The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) has called on the Federal Government to extend its anti-corruption fight to land acquisition.
Mr Auwal Musa, Executive Director of the centre, made the call on the sidelines of the launch of a proposal on “Youths Combating Land Corruption in Africa’’, on Thursday in Lagos.
Musa told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that when lands for agricultural produce are taken away from the people, it rendered them jobless and as a result they became poor and could resort to violence.
He said that the people whose lands were taken for purpose of development were not well compensated.
Musa cited the case of Shiroro Dam where the land owners received equivalent of 20 dollars.
He said that in Nigeria like many other African countries, land was sold to only rich public officials who could bribe to acquire it.
He said that in some cases, women were not given the opportunity to acquire land and also land grabbers were ready to forcefully take it over.
“This is sad. Government must begin to tackle the challenge.
“Nigerians who have applied for land allocation in spite of meeting necessary requirements, are denied access to get the land.
“In the last 10 years, Nigerians have experienced extortion, forgery, cloning of land documents and allocation of land without due process in order to legitimately acquire land or its certification, ‘’ Musa said.
The CISLAC executive director said that in some instance, indigenous land owners offered gratification in order not to lose their land which was their source of livelihood.
He said Nigerians like order African countries had remained poor in spite of its numerous natural resources and skilled manpower which could be driven into prosperity.
Musa said that the government must begin to address the challenges of land corruption through policy and legislative intervention to reduce crime and poverty.
He urged anti-corruption agencies to seize any land acquired through bribery as it was the duty of CISLAC to ensure that land ownership was not restricted to the rich, particular gender or group.
He said that discussions from participants at the launch would form and develop stronger proposals to make land management in Africa better.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that nom fewer than 30 youths from Africa, not beyond 25 years of age, participated at the launch to formulate a policy that would curb land corruption. (NAN)
