WELCOME ADDRESS BY THE HON. MINISTER OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT, ARC. AHMED DANGIWA, DURING A MEETING WITH THE PRESIDENTIAL TECHNICAL COMMITTEE ON LAND REFORMS AT THE MINISTRY’S HEAD OFFICE IN ABUJA ON FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2023
Protocols:
1. It is my pleasure to welcome the Chairman of the Presidential Technical Committee on Land Reform, Prof. Peter O. Adeniyi, and other distinguished members of the Committee to this very important meeting.
2. We initiated the engagement with the Presidential Technical Committee on Land Reforms that has led to today’s meeting as part of our stakeholder engagements towards ensuring that we avail ourselves of all relevant knowledge, resources, and inputs from efforts made by previous governments over time to fix the challenges with land administration in our country.
3. This is because we acknowledge that past governments set up teams, committees, and working groups and land administration comprising industry experts and stakeholders. These have produced several blueprints for solving this problem, with the only thing lacking being the political will to get the job done, by following through and implementing the recommendations.
4. Under the leadership of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, we now have that political will, and at the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, we are committed to ensuring that we use it optimally to break the jinx of land administration in our country.
5. As you are all aware, the review of the Land Use Act 1973 is a top priority under the Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr. President for Housing and Urban Development. This is because land is the foundation of the housing delivery process, requiring governing laws that ensure its availability, accessibility, efficient use, transferability, and convertibility.
6. Currently, key Statistics on Nigeria’s Land Administration show that:
a. Nigeria ranks 186th out of 190 countries on the World Bank Ease of Doing Business index in terms of ease of registering properties.
b. The land administration system across several metrics includes an average of 12 procedures and 92 days to register landed properties, costing up to 11% of the property value.
c. Nigeria has a score of 8 out of 30 in terms of the quality of land administration. About 97% of land is unregistered but traded regularly.
d. According to PWC, Nigeria has $300bn in dead capital. This means that streamlining land administration will unlock the potential of land as an economic resource and a catalyst for economic growth, helping to lift millions of Nigerians out of poverty.
7. We understand and believe that your Committee has done extensive work on the review of the Land Use Act and come up with several recommendations. That is why we requested that you come and brief us so that we are properly guided in our strategy to actualize Mr. President’s goal to fix this long-standing issue.
8. Once again, I welcome you all, and I look forward to a fruitful meeting.
