Challenges of Land Governance in Nigeria: Insights from a Case Study in Ondo State

This paper presents the findings of a case study on land governance in the Ondo State of Nigeria. A conceptual framework based on concepts of organizational theory is presented to guide the study. The empirical part of the study focuses on two cases of land registration and two cases of land acquisition. A participatory mapping method called “Process Net-Map” was used to identify the actors and the processes involved. The study shows that the costs of land registration are around 10 percent of the land value if landowners have access to intermediaries and if they can pay for privately provided land services in cash. Otherwise, landowners may incur much higher costs due to governance problems. In the case of land acquisition by the state, the study found that major problems do not arise because of a lack of land registration, but rather because of governance problems involved in the disbursement of compensation funds. The study discusses the implications of the findings for land governance reforms in Ondo State.