Demystifying the Land Question in Housing Development: The Nigeria Example

SUMMARY Expectation and aspiration of African countries on land reform have been frustrated by weak implementation and the land question has remained persistent and politically sensitive. Nigeria as a nation is not left out of this dilemma. In the light of the above, this paper has examined the nature of land issues for housing development in Nigeria. It has highlighted the concept of land and housing development; reviewed the traditional land tenure and the 1978 Land Use Act; assessed the level of land availability, land affordability, security of tenure and cost of land transaction based on best practices allowed by the 1978 Land Use Act. The paper concluded by providing ameliorative measures for solving the identified problems of land accessibility for housing development in Nigeria.