Land policy Reform and Administration as the Basis for Sustainable Development of the Urban City in Nigeria (A perspective of Lagos State, Nigeria)

An ongoing race for property rights in the Lagos metropolis threatens to overwhelm the planning framework for reconciling economic, environmental and urban reform policy goals. The increasing value of urban land and the lack of consistent rules in allocating public land create incentives to join the race for property rights and to acquire land through any available means. Private actors are moving quickly and aggressively to signal, document, adjudicate, and enforce their claims to property rights in the absence of fully consistent practices. In practice, private actors use the legalization of precarious occupation and fraudu¬lent documentation as the main vehicles in the race for property rights. All these are evident of ineffective land policy and administration in the state and bringing setback to urban development in Nigeria.The paper proffers an insight into the various means by which Land Policy Reform can help redistribute land allocation in Nigeria. It also gives an elaborate outlook on securing land tenure, improving access to land and proper redistribution of land in the Lagos State. The paper highlights ways to enhance tenure security and the impact of greater tenure security on investment sustainability and land market participation. It looks into the principles that affect the functioning of land markets and discusses policies to expand land access, particularly by the poor, by improving the functioning of markets or through direct transfers in the urban cities of Nigeria and lastly, how amendment of the land policy can gives room for equality in land allocation in Nigeria.