The Minister of Housing and Urban Development Arc. Ahmed Musa Dangiwa, has reiterated the Ministry’s commitment to fixing the existent gaps and making a historic difference in the housing and urban landscape of the country.
The Minister brought this to light in a meeting with the Technical Mission from the World Bank on Land Titling, Registration and Cadastre, at the Ministry’s Headquarters in Abuja.
He appreciated the Ministry’s longstanding partnership with the World Bank, noting that it was aimed at tackling systemic issues that have hindered effective land administration, management, governance, and urban development.
Recalling a recent engagement of the Ministry with the World Bank Vice President for Infrastructure, Mr. Guangzhe Chen alongside his team, the Minister revealed some identified key focus areas where the Ministry needs the technical and financial support of the Bank to enable the commencement of realizing the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, which is to streamline land administration and ensure effective urban governance in the country.
According to the Minister, some of the priority areas are the Implementation of a National Land Registration and Titling Programme in partnership with State Governments, a move that would unlock over $300 billion dead capital tied up in undocumented land.
He said the initiative would enable the registration, documentation, and titling of all land parcels, development and launch of a National Digital Land Information System (NDLIS), Increase the formalization of land transactions from less than 10% to over 50% within the next 10 years, as well as train and deploy technically competent land registration officers nationwide.
Other priority areas for collaboration as stated by the Minister are the Implementation of the National Urban Development Policy which contains vital initiatives for improving the management of urban areas; and the area of development of a Framework to address systemic barriers along the housing value chain.
Dangiwa expressed excitement in the massive institutional capacity of the Bank, as well as their technical expertise and knowledge garnered over decades from implementing similar interventions in countries around the world.
Accordingly, he conveyed his expectations that the Bank would bring in experts who have successfully led similar programs in other countries, particularly African Countries like Kenya, Sierra Leone, and South Africa, with similar contexts, and in collaboration with the Team at the Ministry, State governments, and other critical stakeholders, to design the implementation plan.
While the Minister decried the unfortunate 10% statistics of registered and titled land in the country, as well as the low livability of urban centers, he expressed optimism that the challenge posed an opportunity to make a difference.
“Under the Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr. President, we at the Ministry are committed to making this difference. With the support of the World Bank under this partnership, I believe we are on the verge of making history in Nigeria”, he said.
Disclosing a timeline of November to commence work, as agreed in the Ministry’s last meeting with the World Bank in September, Dangiwa further expressed confidence that the technical sessions was a testament that the ball has been set rolling as planned.
The minister in addition, sought a timeline for the Integrated Implementation Plan, as well as deliverables.
Speaking earlier, Dr. Fuad Malkawi, Senior Urban Specialist and Task Team Leader of the Technical Mission of the World Bank on Land, said they were in the ministry to discuss strategic support for land governance in Nigeria.
He noted that the objective of their visit was to identify challenges facing the country’s land administration, evaluate existing initiatives, and outline strategic areas where the World Bank can provide support to drive sustainable development.
Dr. Malkawi as well stated that the World Bank was keenly interested in land-related issues, ranging from surveying and mapping, to property taxation and infrastructure.
He further informed that the bank’s goal was to produce a flagship example in the African region while expressing optimism that with Nigeria’s immense resources and ongoing development, Nigeria can set the standard for the rest of the continent to follow.
Earlier in his opening remarks, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Dr. Marcus Ogunbiyi welcomed the World Bank Technical Mission to the Ministry and the Country at large, informing the team of the Ministry’s great expectations of what they would do.
He said his direct conversation with Dr. Fuad Malkawi was an attestation to the preparedness of the World Bank to intervene in the critical areas where the Ministry needs assistance.
Ogunbiyi further assured the team that the Ministry would do all in their parts to support the intervention.
Signed
Salisu Badamasi Haiba
Director (Information and Public Relations)
