The head of practice, Nuel Mark & Partners Estate Surveyors and Valuers, Emmanuel Mark, has called for urgent intervention to address issues of Right of Way, land administration, valuation, and compensations for infrastructural development projects.

Mark, who is also a right of way professional, Estate Surveyor (ESV.), made the assertion while delivering an address at the 69th Educational Conference of the International Right of Way Association (IRWA) in Denver, Colorado in the United States speaking on the topic titled “The Right of Way Milieu – Challenges to Infrastructure Development in Nigeria”.

He stated that as Nigeria will continue to grow in population with a population of 45.1m in 1960 and today has risen to over 221m and is projected to be over 400m in 2050, the urban population has also increased with Lagos State of just 7 million in 2020 now projected to be over 15 million while Port Harcourt, the Oil and Gas capital of Nigeria has a population of just over a million in 2000 but now projected to be over 3.4 million, Nigeria needed to invest about $2.3 trillion over the next 30 years to close its infrastructural deficit (about $150 billion annually) which is necessary to bridge the existing gap.

He however observed that the major problem with infrastructural development is the acquisition of the Right of Way necessary for infrastructural development projects as the country has not been able to develop any fit-for-purpose land administration, valuation, compensation procedure, and mechanisms to meet challenges of compensation valuation as demanded today saying that the current Land Use Act needs to undergo urgent review and reforms.

In his well-articulated address which focused on right of way acquisition as a significant challenge for infrastructure development in Nigeria, the renowned expert who holds a PhD degree in Environmental Management and a law degree observed that some of the major challenges of Right of Way (ROW) in Nigeria bordered on the manner of revocation or acquisition of land by the governor of a state after notice or consultation saying that the term “Revocation” of Right of Occupancy implies the fact that landowners has occupancy right that can be revoked hence should be duly acknowledged and compensated.

He also made a case for compensation for economic trees and crops as proscribed while bemoaning that no priority compensation is stated in the existing Land Use Act for the acquisition of fallow land.

Other challenges according to him include issues of delayed payment as provided by the law stating that the Land Use Act did not establish a deadline for payment of compensation. He also hinted at the challenge of building structures along the ROW to receive compensation for land which has created additional bottlenecks

On what can be done to address these issues, Mark stated that there is a need to provide a simple guideline on how land and property can be compulsorily acquired by the government and also provide a clear definition of public purpose to allow for judicial review of the State Governor’s expropriate decision.

He went further to state that government and developers need to conduct with EIA/SIA before takeover so as to deal with issues associated with project impact on Land Rights and Management while arguing that all enabling laws must be amended to make compensation payable not only for unexhausted improvements on land but only for the land itself as a store of value. He went further to espouse that the value of land must be considered and the required compensations should be paid before possession.

He said “I have always noted that Right of Way Acquisition should not just be the power of government to “Revoke and Acquire” but rather the process by which that, power is exercised. In this regard, members of the International Right of Way Association (IRWA), Chapter 84, Nigeria, and Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESVS), will continue to advocate for a just process that will include ‘Consultation and Negotiation’ in the Acquisition process in Nigeria”.

“Therefore, the process, in my opinion, must include Consultations, Negotiation, Publicity (gazette and advert), Valuation and Submission of Claims, Payment of Compensation and Possession, including Dispute Resolution” he concluded

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