Kwara Geographic Information Agency Generates N900m

By Abdullahi Olesin, Ilorin

Kwara State Geographic Information Service (KW-GIS) generated about N900 million in 2022 through applications for land titles from prospective land owners.

The executive chairman of the agency, Mal Mutalib Shittu, disclosed this at a media parley in Ilorin, the state capital yesterday.

Shittu said the feat was made possible due to reforms he introduced to achieve the vision of modern land administration in line with international best practices.

He said full automated operations had made application and processing of certificates of occupancy (Cs of O) possible within 30 days.

The KW-GIS boss announced plans by the agency to establish additional zonal and area offices in both Kwara South and Kwara North senatorial districts to bring services closer to people.

“We have kind of stabilised the service to a certain extent away from the past. We make sure the income continues to grow while we transition gradually by full automation; bringing all the paperwork into the computer, let the computer do it. That reduces the time. So, what we are trying to do is reduce the time of production of C of O to 30 working days,” he said.

Shittu, who said that the state government could lose investment opportunities without proper land administration, added that the mandate of the agency included proper planning of every community in the state.

He said that the new Ilorin master plan would be ready in the first quarter of the year, adding that implementation was already going on after due consultations, workshops and exhibition with stakeholders.

He also said that the agency had trained 50 staff in Information Communication Technology (ICT) to ensure effective and timely automated operations.