The Federal Government says it is set to establish a National Land Commission to harness 300 billion dollars revenue lost to ineffective land administration in Nigeria.
The Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Mr Ahmed Dangiwa, said this while declaring open a two-day 28th Conference of Directors of Lands in the Federal and State Ministries, Departments and Agencies on Wednesday in Lagos.
Dangiwa said a National Land Commission would provide the necessary framework, guidelines, and regulations to fix the gap and chart a new way forward for effective land administration in Nigeria.
“Currently, I think we have over 300 billion dollars dead capital in land assets that must be unlocked through effective land administration.
“But today if we have a proper land administration, we are going to unlock nothing less than 300 billion dollars as investments into the coffers of this country,” he said.
Dangiwa explained that the proposed National Land Commission was part of a broad housing sector reform, which would improve land titling and boost Nigeria’s ranking on the World Bank Ease of Doing Business rating.
He added that Nigeria currently ranked 186 out of 190 countries.
“Mr president has a bold vision for the sector and is committed to backing it up with the necessary political will to break down all barriers to unlock the revenue earning potential of land.
“As the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, we have taken Mr President’s vision and are running with it.
“Our aim is to implement the most historic land reforms the country has ever witnessed to make it easier, safer, and more profitable for the private sector to invest in the sector and make good returns,” he said.
According to him, a notable part of the country’s broad housing sector reforms includes the implementation of comprehensive land reforms toward streamlining land administration and ensuring easy, cost effective and efficient access to land.
property transactions, geared towards greater efficiency.
The 2023 Conference, which had the theme, “Improving Land-Based Revenue of the Federating Units in Nigeria through Efficient and Effective Land Administration,” had directors of Lands in the Federal and State Ministries, Departments and Agencies in attendance.
