Lawyer harps on need to tackle inadequacies in Land acquisitions

The managing partner of Prince Joel and Associates, Prince William-Joel has said the difficulties inherent in real estate transactions and land acquisitions in Nigeria need to be tackled appropriately.

According to him, that has to be done within the right context in order to eliminate all forms of inadequacies and mishaps relating to property and land acquisitions.

He said the drive to get this done motivated him to write and publish a book titled ‘Compilation of Articles on Law and Property in Nigeria: Simplified’.

The launching of the book, which was hosted by the British Nigeria Law Forum (BNLF) in collaboration with Prince Joel and Associates, took place at Rydges hotel, Gloucester road, Kensington, London recently.

In his keynote presentation, the author said the peculiarities and emerging trends in the thriving real estate sector in Nigeria motivated the necessity to put together resource materials on varying subject matters of the real estate practice in Nigeria, with focus on addressing industrial challenges.

The book which was divided into four segments: land purchase and transaction, land verification and documentation, general legal advice, and general information on real estate is a handbook for property transactional knowledge recommended for real estate practitioners, financiers, developers, lawyers and investors.

He said: “My 15years experience in real estate exposed me to the realities of land/property acquisition and ownership, hence the need to rectify misguided notions about financing property investment in Nigeria.”

William-Joel said investors should know and understand their rights on land and property matters before acquisition. He added that investors should contact real property law firm with grounded expertise when buying land or property in Nigeria.

His words: “It must be noted that certificate of statutory or customary right of occupancy issued under the Land Use Act, 1978 cannot be said to be conclusive evidence of any right or valid title to a land. It is, at best, only evidence that is accepted until being challenged and proven otherwise.

William-Joel, in his book, extensively discussed methods of acquiring land in Nigeria.

Credit: Guardian