Public land ownership and urban land management effectiveness in Metropolitan Kano, Nigeria

Rapid urban population expansion in the developing world has created the need for effective land management in urban areas. Effective urban land management is important because of its implication in social and economic development. Public intervention and control of land markets is generally viewed as one of the best means of ensuring the effective management of land. In Nigeria, land was nationalized in 1978 as a means of improving equity in access to it and its management. Studies of the Kano metropolitan area, one of the largest metropolitan areas in the country, indicate that urban land management is characterized by a lack of effectiveness. This paper reviews the factors contributing to the current ineffectiveness in land management in the metropolitan area. In general, the paper notes the need to link recommendations of public ownership of land with requirements necessary for effective management and to contextual issues in the locality where the policy is to be implemented. The paper concludes by recommending that the Kano state government should consider re-evaluating the existing land use control regulations and procedures in the city with a view to introducing a more appropriate and sustainable control system. The paper also recommends that Nigeria should consider liberalizing its land markets as a means of improving land management effectiveness.