The British Colonial Land Policy and the Development of Plantation Agriculture in Colonial Southwestern Nigeria

The main thrust of this paper is to critically analyse the impact of the colonial land policy of the British on plantation agriculture in colonial Southwestern Nigeria. Although land legislation had been introduced as far back as the late 19th century, such as the Public Lands Ordinance of 1876 later renamed the Public Lands Acquisition Ordinance of 1917, it was vigorously pursued with the imposition of colonial rule in the period between 1900 and 1960. It argued that the introduction of land policy by the British in order to achieve her economic objective in Nigeria led to the commercialisation of rural land tenure in Southwestern Nigeria in particular. This English land law has continued to influence decisions concerning development of national land law, land policies and practices in post-colonial Nigeria. The methodological approach adopted in this paper is historical, thematic and qualitative. Sources of information include primary and secondary materials derived from archives, oral interviews and extant literature.