FG plans land commission to boost Nigeria’s ranking 15th November 2023
The Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Danghiwa, has said the ministry is working on establishing a National Land Commission in the country.
He made this disclosure at the Conference of Directors of Lands in the Federal and State Ministries, Departments, and Agencies, themed “Improving Land-Based Revenue of the Federating Units in Nigeria through Efficient and Effective Land Administration,” which was held in Lagos State on Wednesday.
He said, “Currently, we have a situation where the Land Use Act was enacted in 1978, but there was no complementary institution set up alongside it to provide the necessary framework, guidelines, and regulations for operationalising it. We are working to establish a National Land Commission that would fix this gap and chart a new way forward for effective land administration in the country.
“This will improve land titling and boost Nigeria’s ranking on the World Bank Ease of Doing Business where we currently rank 186th out of 190 countries on the World Bank Ease of Doing Business index in terms of ease of registering properties.
“Last week I met with the leadership of the Presidential Technical Committee on Land Reforms, Prof. Peter Adeniyi, and we agreed to incorporate the extensive work that they have done over 14 years in our land reform strategy. As the renowned land reform scholar said, experience shows that a nation can never develop if it does not conduct land reform. It will also help to boost revenues that States and Federal Government can earn from land.”
The Minister decried the current state of land administration in the country, adding that the same issues that were there decades ago were still plaguing the industry.
He added, “This includes inadequate land information systems, complex land tenure systems, cumbersome and time-consuming land registration processes that contribute to delays and corruption in the system; the lack of a streamlined and transparent registration process that discourages investment and hinders economic development; inadequate urban planning which leads to informal settlements; congestion, and improper land use, inadequate legal and regulatory frameworks which results in legal uncertainties, making it difficult for individuals and businesses to navigate the land administration system with confidence. These are all problems that we all must fix. No one will do it for us.
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