Nigeria Loses $300bn Capital To Poor Land Title Documentation

Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Arc. Ahmed Musa Dangiwa who made this disclosure yesterday at the National Land Registration and Documentation Programme (NLRDP) held at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, also said over 90 per cent of land in Nigeria is looted and untitled, making it impossible for landowners to liberate their assets for economic purposes.

The minister also revealed that since the inception of formal land administration in Nigeria in 1883, the processes have been protected under a non-compulsory scoring system, which is very slow, cumbersome, compact, and expensive for the average landowner and stressed that it is important to reframe the work of the Projection and Technical Committee on Land Reforms that was set up in 2009 so that the ministry can build upon the exhaustive and comprehensive work that they have already done.

While calling on the support of states governments in addressing these issues, the minister lamented that Nigeria has faced long-standing challenges in land governance which includes the lack of a systemic, equitable, and congested forum to identify property ownership interests and locations explaining that the coercion of inefficient property registration processes, have resulted in less than 10 per cent of land in Nigeria being registered under the current border system.

He thanked the World Bank for what he described as their steadfast support in advancing the Land Registration Reforms. He stressed that their commitment of time, resources, technical expertise, and knowledge has been invaluable in driving the transformative agenda of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.

“Over 90 per cent of land in Nigeria is looted and untitled, making it impossible for landowners to liberate their assets for economic purposes. Experts have felt that this has resulted in a debt capital exceeding $300 billion. Addressing this issue is not just about administrative efficiency, it is a critical step towards economic transformation”.

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“In December 2024, the ministry conceived and developed the framework for this program, with the primary objective of partnering with state governments to achieve these three goals. First, we aim to reduce the size of land by entitling all landowners and non-Nigerians in capital, empowering landowners to utilise their assets for economic growth. For the federal government, this would increase revenue generation through land taxes, registration fees, and tithing charges, while also enhancing economic growth by enabling landowners to use land as collateral for loans and business”, he said.

Earlier in a goodwill message, the country director of the World Bank, Ndiame Diop, said the World Bank is happy to be part of the initiative. He explained that the National Land Registration and Documentation Program aligns with the vision of the Bank which seeks to eradicate poverty in a given time.

Represented by a senior social development specialist at the bank, Mike A. Ileanmi, the country director, expressed his willingness to support the Nigerian government on a number of developmental issues and said this program will not only help in unlocking the potential at national but also at sub-national level for investors.

“So the Bank, like we have been engaged with you on this and other programs, will continue to stay engaged, and we will be more than happy to continue to support you in changing through this initiative, helping you to reform the work, the reform agenda, and hopefully we can get to the kind of outcome that we expected with this kind of programme, he committed.”