An Examination of the Problem and Prospects of the Administration of Ground Rent
Chapter One
Objectives of the Study
The general objective of the study is to find out the problem of ground rent administration in the plateau state, with a view to proferring solutions and strategies through which they could be put to a stop. The specific objectives of the study therefore include:
- To establish whether land owners’ lack of compliance causes a low rate of returns from ground rent.
- To find out whether lack of staff training is the cause of poor administration of ground rent.
- To ascertain if ground rent administration will be more efficient when separated from the civil service.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
CONCEPTUAL DEFINITIONS OF LAND AND GROUND RENT
Human society is greatly dependent on land as such the foundation of shelter, food and employment is associated to land. It is the nexus between land and economic prosperity and development of a nation and individual that probably informed the constitutional provision on ground rent charges, and inviolability of private property rights in various countries [kent, 2017]. The importance attached to land has brought about various definitions of land under different disciplines. The word ‘’Land’’ according to [15] from the legal standpoint, has been viewed as any portion of the earth’s surface over which ownership rights could be exercised. These rights relate not just to the surface area but also to things such as trees, which have been attached by man and to those objects of value that lie either above or below the surface.
From the layman view, Land could be seen as the physical structure on which he stands moves and carries out his activities while to the Lawyer, it is not just the physical but also the quantum of rights which can be exercised over the physical structure which constitutes the foundation and material of ownership. To an Estate Surveyor and Valuer, it is the totality of all artificial and natural resources above and below the surface of the earth in which bundle of rights and privileges are exercised [malibou et tal 2011].
Volume 3 section 3 of the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria page 1772 as cited by [okoja, 2013] defined Land as an immovable fixed property or Land includes the physical soil and everything attached to the land or chattels but does not include mineral. But in its simplest form, land has been defined as the surface part of the earth above the sea [okoja 2013]. But this appears to be rather restrictive definition because it recognizes only the immediately visible aspect of land. No matter from which concept land is viewed, its standing quality however gives a particular character to the decision making units within which all positive decisions are taken for the use of land, thus suggesting that the economic prosperity of country and individual is closely linked with the richness of land, thus rent.
In Nigeria, land takes up importance as a commodity for daily use for many purposes. For several decades, land has continued to influence the lives of Nigerians socially, economically and politically. In the process of using land, ground rents are paid by the holder as may be imposed by the government. This shows that land constitutes and is taken as very sensitive asset whose administration must be based on meaningful policy decisions to benefit most Nigerians. Land is the most important resources in Nigerian housing development. However policies affecting it such as ground rent charges and its frequent revisions has affected majority of Nigerians.
[wood, 1999] and [mcken 2001] recognized land as a primary consequence in the economy of any country whether it is regarded in its pure form as one of the given assets of nature or as manipulated by the hand of man by development of various kinds. Land has about it a static quality that by its distinctiveness has a significant bearing upon the manner in which decisions about its use. On the other hand, the concept of ground rent arrangement is English in origin. Its original purpose was an attempt by the feudal tenants to put themselves in the role of the lords over lower tenants. The term ground rent is currently applied to a lease for land upon which the tenant constructs a building while the landlord continues to own the land, the tenant owns all of the structure and pays rent for the ground only [goldy, 2002].
A ground rent is a form of lease in which unimproved land is leased for a long term for purposes of improvement by the tenant. It is an agreement between a Landlord and a tenant, where the tenant pays for the right using a plot of land. With ground rent, the tenant owns a property on the land. It is rent which the lessee of a government land pays in order to retain his holdings [genmani 1993]. Therefore, ground rent on government lease and certificate of occupancy are usually reviewed upwards periodically, say five or ten years as the case may be.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Methodology
Methodology refers to the framework of activity or operations of the research. Research being an activity centred endeavour requires not just the mere writing of sound theoretical and methodological insights but also the practical effort of designing instruments, collecting data and analyzing the data so collected (Oguonu and Anugwom, 2006: 33).
The methodology of this work involves the following:
Type of Study:
The research is a survey study. The design of the survey is pre-determined programme for collecting and analysing the information needed to satisfy the study
Data Gathering Instruments:
For the complete realization of the objectives of this work, primary and secondary sources would be used for gathering data.
The Primary Sources of Data
The primary source of data used in this research are oral interview and questionnaire. Oral interview and questionnaire will be utilized to obtain information from plateau State Board of Internal Revenue staffs and some literate tax payers in the State.
The Secondary Sources of Data
The secondary sources of data here refer to data from documents. Baker (1999: 81), refers to documents “as copies of studies that the organization or others have done about some aspects of the organization‟s work.”
Population of the Study
The population of the study are members of staff of Plateau State Board of Internal Revenue and some taxpayers in Plateau State.
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA PRESENTATION, FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
Data Presentation
The aim of this chapter is to subject to examination and analysis the information gathered from the respondents.
The questionnaire was designed using the five point Likert scale to make the questions easy to be understood.
A total of one hundred and fifty (150) questionnaire were issued to the respondents. Twenty were issued to senior staffs while seventy-seven were issued to the junior staffs of Plateau State Board of Internal Revenue, while forty-eight questionnaire were issued to literate members of the land owners of Plateau State.
CHAPTER FIVE
RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION
Recommendations.
Based on the observations, findings and analysis made by the study, the following recommendations have been made:
- The government of Plateau State should increase the budgetary allocations made to the Board of Internal Revenue of the state to enable it carry out the task of tax administration. Lack of compliance has been the greatest setback of the Revenue Board; as a result ground rent Administration will be rejuvenated with adequate funding.
- The Board of Internal Revenue of Plateau State should put in place a scheme of training and retraining of staffs in order to achieve efficient and effective service delivery. No establishment or organization can attain the desired level with a crop of staffs deficient in the required skill to execute the functions of the organization.
- The government of Plateau State should provide the necessary infrastructures for the people to enable them adopt positive attitudinal change towards tax payment.
- Land owners regard infrastructures as signs of good governance and judicious utilization of resources.
- Effective checks should be adopted to obviate further leakage of revenues. It has been established that the dwindling state of revenue is due to the fraudulent and other sharp practices of the staffs of the State Internal Revenue Service, With Proper supervision and rendition of returns corruption among the staffs will be meaningfully reduced.
- The authorities of Plateau State Internal Revenue should mount an aggressive public enlightenment programme to educate the land owners accordingly. Use of Radio jungles, Bill Boards and sensitization at the rural areas should be adopted as means of reminding land owners that one of the obligations of a good citizen is timely payment of taxes.
- A package of incentives has to be lined up for staffs of the State Revenue Board as this would help to bring out the best in them by boosting their morale and enhancing their interest and productivity.
- Above all, the administration of tax in the state should be made autonomous. This is one of the ways efficiency and effectiveness would be enhanced. The bureaucratic bottleneck of the Civil Service is a cog in the wheel of development of ground rent Administration in Plateau State. The Revenue Service should therefore, be given autonomy for better performance.
Conclusion
The work was embarked on to establish problem and prospect of ground rent administration in plateau state; to find out whether lack of staff training is the cause of poor revenue collection; to determine whether absence of infrastructures is responsible for poor revenue ground rent; to find out if poor tax collection is because of pronounced poverty among the taxpaying public and to ascertain if ground rent Administration will be more efficient when separated from the civil service.
The study however, discovered that lack of compliance is a great problem and the cause of low rate of returns ground rent.
The study uncovered that lack of the necessary training of staffs is the cause of poor revenue collection in the state.
The study has equally shown that the poverty of Plateau State Land owners in not responsible for the poor tax collection, but the corrupt tendencies of the staffs of State Revenue Board.
The research discovered that ground rent Administration will be more efficient if separated from the state civil service because of the latter‟s inherent bureaucratic bottlenecks.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
BOOKS
- Abba,A .E. (2006), Public Finance and Government Budgeting in Nigeria. Enugu: John Jacob‟s Classic Publishers Ltd.
- Agu, S.U.(2010) “Tax Policy Reforms in Nigerian: Challenges and Prospects in Onah, R.C. and Oguonu, C.N. (eds) Readings in Public Administration. Nsukka: University of Nigeria Press .
- Alimi, A.R. (2007), Public Sector Account and Finance. Lagos: Corporate Publishers Ventures.
- Babbie, E. (2007), The Practice of Social Research (11th edition). Belmont, C. A:
- Wordsworth Cengage Learning.
- Baiyewu, F.A.(2000), Nigerian Taxation: A Practical Approach. Egbe Kogi; Wiloti International Publishers Ltd.
- Baker, T.L. (1999), Doing Social Research, Boston: McGraw Hill College
- Bhatia, H.L.L (2008), Public Finance (25th edition). New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House PVT. Ltd.
- Bird. R. and Oldman, O. (2000), Tax Administration in Underdeveloped Countries.
