2.3 Lesson notes on Land Tenure in Kake-Bakundu

Aims and Objectives
To provide basic information and knowledge about aspects of land tenure in Kake so that when children leave school and want to acquire land they will know the procedure.

Pupil's Characteristics
Class six (10-12 years). Most children are strangers whose parents are merely settlers in Kake, while a few are natives having more rights to the land of Kake.

Introductory Classroom Work
Our village is divided into two main parts, natives and strangers. Natives are the Bakundu of Kake origin while the strangers are Mettas, Ibos, Tiv, Ngolo's etc.
- Let the natives of the class stand. Count them.
- Let strangers also stand, count them too. Compare the results.

Questions: How does a stranger obtain a plot to farm or to build his house? (Allow a native child to respond).

Who has more right over the land of Kake - Native or Stranger?

Since there is no more forest but only farmland, what do people who have no farms normally do in order to have a farm to work on? ("Two Party" system, or an agreement on transfer of ownership of farm etc.).

Practical Work

- Children are divided into three groups with leaders (A, B, C).

- Group A to find out all information about acquiring a piece of "bush" (unfarmed land). This group is directed to the chief of the village and is given a small questionnaire by the teacher.

- Group B to find out all information about acquiring a farm on "pledge".

- Group C to find out all information about working as a tenant on "two party".

These groups are given a guided questionnaire by the teacher, and directed to special persons for useful information relating to the subject of their topic.

Classroom-Follow-Up Lessons of Practical Work and Observation

- The different groups at teacher's request present their findings to the class, the other groups pay attention. Teacher records on the blackboard useful ideas supplied by the children.

- Teacher describes the trend of land tenure which was practiced in former times so that children can compare the past and the present and especially now that the only forest is "Government Reserve".

- Children see the importance of land like the swamps which are being wasted in those days but are now regarded as a source of land for rice farming etc.

- This topic presents many new words in English for children, like landlord, tenant, agreement, contract.

Evaluation Procedure

- The area of the community is mapped out - showing the area that is still forest but under the control of Government; the area occupied by swamps and good for rice growing; the areas that are farm land and people's property and which you can only get by very tough negotiation.

- Children draw this map in their exercise books including the short blackboard summaries which were written up by the teacher during group work.

- Children take note of the many words they came across in the course of the lesson - agreement, receipt, contract, landlord, tenant, reserve, tenure, pledge and rent.