Fashola tasks states on ease of doing business

Enamoured by the improvement of Nigeria’s ranking in the ease of doing business index recently released by the World Bank, Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, yesterday demanded more active roles from state governments to ensure a better experience for citizens.

Fashola, who was the guest speaker at a stakeholders’ engagement forum by the Lagos State Real Estate Transactions Department (LASRETRAD), in Lagos, tasked the states on access to land and security of land transactions to attract investments.

The minister stressed that one of the important indicators used by the World Bank in ranking the ease of doing business (EODB) profile of countries globally was the ease of titling and registration of landed assets.

Although, Nigeria’s performance regarding this indicator improved substantially from 2016, a lot more, he said, needs to be done to ensure accelerated issuance of land titles, thereby enhancing capacity to raise the investible funds to start new and grow existing businesses.

According to the minister, the Federal Government, through the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), is driving this laudable EODB initiative with support from state governments, his ministry and other Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

Represented by the Federal Controller of Housing in Lagos State, Mrs. Sarah Alawode, the former Lagos governor advised players in the real estate sector to commit themselves to institutionalising all outcomes with a view to developing a transparent, resilient and dependable property market and business environment consistent with global best practices.He expressed hope that the initiative would enhance the confidence of prospective land buyers in the system.

In his remarks, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos, who was represented by his deputy, Dr. Femi Hamzat, called for partnership with the real estate sector to protect and sustain the integrity of their profession and business.He stressed that the state had a duty to ensure that nobody took undue advantage of the existing gap in the housing sector to exploit or perpetrate fraudulent acts against innocent citizens.

The governor, who enjoined the participants to explore new technology to create a platform for establishing business relationships with potential clients and existing ones, assured of his administration’s passion to bridge the gap in the housing sector with their active participation.