The Chairman of the Presidential Technical Committee on Land Reforms, Professor Peter Adeniyi, on Tuesday said the Federal Government of Nigeria has adopted a new land registration system to ensure the registration of more land titles.
Professor Adeniyi, who noted that only 3 per cent of the total land area of Nigeria is registered at the moment, insisted that the new policy- Systematic Land Titling and Registration- will improve land registration in the country.
Prof. Adeniyi disclosed this while leading members of the committee on a courtesy visit to Ondo State Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko in Akure, the State Capital.
He said Ondo State was chosen as one of the pilot states to test the design of the system and the team is in the State to see the steps taken so far.
He identified some of the benefits accruable from the scheme to the land owners to include opportunity for collateral and mortgage purposes with their certificates of occupancy.
“Land is something that if you have and you don’t have title on it, you will not be able to use it to empower yourself. But if you have title for it, you can use it as collateral, you can sell part of it to develop part of it or use it personally.
What is happening today in the country, with regards to people’s inability to empower themselves, is because when people don’t have title, they cannot use it to raise fund to develop themselves, but when you title your land, you are likely to engage other people because you have the resources,” he said.
Prof. Adeniyi noted that the abysmal land titling situation in the country prompted the Federal Government, in April 2009, to inaugurate a technical committee to collaborate with states and local governments on a comprehensive cadastral mapping nationwide and to determine ‘possessory’ rights of individuals, using the best practices and most appropriate technology.
On his part, Governor Olusegun Mimiko, who revealed that over one thousand volunteers have been recruited and are already working on the field, called for more sensitization on the programme, especially in the rural areas.
The land registration exercise has already been flagged off in Akure North, Akure South and Ifedore Local Government Areas
President Goodluck Jonathan had called on States and Local Governments to support the land reform process for a successful Land Transformation Programme.
He made the call in Abuja while receiving the report of the Presidential Technical Committee on Land Reform in 2013. President Jonathan said collaboration from stakeholders would change the negative rating of Nigeria as one of the countries with difficult land registration process.
