Lagos Govt To Tackle Land, Planning Crisis With AI, Digital Mapping

Amid crisis in land administration, the Lagos State government has expressed its preparedness to overhaul its land and urban planning system with digital mapping, LiDAR technology and artificial intelligence (AI).

The state’s new geospatial initiative was revealed at the inaugural Lagos GIS Day where Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu inspected a range of digital systems designed to provide the government with accurate information on land, properties, roads, communities and physical development across the state.

With the new initiative the government seeks to eliminate land-related bottlenecks, improve infrastructure planning and make public services more data-driven in tandem with current global realities.

The event, themed “The Lagos Experience,” was organised by the Office of the Special Adviser to the Governor on e-GIS and Urban Development, with Global Infoswift Consulting Limited providing programme management.

The state government’s current move is coming on heels of concerns raised by the group managing director of CFL Group, Lai Omotola on the need to reform the state’s land registry.

Governor Sanwo-Olu at the Land Archive of the Lands Bureau inspected the archiving of manual land records, highlighting the state’s efforts to move away from dependence on traditional paper-based records.

The governor later visited the Ikeja Regional eGIS Centre, where officials presented plans for regional centres covering Epe, Ikorodu and Badagry.

He noted that the development could have significant implications for millions of Lagos residents, particularly property owners, prospective buyers, developers and communities, as more reliable spatial data is deployed to support land administration, development control, infrastructure provision and government decision-making.

According to Omotola, land owners are confronting sophisticated land fraud schemes best described as ‘land title laundry ‘in the state, warning that forged property documents are allegedly being inserted into the state’s land registry to make them appear genuine.