Things you should know before buying a land

By Adebisi Mubarak. A
*

ATTENTION PLEASE!!!! *****
****THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW BEFORE YOU
BUY THAT LAND*****
***ASK THE RIGHT QUESTION***
Many people, especially those who are about to
make their first land transaction get confused
when it comes to asking the right questions.In
some cases, intending investors ask questions
like “where is the place?”, “Is it far?” and lots of
other questions.I’ve even had an encounter with
someone who asked for the longitude and
latitude of the land.
While these questions are not out of place and
arise as a result of people trying to be careful so
that they don’t make a financial commitment
they would later regret, wouldn’t it be better if
they knew the right questions to ask?That brings
us to the first question anyone intending to buy
land should ask which is *“what is the status of
the land?”*
****KNOW THE STATUS OF THE LAND****
Before you buy land in Nigeria, it is very
important that you know the status of the land!
Knowing the status of the land you are about to
buy can save you a lot of money and
unnecessary hassles.Imagine buying a piece of
land and erecting a building on it, just for the
government to come some years after, and tell
you to move out, with claims that your building is
illegal because it is sitting on government
property.All these can be prevented if you know
the status of the land you are investing in before
sealing the transaction.This brings us to Land
classification.
****LAND CLASSIFICATION****
Land can be classified as either free or acquired.
A parcel of land is considered free if the
government has not indicated any interest
whatsoever in that land.Such land is safe to buy
because the title on the land can be perfected
without issues.In most cases, such lands will
either have a gazette, a C of O or a governor's
consent.
Now that you understand what it means for land
to be free, you should also know that all lands
that fall within areas that are designated as
urban areas are under government acquisition
until deemed committed or free.
There are two types of acquisition;
1.committed acquisition
2.General acquisition or committed acquisition
A parcel of land is said to be under committed
acquisition when the government has indicated
an intention to use that land for a specific
purpose such as provision of amenities.Such
lands belong to the government and can never
be available for use by individuals.If you
purchase land that is under committed
acquisition, it will be impossible for you to
perfect your land title and you’ll only be
occupying the land until the government comes
to kick you out.
General acquisition: Lands that are under
“general acquisition or “global acquisition can
later be confirmed ‘free’ or ‘committed’.A land
under general acquisition can become free by a
process called ***EXCISION***.
EXCISION is a process whereby the government
releases a portion of an expanse of land that is
not committed. If a parcel of land that was
formerly under acquisition becomes excised, it is
then considered free and becomes *GAZETTED*.
The gazette then becomes the title on the land
and such land is safe to buy because a proper
title can be processed on the land.A second
case where lands under general acquisition can
be released is if an individual purchased a land
that was under acquisition without going through
an excision process.
Such lands can go through another process
called “RATIFICATION” or “REGULARISATION” in
which the land OWNER pays for the land to be
ratified or regularized.The only conditions in this
case are that the land in question must not fall
within a committed area and that the purpose for
which the land was bought does not disrupt the
original plan of the state.
Conditions for ratification may differ from state
to state.
I hope by now you understand the most
important questions to ask when buying land in
Nigeria and the kind of lands you should avoid.
If you got value from this article, please share it
with others, you might just be saving someone
from possible demolition in future.What other
questions do you think first time investors should
ask.
For more info please call Barr. Mubarak on :
08035811533