Generally, properties are acquired for various reasons; there are persons who acquire properties to secure a home, office, or to build an establishment. It is imperative to say that landed properties aren’t acquired for specific reasons, as they may be acquired for diverse purposes. For many Nigerians, buying land and land properties may not only be considered an investment decision but also a security decision; therefore, scarcely do we rarely purchase land properties because we want to utilise the space or investment for specific reasons, though this may often shape the objective for the procurement of landed assets. Land is, however, acquired in the contemporary and even in legacy as security, bought with the intention to build something to leap forward from. So basically, most Nigerians yet to invest in landed properties are seen as unprotected and defenceless. Nigerians buy land because of uncertainty, which makes people value certainty, so most Nigerians’ assets that are land-related are treated as an “umbrella for rainy days”.
The concept of landed property being an investment to fall back on has long been a common factor amongst Nigerians. The legacy of land and land properties as inheritance from our predecessors, the struggle for land ownership, and the assumption of the acquisition of land as a means of securing wealth. In the words of Prof. Ezekiel Olukayode Idowu, Nigerian landowners should have clear relationships and intentions in the use of land to invest and create and accumulate wealth. Furthermore, Yusuf Yahaya, in writing the CBN’s economic and financial review, examined the Land Use Act’s relationship with housing and tenure security in Nigeria. For many Nigerians from the inception of time in promulgating legacy and in promulgating the transfer of wealth between generations, parents buy lands and transfer them to their children, which may eventually lead to a transfer of property to generations to come. This is why property can be described beyond the investment bridge. It carries heritage and continuity.
There are factors worthy of consideration as regards the purchase of land and property in contemporary Nigeria, some of which include location; certain areas are more developed (cheap plots far from meaningful infrastructure may not appreciate adequately), and, in the same vein, would have sustainable investment and property procurement qualities and long-term value, whether there’s legal title to the property, capital appreciation, or the rental income. However, with due consideration of all essentials to be considered in property acquisition, where proper documentation and registration are not done on the land, it cannot be considered a real asset. In Lagos, land and property in general have been known to appreciate significantly over the years for decades. Goodfellow and Owen’s research describes Lagos property rights overlapping formal and informal claims, such as claims involving ‘omo nile’ groups. In purchasing any land property, the buyer should enquire into the root of the title, ensure there has been proper documentation, and determine whether or not there have been encumbrances. During one of the interviews at the University of Oxford by Olly Owen, land was described as “the crude oil of Lagos”
