Imagine owning land valued at ₦30 million.

You approach a bank for a business loan.

The first question is simple:

"Can we verify your title?"

You present a purchase receipt signed by the village head.

Or a family agreement.

Or perhaps only a survey plan.

The bank declines.

Not because your land has no value.

But because it cannot legally stand behind the loan.

  • It cannot serve as collateral.
  • It cannot attract institutional investors.
  • It cannot be confidently transferred.
  • It cannot easily be insured.

Its value exists only in theory.

The economist Hernando de Soto had a name for this: Dead capital. Wealth that exists physically but cannot function economically. Land you "own" but cannot borrow or loan against. Nigeria is sitting on trillions of naira in dead capital, and most of it is sitting in undocumented land.

Many buyers believe they are saving money by purchasing cheaper undocumented land.

Here's the proof, from one of Nigeria's own billionaires: when Nigerian industrialist Femi Otedola faced his ₦220 billion debt crisis in 2008, his real estate portfolio was one of the first things on the table — flats, land, and property across Lagos, Abuja, and Port Harcourt, alongside stakes in banks and other companies.

It didn't save him from the crisis. But it counted. His holdings could be valued, surrendered, and absorbed into a formal settlement with AMCON, because the title was clean and the paperwork held up under scrutiny.

Undocumented land cannot do that. It cannot be confidently valued in a crisis. It cannot be pledged in growth. When the moment demands liquidity, you cannot sell it, borrow against it, or walk away from it.

For a property that cannot unlock financing, attract investment, withstand legal scrutiny, or give a future buyer confidence, then its economic potential will stay locked away, no matter how many acres you hold.

Dear smart investor, if you must land bank or hold property, make sure you buy into property with a valid title and build only with proper approval.

Because it's disheartening to spend millions, wait for the right moment only to find out the "asset" you've been holding is dead capital…