The centrality of land to national development makes it an indispensable resource to be harnessed and carefully managed to foster and meet competing land requirements for sustainable development in the overall public interest. Land reform, which is one of the major strategies in land management, is usually a government-initiated or government-backed approach for the allocation, distribution, redistribution, titling and use of land using an existing and or modified institutional arrangement(s). Using existing literature, this article reviewed the content and context of land administration in Nigeria during the pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial era. The customary land tenure system, especially in the more developed southern parts of Nigeria, created a huge challenge to land administration in the country. To address the contrasting land tenure systems in the country and the difficulties experienced by government agencies in acces