Housing Ministry Partners Notable UK Land Valuation Agency on Review of Compensation Rates for Public Land Acquisition   London, 15th September 2024 — The Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development has began a landmark partnership with the Central Association of Agricultural Valuers (CAAV), a renowned UK-based professional body specializing in agricultural and rural valuation. The collaboration aims to leverage the expertise, knowledge and experience of CAAV towards finalizing the long overdue review and update of methodologies for compensation rates for public land acquisition in Nigeria, with a focus on crops and economic trees.   Speaking at the first day of the Knowledge Exchange Programme in London, the Honourable Minister of State for Housing and Urban Development, Alhaji Abdullahi Tijani Gwarzo, emphasized the significance of the partnership in the context of Nigeria's ongoing land reforms. He noted that the programme marks a critical step in the country’s efforts to review, update and harmonize land compensation rates and standards in line with global best practices.   “This collaboration is vital to our ongoing reforms, designed to tackle the systemic challenges in land governance and administration. By leveraging the specialist knowledge of institutions like CAAV, we are confident in developing a framework that is both effective and sustainable,” Minister Gwarzo said.   Under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, the Ministry has embarked on comprehensive land reforms aimed at addressing bottlenecks and inefficiencies in the country’s land value chains. One of the core aspects of these reforms is the review of outdated compensation rates that have been in use since 2008.   During his remarks, Minister Gwarzo highlighted the challenges faced in implementing the Land Use Act of 1978, which defines the process of compulsory land acquisition and compensation for affected landowners. These challenges include the outdated compensation rates and the absence of a nationwide, scientifically grounded structure for determining compensation.   To address these issues, the Nigerian government, through its National Technical Development Forum (NTDF) on Land Administration, has been working on developing a revised compensation regime. The partnership with CAAV is expected to provide critical insights and methodologies for ensuring that compensation rates are updated in real time and meet international standards.   “Our engagement with CAAV will enable us to apply critical professional input in the work we have already done to finalize and develop national reference rates for compensating crops and economic trees in public land acquisition. This will help us implement a dynamic, updatable, and scientifically based central repository of rates for use in various projects,” the Minister added.   The meeting featured technical presentations by the Lead Consultant to the Ministry on the draft Compensation Rates Methodology, Professor Olurotimi Kemiki and Secretary and Adviser CAAV, Jeremy Moody.    In his presentation, Jeremy Moody said the association is pleased to work with the Ministry  towards achieving its objectives. The Knowledge Exchange Programme will continue throughout the week, with both parties expected to share valuable insights and experiences. The outcomes from this engagement will contribute to the Ministry’s final report, which is scheduled to be presented in October 2024.   The Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development remains committed to ensuring that land acquisition processes in Nigeria are fair, transparent, and in line with global standards.   ...

Moulud : Minister Gwarzo Charges Muslims On Virtues Of Prophet Muhammad ( SAW)    The Honourable Minister of State for Housing and Urban Development, Abdullahi Tijjani Gwarzo has called on Nigeria’s Muslim to reflect on the teachings of our noble Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) in all our day-to-day activities.   The Minister made the charge in his Maulud message marking this year's commemoration of the birthday of our exalted Prophet Peace Be Upon Him. He described Prophet Muhammad (SAW) as complete guiding principles of all Muslims in the world.   Gwarzo therefore, enjoined Muslims to adhere to the teaching and practice of the Holy Prophet, saying that it's the surest way that will bring scour to our lives and unbundled our nation from the economic turbulent as a result of the current trying period.  According to him "we are celebrating the birthday of our exalted Prophet Muhammad (SAW), but it's compulsory upon all Muslims to reflect on his virtues and teachings as well as follow his examples in all our daily activities". "We should also imbibe the lessons of His preaching on compassion, peace and love for one another" the Minister added.   "Our progress depends on how we implement the teaching of our noble Prophet who teaches mankind how to live with one another in peace. It is a duty bound upon all Nigerian Muslims to operate according to the teaching and dictate of Islamic principles for the betterment of our country."    Minister Gwarzo, therefore called on all stakeholders to recommit themselves towards President Bola Ahmad Tinubu's transformation process of the country. He added that the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development is determined to ensure that every Nigerian gets access to affordable, safe and dignified housing.   ...

Housing Ministry Partners World Bank on Urban Resilience,  Land Titling, Registration    ● Natiion's vast land assets to become more economically viable, boost states' revenue - Dangiwa    ● To grow rate of titled Land from 10% to 50% in 5 years   The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development and the World Bank Group have resolved to work together towards addressing the 90% of land in Nigeria that is unregistered and untitled.    The move is aimed at making the nation's vast land assets more economically viable and unlocking the over $300 billion in dead capital tied up in such undocumented land.   This was the outcome of a courtesy call on the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Arc. Ahmed Musa Dangiwa by a delegation of the World Bank led by its Vice President (Infrastructure), Guangzhe Chen in Abuja,  Wednesday, September 11th, 2024.   One of the areas of the collaboration is the National Land Registration and Titling Programme in partnership with the state governments. As the Minister said, "this is very important to our government as over 90% of land in our country is unregistered and untitled. Experts estimate a dead capital of over $300bn"    "Through this initiative that we plan to implement with the World Bank, we aim to, amongst other objectives, register, document and title all land parcels within five years; develop and launch a National Digital Land Information System (NDLIS) and define a framework that makes it accessible to all stakeholders; increase the formalization of land transactions from less than 10% to over 50% in the next 10 years; and train and deploy technically competent land registration officers nationwide," he said.   The Minister added that land registration and titling will open up sources of revenue for the states who can boost their income through ground rent, Certificates of Occupancy, and taxes accruing from increased investments in real estate.    Accordingly, he further said that such funds can be used to provide urban services in the states which can help minimise the effect of climate change across cities in Nigeria.   Arc Dangiwa also observed "We have examples from states who have implemented proper land registration systems using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Kaduna and Nasarawa are two good examples. These states have not only been able to significantly improve land registrations, but have also generated huge revenues in the process,"    Addressing the issue of Urban Livability, which he says is another area of common interest, Dangiwa noted, "Implementation of the approved National Urban Development Policy is a key priority of the administration of Mr. President. We have to create the necessary frameworks towards an effective, impactful and sustainable implementation towards improving the management of our urban areas and improving service delivery, saying that the World Bank’s Technical Capacity in the area will be highly needed.   "The third focus area is the development of a Framework towards addressing the systemic barriers along the housing value chain. Doing this will help us to enhance private, affordable housing investments," he added.   The Minister recalled the recent Livability Workshop held with Commissioners of states with the largest concentration of urban areas, noting that the recommendations from the engagement are already being developed into an Actionable Plan in collaboration with the World Bank team.   Citing the recent flooding in Maiduguri which left more than 200,000 people displaced, the Minister said the need to invest in urban resilience has become more evident in recent times following rapid climate change and the susceptibility of many Nigerian urban centres to its impact.   Speaking earlier, the World Bank Vice President of Infrastructure, Guangzhe Chen said the purpose of the visit was to identify areas of common interests which they can prioritise in their collaboration with the Ministry.    He dusclosed that the Bank is open to supporting Nigeria on land administration, affordable housing, sustainable financing mechanisms, addressing the impact of climate change on the urban sector, and engaging in urban land management towards the attainment of livable cities, digitization, among others    "We have developed some models and worked with some countries in West and Central Africa on urban Livability and resilience, and these models can be reviewed and replicated in Nigeria," he said.   He added that the World Bank is open to providing financing and technical support to the Ministry to help the government achieve its housing and urban agenda.   Also in the delegation was the Country Director of the World Bank, Ndiame Diop, who gave the assurance that the priorities outlined will be looked at by both teams, fine-tuned, and developed into comprehensive programmes to drive the nation's housing and urban agenda, including improving the mortgage ecosystem, implementing a structured land Titling system, and offering urban planning technical support to help vulnerable cities in Nigeria mitigate challenges of flood and rising heat levels.   Diop remarked "The Minister talked about affordable housing delivery, and it's good to see that there is a functional system in the form of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, which can be supported for enhanced capacity. The issue of land registration which I find worrisome, is one area that requires urgent attention. Having 90% of land unregistered can be an obstacle for Development in the sector"    The Country Director also expreseed his happiness that the Minister is already discussing with state governments on the matter which he described as a key aspect towards achieving it, saying that States have to adopt the improved systems.    " We will see how we can also come in and help enrich those conversations, so that we can work together to help the country achieve increased land Titling," he assured    In his closing remarks, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Dr. Marcus Ogunbiyi, solicited for support from the World Bank in the area of capacity building in needed areas, for the incoming new staff of the Ministry, given that the experienced and old staff were retiring from the service and needed replacement with capable hands.   ...