The Colonial and Post-colonial Judicial Positions on Land Boundary Matters in Yorubaland (1946-2006): A Retrospective Explanation

The imposition of colonialism in Yorubaland impacted greatly so many areas of life of the people. One crucial area which is the focus of the present author is land boundary matters which attracted litigation both during the colonial and post-colonial era. Each time a decision was made in land boundary case, a number of existing social institutions are redefined. The present effort is an attempt to look at the institution of land holding a manifold system which include: land tenure system, land allocation and distribution as well as land utilization amongst others. The paper focuses on a few of the things redefined in purposively selected land boundary cases which attracted litigation. The study, using these cases examines the impact of the entire gamut of the institution of land holding bringing to fore the impact of colonial and post-colonial judicial decisions in those cases on the communities and the institutions so affected. The study adopts qualitative methods of data gathering and analysis. Data used were drawn from both primary and secondary sources. Primary data include archival documents deposited at the National Archives, Ibadan and a few private repertoire. Oral interviews were also conducted with resource persons drawn from legal luminaries and jurists directly involved in land boundary matters. Secondary data were also drawn from published articles in books and journals. Findings revealed that colonial and post-colonial judicial positions left a lot of indelible impact on land boundary matters and affiliated institutions across Yorubaland in the period of study. The author here concludes that land boundary dispute has therefore remained trans-generational due majorly to the approach of the Courts in their various interventions.