By Golok Nanmwa, Jos

Plateau state Government has said that state Ministry of Lands is pursuing Governor Simon Lalong’s policy of making land available and accessible to the poor and vulnerable through strategic partnerships with key drivers amongst which are the Central Bank of Nigeria, Federal Mortgage Bank, Fidelity Bank, Federal Ministry of Housing and sister ministries in the provision of lands for Agriculture, Minning, Tourism, Commerce and Industry in line with the Plateau State Strategic plan.

Commissioner for lands, survey and town planning, Hon Yakubu Dati made this known while unveiling the publication of the fees at the Ministry in Jos the state capital.

He said that the unveiling of this publication is aimed at improving our capacity to key into the giant strides of Gov Simon Lalong, whose vision to improve the “Ease of doing business in Plateau State” gained traction following the commissioning of the Plateau State One-Stop Investment Centre.

He said that the unveiling is also in pursuant of promoting transparency in our operations in line with our Medium Term Sector Strategy (MTSS) as encapsulated in The Plateau State Strategic Plan.

“The unveiling ceremony is part of the ongoing reforms in the ministry to overcome the bottlenecks that had persistently crippled the revenue generation capacity of the ministry in the past.”

He said that “Today, our clients and stakeholders can assess our fees and charges at their fingertips in a transparent manner thereby eliminating middlemen who scare away our investors with dubious and outrageous charges.

“We have also been able eradicate cash transactions completely through collaboration with the Plateau State Internal Revenue Service who have provided the needed infrastructure and personnel.

Dati said that the task force on Internally Generated Revenue has been reinvigorated to focus on the largest source of untapped revenue, ground rents.

“These strategies are being driven by a committed crop of competent staff who are gradually but surely adapting to new technology and change of attitudes. This is evident in our growing revenue and improved services.”

He said that inspite of the disruptive effect of COVID-19 pandemic the ministry has generated One Hundred and Sixty Five Million, Four Hundred and Twenty Seven Thousand, Eight Hundred and Ninety Seven naira, Ninety Kobo (165,427,897.90) only between January to August 2020. In the same period, a total of 455 Certificates of Occupancy (C of Os) and 581 Rights of Occupancy (R ofOs) along with several title deeds have been processed.

“Following the return of relative peace under this administration, our towns and cities are urbanizing at an incredibly fast pace and, in many cases, with unplanned settlements that pose enormous challenges.

“In order to check the menace of urban slums, Gov Simon Bako Lalong approved seven layouts to define the urban planning frameworks that will guide the construction of new neighbourhoods and city extensions. Datti noted.

He said that “in this regards, we have entered into Public Private Partnerships (PPP) with land developers including Vanac Estates Ltd, Guya Nigeria Ltd, Clearview Security Ltd and … which has enabled us to create layouts in designated locations in Rayfield, Miango Low-cost, Zaria Road, Bauchi Road and environs under the Greater Jos Masterplan. We are also developing layouts in Barkin Ladi, Mangu, Pankshin, Langtang, Shendam through our zonal offices. The package offers ownership of choice landed property with Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) in a single transaction.

“We must appreciate His Excellency, Rt Hon Simon Lalong for the foresight to inject huge capital into the automation of the Plateau State Geographic Information System (PLAGIS) which has improved our performance.
With the coming of this administration in 2015.

“The Governor has boosted the business community especially the SMEs with the approval of One Thousand, Four Hundred and Eighty (1,480) Certificates of Occupancy (C of Os) and a total of Three Thousand, Five Hundred and Fifty Eight (3,558) Rights of Occupancy (R of Os). Several Devolution orders deeds, Deeds of Assignment and other instruments have been approved.

He further stressed that the agony of abandoned applications stretching several years is being replaced with a new dawn of processed land titles being issued in few weeks after application.

“Currently, the Ministry is fine tuning processing time from 180 days to 45 days.

“To strengthen Land Administration, there are 3 bills before the Plateau State House of Assembly currently at the Committee stage.

“We wish to register our appreciation to the Speaker of the Plateau State House of Assembly, the principal officers and the Chairman, House Committee on Lands, Survey and Town Planning, Hon Abdul Adamu Yanga and the entire members for according the Bill, the deserved attention.

“Our development partners, the GIZ are partnering with us in our pilot project of land reforms in the area of the Systematic Land Titling and Registration (SLTR) in Plateau State. Currently less than 3% of land in Nigeria is registered.

“In conclusion, Government’s vision to create a land market economy is to empower the rural dwellers by unlocking their asset, land.

“In this regard, we are calling on land owners to take advantage of the 50% waiver approved by His Excellency, Rt Hon Simon Bako Lalong, to register their lands and improve their access to finance.

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Plateau determined to make land available, accessible to poor and vulnerable – Yakubu Dati Commissioner Lands