Tenure Insecurity in Informal Land Delivery System of Lagos State, Nigeria: Causes and Manifestations

Tenure security is necessary for land to serve as a means for generating a livelihood and be a vehicle for investing and accumulating wealth. This is because, when there is a risk of dispossession of land, people are not able to invest in land. This paper examines the causes and manifestations of land tenure insecurity in the informal land delivery system of Lagos State. A qualitative research approach was adopted for the study. Interviews were conducted with representatives of 23 indigenous landholding families (ILFs) in the five Divisions of Lagos State. The data collected were analysed through thematic analysis. The study discovered that security of tenure is highest if possession is taken immediately after purchase and it reduces the longer the period possession is taken after purchase. Other causes of tenure insecurity include counterclaims by other family members, claim by non-members of the family or invasion by external forces such as ajagun gbale, defects in the character of members of the family council, and economic reasons. It was also discovered that the manifestation of tenure insecurity includes sales of land to another person, imposition of payment of security fee, re-purchase of land, re-location to another plot, and refund of purchase consideration. Tenure insecurity increases transactional cost with consequential implications on the attractiveness of real estate as an investment option. There is, therefore, a need to incorporate the informal land delivery system into the formal system and strengthening of institutions that protect and enforce property rights.