The challenge facing Nigeria today is not being tackled at the roots. It seems the symptoms are what those in position of authority are chasing after. It is like chasing shadows. The war between the Fulani cattle rearers and the Beroms, the South-South and the country at large, the various clashes among communities that have led to loss of lives in Nigeria, is all about right to land or claim of ownership of one property or the other. The dichotomy between the North and South is all about right to property. The struggle over resource control is about property right. The call for fiscal federalism is about property right.
The question of state of origin as basis for accessing office and position is about right to property in the country. One would have thought that this so- called National Conference would look critically at this issue and proffer long- lasting solution. The dispute over land and property ownership has been the bane of modern Nigeria.
In the days past, community and family ownership of property had made it difficult for individuals to make final claim to some property. The social setting therefore, encouraged communal land and property ownership. Down the line, the national economy without a well defined right of individual to property ownership, the community continued to set the pace for land and property ownership
Over the years, many that ordinarily would have had access to land that would have yielded some resources for them to live on, were deprived of access to such property. At the national level, the Federal Government took over all the mineral resources in the land but the title to such land comes from the state. This lack of a well defined right to property has become a social malice that is hunting the nation. Each day, hundreds of Nigerians die fighting over one form of property or the other.
The key driver in President Goodluck Jonathan’s transformation agenda is massive investment. This is why the ministries of Commerce and Industry were merged to form the Ministry of Trade and Investment. While it is important to seek to attract foreign direct investment into the country, creating the ministry is not bait for foreign investors to want to come to Nigeria. Globally, investors are interested in places where their return on investments is high. Nigeria certainly qualifies as investors have found out that they reap higher benefit if they invest in Nigeria. The few that have done so have found this to be true. Yet, Nigeria is not a haven to foreign investors.
There must be reasons why they shy away from Nigeria. Many investors out there who speak privately to Nigerians at investment fora are quick to point out that in Nigeria, there is no sanctity of contract and property rights are not clearly defined. Most foreign investors see this as the most inhibiting factor that scares away would-be investors. They are not worried about the lack of infrastructure as is always claimed by those who explain away the Nigeria situation. Shell, Mobil, Chevron, MTN, UACN and others know too well the infrastructural deficiency in the country, yet they invested and are reaping the benefits.
The truth is that both local and foreign investors are wary of investing in Nigeria because the state and its agents have no respect for property rights and sanctity of contract. They are worried that if they invest in Nigeria, their investment can be taken over by the state. The recent termination of Lekki concession agreement by Lagos State Government, the taking over of private banks by the Sanusi-led CBN are examples of such impunity that scare investors away from Nigeria.
Property right, according to Professor Pat Utomi, constitutes a major part of the constitutional arrangement that makes an economy advance. Now, until this entity called Nigeria has a philosophical understanding of what property right means, Nigeria is not going to make any major economic progress.
To say the least, investors are scared and skeptical about Nigeria because there is impunity, and property rights are not guaranteed. Sanctity of contract is a general idea that once parties duly enter into a contract, they must honour their obligations under that contract. Contracts have been breached with impunity by federal and states agents and servants who outrightly disregard or disobey court orders.
Normally, before any foreign investor commits his capital into a project, he will want to be assured that there shall be stability in the investment regime. That is to say, the whole or key aspects of the agreement will be respected by the host state and that the rules of the game will not be changed unilaterally. The foreign investor needs such an assurance not only as a means of ensuring that he realises the expected benefits for his shareholders, but also to convince other sponsors of the project that the project will generate enough capital to pay off their loans and meet their supply requirements. These objectives may only be realised if the terms of the investment agreement are respected by the host state. Hence, for that reason, the principle of sanctity of contract is regarded as one of the most important legal concepts in the investment process.
The federal military government in 1978 promulgated the Land Use Act in which it delegated authority over land allocation to the 36 states and their local governments in an effort to ensure that rural and urban populations had access and secure tenure to land. While the physical land area is under the control of state governments, the minerals contained in such land belongs to the Federal Government in the Mineral Act. While a corporate body or individual seeking land for investment goes to the state to obtain certificate of occupancy, he has to obtain mining lease licence from the Federal Government.
It is this confused and lack of defined property rights that have resulted in the contention between the Federal Government and the states as to who owns what.
Enforcing individual right to property in the Nigerian courts is tortuous, time- wasting as it takes years to get judgments and costly. In most cases, federal agencies without due process encroached on individual property rights. Is Nigeria going to continue like this forever? There must be a break from the past. Nigerians must brace up and do the right thing. A well defined property right rule of engagement is what Nigeria needs, not national conference.
