''Amodu Tijani v Secretary, Southern Nigeria'' 9212 AC 399, 921UKPC 80, also known as the Apapa land case, was a decision of the

Judicial Committee of the Privy Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is the highest court of appeal for the Crown Dependencies, the British Overseas Territories, some Commonwealth countries and a few institutions in the United Kingdom. Established on 14 August ...

concerning

land title In property law, title is an intangible construct representing a bundle of rights in a piece of property in which a party may own either a legal interest or equitable interest. The rights in the bundle may be separated and held by different part ...

Background and lower courts

The controversy at issue in the case arose in 1913, when the colonial government of Nigeria appropriated land in

Apapa Apapa is a Local Government Area in Lagos, Nigeria located to the west of Lagos Island. Apapa contains a number of ports and terminals operated by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), including the major port of Lagos State and Lagos Port Co ...

, pursuant to the Public Land (Acquisition) Ordinance 1903, in order to give it to European merchants. The land was occupied by the Oluwa chiefly family of

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

, under the leadership of Amodu Tijani. Tijani argued before the Nigerian courts that he was owed compensation for the expropriation, because the land belonged to him personally. His claim was unsuccessful. This case discussed the English doctrine of tenure. More of the background of this case were discussed by ''Alonso'' and ''Adadi'' in their view of the English doctrine of tenure. Their view was based on the Uganda view of the doctrine of tenure and that of the English doctrine of tenure.

Privy Council

The Privy Council, reversing the judgments below, held that although the territory of the

Lagos Colony Lagos Colony was a British Empire, British colonial possession centred on the port of Lagos in what is now southern Nigeria. Lagos was Lagos Treaty of Cession, annexed on 6 August 1861 under the threat of force by Commander Beddingfield of HMS ...

had been

ceded The act of cession is the assignment of property to another entity. In international law it commonly refers to land transferred by treaty. Ballentine's Law Dictionary defines cession as "a surrender; a giving up; a relinquishment of jurisdicti ...

to the imperial Crown in 1861 under the Lagos Treaty of Cession and the Crown thereby acquired

allodial title Allodial title constitutes ownership of real property (land, buildings, and fixtures) that is independent of any superior landlord. Allodial title is related to the concept of land held "in allodium", or land ownership by occupancy and defense ...

to the land, the Crown held only a "limited right of administrative interference" with the land and was required to pay compensation for using it. Tijani, as the leader of the community living on the land, held

usufruct Usufruct () is a limited real right (or ''in rem'' right) found in civil law and mixed jurisdictions that unites the two property interests of ''usus'' and ''fructus'': * ''Usus'' (''use'', as in usage of or access to) is the right to use or en ...

uary rights on the community's behalf. The Privy Council's decision established that land rights at

customary law A legal custom is the established pattern of behavior within a particular social setting. A claim can be carried out in defense of "what has always been done and accepted by law". Customary law (also, consuetudinary or unofficial law) exists wher ...

could be enforced by imperial courts. Kent McNeil argues that ''Tijani'' follows a

presumption In law, a presumption is an "inference of a particular fact". There are two types of presumptions: rebuttable presumptions and irrebuttable (or conclusive) presumptions. A rebuttable presumption will either shift the burden of production (requir ...

that

property right The right to property, or the right to own property (cf. ownership), is often classified as a human right for natural persons regarding their possessions. A general recognition of a right to private property is found more rarely and is typicall ...

s at

private law Private law is that part of a legal system that governs interactions between individual persons. It is distinguished from public law, which deals with relationships between both natural and artificial persons (i.e., organizations) and the st ...

continue in force despite a change in

sovereign ''Sovereign'' is a title that can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word is borrowed from Old French , which is ultimately derived from the Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to ...

control over territory. Ben Silverstein calls ''Tijani'' "perhaps the most important of the Privy Council's decisions on native title".

References

Sources

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External links

* {{cite BAILII, litigants=Amodu Tijani v Secretary, Southern Nigeria, court=UKPC, year=1921, num=80, format=1 1921 in Nigeria Judicial Committee of the Privy Council cases Law of Nigeria

Background and lower courts

Privy Council

See also

References

Sources

External links