Captured in the endless unclaimed estates list spreadsheet that the United Kingdom government has been maintaining since 6 December 2013 are rows of personalities who are now dead and apparently departed leaving behind a bit of success. Among them have their data linked to Nigeria as their birthplace but dying single without a will risks their achievements becoming a permanent loss.

The UK’s list of unclaimed estates is always held by the Treasury Solicitor and the office today, has just updated the document, once again shifting attention briefly to the downsides when a person dies without drafting a will.

It is a focus particularly beaming lights particularly on what the peculiarity is for Africans who are slower to proactively adopt the legal instrument that lets them when they are deceased to have a say about how their earthly possessions, specifically how their real estate gets distributed around loved ones or charities.

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Close to 60 dearly departed Nigeria-born have been found on this list and the chance of a relation coming forward to claim their assets appear almost non-existent, mainly because some members of this diaspora community have their dates of birth pegged around a timeline of events preceding World War II and have sadly died without a spouse at least.

The unclaimed estates list remembers widower Arbel Aai’Lotta’Qua, born in Africa’s most populous country Nigeria precisely on 3 March 1930 and had died 27 years ago in London, England without naming a beneficiary.

So is Julius Taiwo Akinyeye, a native of Ondo State in southwestern Nigeria with his relationship status described as unknown. The data on this deceased person shows one who was born in December 1942 and lived at Derbyshire in the UK.

After three decades on the government-run list without a relation or appointee showing up to claim their assets, their information gets scrapped from the list, so what happens to their property then?

The answer lies in the fact that all unclaimed assets formerly belonging to private individuals who did not specify where ownership should go would usually go to the state, which in this case would be the UK government.

An advisory from the government legal department spelling out the requirement for prospective claimants confirmed that it maintains a list that is updated every working day and newly advertised estates appear at the top of this list.

It further reads that after one day of publication, new estates drop into the rest of the list in alphabetical order.

Any estates where the Bona Vacantia division (BVD) no longer has an interest, for example, when a claim to an estate has been admitted, will be removed daily. Estates where the 30 year time limit from the date of death has expired are also removed.

The allure of owning property in the UK among Nigerians can be traced back to British colonial influence. For many, acquiring real estate in the former colonial power symbolises success and upward mobility.

However, as this aspiration often comes with challenges, especially when individuals fail to plan for the future, the unclaimed estates list maintained by the UK government offers a stark reminder of the consequences of neglecting estate planning.

In many African cultures, discussing death and wills is often considered taboo. This reluctance to confront mortality has led to a widespread lack of estate planning.

For Nigerians in the diaspora, this cultural mindset, combined with the complexities of managing assets across borders, results in numerous properties being left unclaimed. The case of Julius Taiwo Akinyeye from Ondo State who passed away in Derbyshire without a known beneficiary is only one in a pile of talk points highlighting this issue.

Away from the pre-war years, Nigerians are now significant players in the global real estate market, with substantial investments in Dubai, the UAE, and the United States.

In Dubai alone, Nigerians are among the top African investors, drawn by the city’s economic stability and high rental yields.

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However, a portion of these investments has been tainted by allegations of fraud and corruption. This not only tarnishes the reputation of legitimate investors but also creates barriers for rightful heirs to claim properties like the Treasury Solicitor’s list has shown perhaps.

Meiza Nigeria