FG Eyes Fresh $300bn With Land Reforms

The Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Architect Ahmed Dangiwa, on Tuesday, said the Federal Government is set to overhaul its land administration system to unlock an estimated $300bn in dead capital.

The minister said the aim was to boost economic development across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

He stated this in Kano at the opening of the 30th Conference of Directors of Lands in Federal and State Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

The conference is themed: “Nigeria Land Titling, Registration and Documentation Programme (NLTRDP): Implementation Mission.”

He said the conference represented a transition from years of rhetoric to concrete action.

The minister noted that land administration remained central to the Federal Government’s national development agenda under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

He recalled that since his first meeting with land directors in Lagos in 2023, he had consistently emphasised the need for reforms to strengthen housing delivery, agriculture, urban renewal and investment growth.

According to him, the introduction of the Nigeria Land Titling, Registration and Documentation Programme (Land4Growth) marks a major step towards modernising land governance nationwide.

He said the initiative was developed in partnership with state governments and the World Bank to ensure nationwide land registration, documentation and titling.

Dangiwa described as “unacceptable” the reality that less than five per cent of land in Nigeria was formally registered, a situation, he said, had trapped millions of citizens in economic stagnation by denying them access to collateral, credit and secure property ownership.

He said Nigeria’s poor ranking on the World Bank’s Registering Property index was a direct result of outdated and cumbersome land processes, excessive bureaucracy and inconsistent regulations that discourage investment.

The minister said digitisation efforts across several states had already demonstrated the benefits of the reform.

Dangiwa cited AGIS (FCT), KADGIS (Kaduna), KANGIS (Kano), EDOGIS (Edo), and NAGIS (Nasarawa) as examples of systems that had boosted revenue, improved efficiency and restored public confidence.

The minister outlined key pillars of the Land4Growth programme, including standardisation of procedures nationwide, expansion of systematic land titling, digitisation of registries, strengthening of legal frameworks, and unlocking land-based financing for states and citizens.

He said unlocking even a fraction of undocumented land would significantly raise Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), expand access to credit and stimulate growth in agriculture, housing, industry and infrastructure.

Dangiwa encouraged states to position themselves within the Land4Growth framework, noting that states currently fall into three groups—front-runners, emerging reformers and lagging states.

The minister expressed hope that the 2025 conference would mark a “strategic turning point”, adding that by the next edition, all states should be able to present measurable progress reports on land titling and its contribution to IGR and GDP.

Earlier, the Kano State Commissioner for Land and Physical Planning, Mr Abduljabar Umar, said the state had recorded significant progress in land administration reforms under the leadership of Gov. Abba Kabir Yusuf.

Umar said the state embarked on comprehensive reforms to restore order, protect public land, modernise the system and place citizens at the centre of governance.

“Before 2023, land administration in Kano suffered from disorganised records, illegal layouts, double allocations and weak GIS infrastructure. Public confidence was low,” he said.

According to him, the reforms, tagged ‘The Kano Experience’, reflect progress made in institutional restructuring, digitisation, capacity building and legal reforms.

He said the state removed land speculators who had operated freely for decades, influencing documentation and decisions within the Ministry.