Planning
Authorities thereby reducing them to inconsequential, building approval offices, poorly funded and inadequately
staffed (NITP 1991).
Furthermore, section 3 (a and b) of the Act provides for Estate Surveyors or Land Offices and Legal
practitioners, but not for Town planners on the Land Use and Allocation Committee set up for urban centres.
Development control was further hampered as the law was silent on non-urban areas. Creeping the implementation
of the law is the fact that there was no cadastral or township maps, topographical maps and land use plans for most
Nigerian settlements. By this, appropriate charting and co-ordination of proposed developments into the existing
urban structure are greatly affected. Equally, effective monitoring of the growth and development of cities were made
impossible, since individuals’ still buying and selling land for residential homes on a large scale contrary to the
provision of the Land Use Decree Number 6 of 1978.
Town planning in Nigeria recorded a boost in 1988 with the promulgation of Decree Number 3, which
established the Town Planners Registration Council (TOPREC). The Council inaugurated on November 30th of same
year has as its major duty ‘is to regulate and control the practice of Town and Country Planning in Nigeria and
determine the standard of planning in Nigeria. The enabling law has increased the registration of members and
institutions offering planning courses and drastically reduced the activities of quarks in the profession.
Of not in the trend of development of planning law in Nigeria was the inauguration in February 1991 of the
National Committee on the Review of Nigeria Town and Country Planning Laws by the Federal Government. The
committee comprising various professionals conducted a comprehensive review of the 1946 Town and Country
Planning Law and other related legislations and prepare a new draft law for the country. The report of this committee
gave birth to the Nigerian Urban and Regional Planning Law (NURPL), Decree 88 of 1992. This law is the most
current urban and regional planning law in Nigeria. The importance of this law necessitates the discussion of some of
its vital parts and sections in this paper
While Town Planning in Nigeria for over three decades had essentially been a ‘government tool’, the
formation in 1990 of an Association of Town Planning Consultants (ATOPCON) has been a milestone in planning
practice in Nigeria. The increasing number of Town Planners in professional practice has enhanced the importance of
the profession and increased awareness of the unlimited spheres of coverage of town planning practice in Nigeria.
Planning practitioners are increasingly being consulted in technical, industrial, development studies, environmental
impact assessment, recreational planning and tourism. Others areas that have received boast include; transportation,
physical plan preparation, urban development, management and land use control.
The law has six main parts and 92 sections. Part one deals with types and levels of physical development
plan, the administration, composition and function of each of the levels of planning and execution of duties in
sections 1-26. The second part deals with Development Control. Part 3 deals with ‘additional control in special cases’
that is in sections 64-74. Part four deals with ‘acquisition of land and compensation’ in sections 75 – 78. Part five
deals with ‘improvement area, rehabilitation, renewal and upgrading’ in sections 79-85. Lastly, part six deals with
‘appeals’ from sections 86-92. Going by this decree, Part 6, section 90(1) has repealed the old 946 Town and Country
Planning Law. The implication of this is that the old town and country planning law is now null and void with the
current dispensation.
Part 1(a) of the law spells out the three levels at which physical development plans can be made, or at which
planning can be carried out. These are at the Federal, State and Local Government levels. Each level of planning
carries the identification, “the commission, ‘the Board’, and the ‘Authority’ respectively. By this law, it is now
mandatory for each local government council to have a planning authority, whose duties, among others, is to prepare
and implement: (a) a town plan (b) a rural area plan (c) a local plan (d) a subject plan and the control of development
within their area of jurisdiction other than over federal and the state governments’ land (Part 1 Section 4). More of
the functions of the Authority (or properly call) Local Planning Authority are spelt out in Part 1, Sections 11 and 12
of the law. Furthermore, the functions of he state – “the Board” and the Federal – “the Commission” are spelt out in
Part 1, Sections 6 and 7 respectively.
Development control is an integral part of the master plan. A master plan or a structure plan, on its own, cannot
achieve its goals without development control. The new Decree recognizes this, and as such, empowers the
‘Commission’, ‘the Board’ and the Authority to establish a department known as Development Control Department
(Part II, Section 27). Such department shall be a multi-disciplinary department, charge with the responsibility for
matters relating to development control and implementation of physical development plans (Section 27, subsection 2.
The Control Department at the Federal level (call the Commission) has power over the control of Federal Lands and
Estates. The Control Department at the state levels, call the “Board” has power over the control of state lands and the
Control Department at the local government level (the ‘Authority’)has power over the control of development on all
land within the jurisdiction of the local government (Part II, Section 27 subsections 3, 4 and 5). Part 2 Sections, 28,
29 and 30 made it clear that approval should be sought before any development commences. The law, by its section
29, makes it mandatory for government, and its agencies to obtain approval before commencing any development.
The law also(in sections 31 and 34) gives the planning bodies, be it, the Local Authority, State or Federal, the power
to approve with amendment, or delay approval of an application, or if circumstances so required, reject development
permit completely.
Even though the Control Department has been empowered to delay approval when necessary, the law gives
a time limit for doing this. This should not exceed three months (Part II, Section 34, subsection 4. Very important for
discussion also is Part II, Section 33, which mandates developers to submit to an appropriate control department a
detail environmental impact statement for (a) a residential land in excess of 2 hectares, (b) permission to build or
expand a factory or for the construction of an office building in excess of four floors or 5,000 square meters of a
lettable space, or (c) permission for a major recreational development. The law also regulates the timing of planning
permit, or development permit, gives to a developer. For instance, once a development permit or planning permit has
been issued or given by the planning authority, it remains valid for only two years (Section 35, subsection 2a). Where
a developer fails to commence development within two years, the development permit shall be subjected to
re-validation by the control department that issued the original permit Section 35, subsection 2b). The authority,
which gives planning permit, has power to revoke, altar or amend the permit earlier given by serving of notice of its
intention on the holder (Section 37, subsection1).
Under this law, there is a Planning Tribunal that hears cases relating to planning matters Sections 38 to 40
affirm the establishment and Sections 86 to 89 spell out the composition of the planning Tribunal. There is provision
for an aggrieved developer to appeal against alternation, amendment and revocation of development permit given to
him.
Section 42 spells out conditions under which compensation shall be paid. Similarly, Section 45 states the
conditions under which compensation shall not be paid. By this law, any compensation claim to be made should be
forwarded 29 days after a notice of renovation is served on the developer (Section 43, subsection 2c). Compensation
payable under this section shall be paid not later than 90 days after a claim for compensation had been made. In the
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event of a dispute arising as to the amount of compensation payable to a developer, the dispute may be referred to a
Planning Tribunal (Section 45). If there is an appeal against the decision of a Planning Tribunal in respect of an
amount payable to a developer, than shall lie, as of right, to the high court in the State, or the Federal Capital
Territory, Abuja, as the case may be (Section 46).
On issue of ‘notices’ the Control Department is empowered to serve notice (enforcement notice) to the
owners of structures, where a development has commenced without approval. Such enforcement notices could be
directed to the developer to alter, vary, remove or discontinue (stop order) development. A person, who fails to
comply with the term of an enforcement notice, or disregard a ‘stop work order’ issued and served pursuant to this
decree, will be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding 10,000 Naira (Nigeria money) in
the case of an individual, and in the case of a corporate body, to a fine not exceeding 50,000 Naira (section 59).
Where a developer contravenes the provision of a planning law, the control department shall have the power
requiring the developer to: (a) prepare and submit his building plan for approval or (b) to carry out such alteration to
a building as may be necessary to ensure compliance or (c) to pull down the building or (d) to reinstate the piece of
land to the state in which it was prior to the commencement of building (Section 60). Going by Section 61,
subsection 1, the Control Department shall have the power to serve on a developer, ‘demolition notice’, if a structure
erected by the developer is found to be defective as to pose danger or constitute a nuisance to the complainer and the
public. Notice served pursuant to sub-section 1 of Section 61 shall contain a date not later than 21 days on which the
Control Department shall take steps to commence demolition on the defective structure (Section 61, subsection 2).
After the expiration of the time specified in the notice served under subsection 1 of Section 61 of the decree, the
Control Department shall take such necessary action to effect the demolition of the defective structure (Section 62).
Similarly, Section 63 empowers the authority to be paid by the owner of a demolished structure for the cost of
demolition incurred by the planning authority.
The power under development control in the new dispensation also extend to preservation of existing trees
and or planting of new tress by the imposition of necessary condition (Section 72). Also the Control Department is
empowered to control outdoor advertisement. In other words, if it appears to the Control Department that the amenity
of a part of an area, or an adjoining area, is seriously injured by the condition of a garden, vacant site, or an open
land, the Control Department shall serve on the occupier or owner of such land a notice requiring such step for
abating an injury, as may be specified in the notice to be taken within such period of time as may be specified
(Section 74). The law further stipulates the conditions under which the authority should carry out demolition.
According to section 83, demolition shall not be exercised unless:
(a) The building falls as far below the standards of other buildings used for habitation in the area or that such
building is likely to become a danger to the health of its occupiers or occupiers of adjacent buildings.
(b) The building is in such a state of disrepair or is likely to become a danger to public safety and cannot, at a
reasonable cost be repaired.
(c) Two or more contiguous buildings are badly lay out and so congested that without the demolition of one or
more of them. That part of the improvement area cannot be improved
(d) It is in connection with the provision of infrastructural facilities of the area.
As a follow-up to Decree 88 of 1992 was the amendment of some of its parts and sections now called urban
and Regional Planning (Amendment) Decree No. 18 of 1999. This amendment decree took care of some flaws in the
parent decree – decree 88 of 1992. This decree is the most current planning law being used in conjunction with the
parent decree – decree 88 of 1992 as of today. One thing comes out very clear from the analysis of this current
planning Law (Decree 88 of 1992) in Nigeria and that is the fact that out of its 92 sections, about 47 sections (more
than of the whole law) deal with development control, this is an indication that ‘development control’ as it relates to
land use and development, is a serious and sensitive issue in planning and as such, the law(s) deem it necessary to
treat such issues with an seriousness. However this report will not be complete without saying that the celebrated
new planning law has been put under fire and of course challenged at the Supreme Court in Nigeria for some of its
grey areas. These are issues to be discussed in other papers under study
Government has a duty to enforce its planning laws. This is perhaps the reason why the issues of land, particularly in
developing countries are treated with all seriousness (being one of the most significant human processions). It is
therefore recommended that a type of law that will respect the culture and norms of the people should always be put
in place.
From the historical evolution as presented above, it is clear that the country has surely passed through successive
administrations which have contributed directly and indirectly to the development of planning laws and physical
development in general. As the country develops, there is no doubt that more new dimension will come into the
practice of land planning laws from which the country is bound to learn and improve on its physical development.
Similarly, people play active roles in land and planning issues, particularly when it has to do with decision making
and implementation by their co-operation, or resistance to changes on issues affecting them. Recognizing this fact, it
is therefore the recommendation of this paper that an intensive public participation in land and planning matters
should be put in place while the policy of handpicking a very few vocal members of the communities in representing
and formulation planning laws and policies should be discouraged.
Both the land and planning laws should be incorporated and integrated so that they could adequately supplement one
another for the benefits of the society. Along this line, people should be more educated and enlightened on the use of
laws in regulating, guiding and directing their landed properties for the benefits of all and sundry.
It is also the submission of this paper that in countries like Nigeria, where human demands (for example
demand for the use of land are continuously outstripping the available land resources) government should fully be in
control regulating the use of land. This seems to be one of the best opportunities available for now.
Acknowledgement
I sincerely thank the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners for granting me access to its 1991 Silver Jubilee
Anniversary Publication. The material has been so helpful for the preparation of this article. Also I thank my
numerous lawyer friends whose criticisms have contributed to the article in one way or the other.
References
Ola, C.S. (1984): Town and Country Planning and Environmental Lands in Nigeria. Oxford University Press.
Onibokun, P. (1985): Physical Planning within the Framework of National Development Planning in Nigeria.
Journal of Nigerian Institute of Town Planners 4(5)15-30
Omole, F. K. (1995): Town Planning and the New Planning Order’. In Headline, No. 263, DTL Lagos, Nigeria PP. 3
– 15.
Omole, F. K. (1999): Planning Issues in Nigeria Land Tenure System and the Land Use Act. Frontline/KenOye
Publications Company, Lagos, Nigeria.
Nigeria Institute of Town Planning (NITP) (1991): Twenty five years of Physical Planning in Nigeria, Silver Jubilee
Anniversary Bulletin Published by NITP Silver Jubilee Publications Committee, Nigeria.
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