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The Effect of the Employment of English Forms of Conveyances on Land Transactions in Nigeria

The basic unit of land ownership in Nigeria is the family, and no individual member of the family has any separate and alienable interest in such land} Alienation of family property by way of sale was unknown until the advent of the Europeans, and such alienation by sale began in Lagos around 1872. The first ordinance to provide for the re~stration of instruments affecting land was promulgated in 1883. When alienation by sale began, the conveyances usually were couched in English conveyancing terminology by which representatives of families purported to convey estates in fee simple to the vendees. The interpretation of such deeds had given rise to doubts about the precise nature of the interests acquired by such vendees. On the one hand there is the view that the employment of English conveyancing terminology will convert land formerly held under customary tenure into one under English law since such a transaction is unknown to customary law; while on the other hand there is the view that land held under customary tenure cannot be converted into one under English law by the mere use of English conveyancing terminology. To effect such a conversion, it is argued, an enabling legislation is needed. Judicial pronouncements, far from being helpful, tend to make the confusion more confounded. This is hardly surprising in view of the fact that some judges treat titles to land under English and customary law as one and the same thing.