The Executive Director of the Development Specs Academy, Abuja, Okey Ikechukwu while shedding light on the topic of land ownership in the South East of Nigeria, has debunked the idea that Igbos deliberately restrict land sales to outsiders.
During an interview on ARISE NEWS on Sunday, he made it clear that such an idea is a misconception, instead, the challenges stem from broader systemic issues such as limited presence of national infrastructure which make the South East less attractive for business and in turn for land acquisition by non-indigenes.
Ikechukwu pointed out that for someone to invest in land, there must be a clear economic incentive, such as access to markets, industrial activities, or infrastructure like rail systems and ports.
For instance, in Lagos, Igbos and other Nigerians frequently purchase land due to the immense business opportunities available. In contrast, the absence of similar economic prospects in the South East diminishes the likelihood of non-indigenes seeking to buy land there.
“Why would anybody come to the South East to buy land? If I’m a non-Easterner there’s no reason why I would go there to buy land. Quite frankly, what for? What business would warrant my going there to buy land?” Ikechukwu asked rhetorically.
“If you go to the east, you don’t have too many people who are not easterners who have land. And the question is, why is it that people have land elsewhere? Because there’s business elsewhere. Tell me what federal establishments do you have in Enugu, in all over the southeast that will make me leave my place in Yoruba land to come and buy land? Is it to be a villager?
“So we must also see the connection between national infrastructure, national institutions, national political headquarters, etc. The limited absence of that in the southeast makes the land there totally unattractive for anybody to procure. Why are Igbos buying up lands in Lagos? Because they need it.”
He added, “Why will I leave Kano to come and buy land in Imo state or in Anambra state? Am I on drugs? There is nothing going on in those places. So the political economy of the Nigerian state is also partly responsible for the things we are blaming on other things.”
He added that another factor contributing to the perception of exclusivity is the communal land ownership system prevalent in the South East. In many cases, land is collectively owned by families or communities, making individual sales complex and often contentious. Negotiating land transactions typically involves multiple parties, some of whom may refuse outright, further complicating the process.
He said, “The communal ownership thing presents a problem from the angle of having land that’s big enough for anything big. So to do something you find negotiations with three or four families. Somebody may even refuse.
But as for a conscious deliberate attitude towards outsiders, no. Not at all. Let’s look around.”
Okechukwu also highlighted that land scarcity exacerbates the issue. The South East has a high population density and limited arable land. This scarcity has led many families to reserve land for agricultural use, family inheritance, or even burial plots, leaving little available for outright sale.
He stated, “The southeast is land choked. The land is not available. You go to most places in the southeast, you find that people bury in their compounds. My parents are no more. One of my sisters is no more. They are buried in the old family compound. My cousin has a section of his land he uses for that. So there are other things to be understood. First the land is not available. Where it is available and you want to buy it, you buy.”
He therefore emphasised, “Let’s not mistake an economically and socio-political determined variable, let’s not take it to be a conscious conspiracy. Let’s not delude ourselves. There is no incentive for any Nigerian outside the southeast to go there and buy land. There’s incentive in Abuja. There is incentive all over the place because if you buy you make a lot of money with it.
“The rentals in Lagos, the purchases in Lagos for the same reason. So let’s contextualise it properly and end this controversy. There is nothing about outsiders. There is just no land. So we need not drive a narrative that does not exist. If you say that you don’t have too many non-Easterners owning land in the South East that’s absolutely correct.”
Melissa Enoch
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