Land Predation And Socio-economic Dislocation In Kuda-Kenga Communities Of Panda Development Area, Nasarawa State, Nigeria
Joshua Oji Zachariah, Elias Chukwuemeka Ngwu
Keywords: Land appropriation, land holdings, rural communities, social change
Abstract
This work explores how large-scale land appropriation for the establishment of multi-agribusiness companies engendered socio- economic dislocation among the rural population of Kuda-Kenga communities in Nasarawa state, Nigeria. Basically, it is a practical application of the axiomatic suppositions of Nozick’s Entitlement Theory of Justice in explaining social tension and potential conflict situations in the study area in connection with the topic under investigation. To this effect, the study drew data from face-to-face key informants interviews (KIIs) and relevant documents (Land Use Act of 1978, official communiqués) which were analysed using Grounded Theory and Narrative methods of data analysis. It anchored its arguments on the aforementioned theory. The study found that between 2006 and 2022, over 3000 hectares of farmland in agrarian communities of Kuda-Kenga were appropriated in contravention of Nozickian principles of justice in acquisition of [land]holdings for the purpose of establishing multi-agribusinesses. To the host communities, this has triggered social tension: dissatisfaction, low level of trust, lack of optimism and protests for fear of losing their ancestral land upon which they depend. The study concludes that the presumed developmental rationale for appropriating and persistent control of the land holdings by external forces other than the natives has not, in real terms positively transformed the lives of the rural population. Thus, the main source of income and livelihood of the locals had been truncated and the ruralbcommunities are severely affected; a situation with the potential of degenerating into social uprising in the area.
Author Biography
Joshua Oji Zachariah
Department of Political Science, Federal University Wukari, PMB 1020, Taraba State, Nigeria
Email: ozachjosh@gmail.com; zachariahjo@fuwukari.edu.ng
Elias Chukwuemeka Ngwu
Department of Political Science, and Peace & Conflict Studies Unit (SGS), University of Nigeria, Nsukka