Nigeria, July 19 -- There is an old saying across many African communities: when two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers. In Northeast Nigeria, however, another truth quietly competes with it: when neighbours quarrel over land, everyone inherits the conflict. One of my many profound takeaways during my learning trip to the northeast.

Housing, Land and Property (HLP) disputes are rarely about land alone. Beneath every contested boundary lies a story of memory, identity, belonging, displacement, inheritance, dignity and survival. A farmer does not merely defend a field; he protects the labour of generations. A widow seeking her husband's land is asking for more than property; she is asking whether justice remembers her name. A r...