Minister charges surveyors on efficient land administration 

No good government can afford to play with it. Surveyors should not to only demarcate parcels of land but also be fully involved in land administration as is the practice in other parts of the world

For effective and judicious use of the nation’s landmass, members of the Nigerian Institution of Surveyors (NIS) have been urged to deploy their skills towards improving land administration system in Nigeria.

The Minister of State Environment, Ibrahim Usman Jubril made the call on the professionals, last week, while addressing stakeholders who had gathered in Abuja for a lecture to commemorate 35 years of Land Administration in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

NIS, in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Environment organised the lecture, where factors affecting land administration in Nigeria were discussed.

Jubril, in his keynote address at the event said that, though was given by God, it has been a good source of revenue generation for the government.

He revealed that being a single revenue generator, Abuja Geographical Information System, AGIS, has collected over N40 billion as land fees and charges in 2015.

According to him, this is expected to continue rising with the more efficient system now in place.

On land management, the Minister said that efficient and good land management was a panacea to good governance and as such “No good government can afford to play with it. Surveyors should not to only demarcate parcels of land but also be fully involved in land administration as is the practice in other parts of the world.”

“The implementation of the Abuja Master Plan from the land administration perspective and the various challenges faced by land administrators and land managers can make government to examine resettlement issues, squatter settlements and various policy changes during this period of thirty five years.

On the deplorable state of solid waste management, he assured that before the end of the year, the issue will be tackled frontally, “the past attempts to check the menace of porous waste disposal in the country through the establishment of plastic factories and a scrap factory in Kaduna had been scuttled as a result of vandalization of equipment mounted at the site.” .

“It is based on my personal experiences as a land officer who has being involved in land management and administration within the FCT in the last thirty years of his career. A lot has been achieved in the last thirty five years but more still needed to be done.”

To Jubril,”The major challenges in land administration of the FCT are highlighted and possible solutions offered here. Individuals and organisations interested in development will therefore require clear policy guidelines on all land issues to help them in their project planning and investment decisions as they relate to real estates.”

“All allottees are required to comply with the conditions of grant as contained in the Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) evidencing the grant. In particular, minimum amount of improvements are imposed on all categories of uses in order to ensure that allottees of plots develop them to reasonable standards befitting the status of the nation’s capital”, he added