fig congress 2018 - The (R) Evolution of the land registration and Cadastre in Plateau state: Towards an efficient, sustainable and secure land governance solution

Gabriel Arancibia, Chiemeka Ngwu

The government of Plateau State (Nigeria) decided, in 2014, to give the mandate to the Ministry of Lands, Survey and Town Planning (MLSTP) to start a series of radical changes to the Land Registry and Cadastre system, because the last reform to this Ministry, prior to 2014, was insufficient to handle the growing number of land transactions and the slow pace of the procedures. As a result, this political will of the Plateau government was translated into a significant modernization initiative commenced in 2014. This comprehensive initiative focused on replacing the hybrid system consisting of mainly paper-based procedures with some components using minimum computerized tools, into a leading-edge workflow information technology solution for land registration, cadastre and also for the Town Planning department. This paper describes the most important challenges to implement the Plateau Geographical Information System (PLAGIS) in 2014. A special attention in this portion of the paper is about the difficulties to achieve the successful implementation of the solution and also the approach to positively transform the negative institutional perception of the Ministry. After almost four years from the implementation, it is essential to see the progress in the MLSTP by analysing and doing a comparison of essential indicators related to the behaviour of the land ownership in Jos, the capital city of Plateau State. Therefore, the fact of improving land registration is only one part of the solution to facilitate land ownership transaction, but it may positively influence the housing market, urban renewal, and land formalization. The final section of this paper focused on the positive impact in a business indicator related to property registry by transforming the Land Registry Office in an example of land governance. The changes in reducing the duration of land property transaction created a better business environment in Plateau and a confidence of the general public in the land governance, which mitigates corruption at the government level and also in avoiding bureaucratic bottle neck.

Event: FIG Congress 2018: Embracing our smart world where the continents connect - Enhancing geospatial maturity of societies

Document type:fig congress 2018 - The (R) Evolution of the land registration and Cadastre in Plateau state: Towards an efficient, sustainable and secure land governance solution (1100 kB - pdf)