WHAT IS LAND GAZETTE? AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

I am very sure a lot of people do not know or understand the meaning of a gazette or its importance. This article is to enlighten the public on what a gazette is or what it does.

A government gazette is a periodical publication that records the business and proceedings of a government and has been authorized to publish to the public for legal notices. It is usually established by statute or officials whether by the government or a private party, it is usually considered sufficient to comply with legal requirements for public notice.

Gazette provides a permanent official public record of important statutory and non-statutory notices that can be
used to support legal and other processes, and act as a means of advertising public notices. This is a document that records and expresses the areas the government has given to the family and community to acquire and that the government won’t secure it for any reason with the exception of an appropriate information.

A land gazette is the most confusing document and this is because most people do not understand what it means, most people do not even know what it looks like or its  advantages  and why it is one of the most important document to seek after. A gazzet document is a document that keeps records of  locations or areas the government has acquired or has given out to a community or a family.

Before the Land-Use Act of 1978 was enacted, traditional families who had so much land under their control gave out lands to individuals under a tenancy system for them to use either for fishing or farming while they still maintained control over the portion of the land given to the individual.   These land owners had so much power. After the creation of Lagos Executive Development Board in the 1950s individuals were now able to acquire land from the board directly in exchange for a sum of money. This made the traditional land owners keep some lands for family use and sell some for a sum of money directly to compete with the Lagos executive development board. This system still made the traditional rules powerful having the power to keep or sell any land they desire. It was for this and other reason that the land use decree of 1978 was promulgated vesting all lands in the state to the government.

This made People to directly obtain  land from the Governor of the state thereby issuing a certificate of occupancy to buyers. This system of government permanently reduced the powers of  traditional owners of land because the land use act empowered the government to compulsorily acquire land for public purpose. Any land acquired by the governor of a state is termed URBAN  land and any area termed as an URBAN land will be or is published in the official Government book also known as the Gazette and the rest of the land that is not acquired is given back to the community where it was acquired from.

THERE ARE TWO GENERAL THINGS A GAZETTE DOES

It determines the area of a land.It gives the coordinates e.g. the Beacon Numbers that separates where the Land given to the family starts and stops.

HOW DO YOU KNOW AN ORIGINAL GAZETTE

The Cover of the Gazette must include the Number of the Gazette, Page of the Gazette and Volume of the Gazette;

It must also include the Date and Location it was issued;

The first page of a Gazette must have the Logo of the Country and the inscription of the title LAGOS STATE OF NIGERIA OFFICIAL GAZETTE, Underneath it must have the Number, Volume, Page, Date and the Location it was signed into law;

The Inner pages will show the description of the Area or Village excised and the number of Acres or Hectares of land excised to the Village and also where the boundaries of the beacons start and stops.

A Gazette is very important when buying a property to determine if such property is free from government acquisition and the best way to know this is to get a registered surveyor to help you get proper information at the surveyor general office to confirm what location the property is and whether or not it falls within the gazette. A gazette not properly verified before the purchase of a land might lead to demolition or acquisition of such property by the government.

Contact huiosrealtors@gmail.com for further advise on a land gazette or any other land matters.


Sourced- Ibejulekkilawyer