Ogun to simplify access to land

The Ogun State Government has disclosed plans to make access to land easy for residents and intending investors.

According to a statement from the state’s Bureau of Lands and Survey, the government has decided to transform the entire operations of the bureau through complete computerisation of its registry documents into a digital archive.

The government said it would also develop a Geographic Information System to capture, store, analyse, share, manage and display all types of geographical data in the bureau and other Ministries, Departments and Agencies that deal with land issues in order to automate the business and workflow processes.

The statement read in part, “Since land is central to all human activities, social, economic, religious and developmental, creating systems that enable government to fulfil its responsibilities to the populace is central to achieving good governance. The Ogun State Government, via the Bureau of Land and Survey, desires to improve the overall performance of government by building a robust platform to centrally manage land and all related activities through the Geographical Information System.

“The GIS remains a viable and sustainable system to achieve corporate agility, strengthen the state’s fiscal outlook and engender growth through standardisation and collaboration, which will bring about positive change to land administration in the state.”

It added that the bureau would implement a functional cadastral and base map, comprehensive land information system and carry out various geospatial data analyses, 3D visualisation and terrain analysis of the state’s lands.

The statement added that a functional GIS web server, execution of Geospatial Enterprise Operations of the GIS system, provision of capacity building and training for relevant personnel of the bureau would also be done.

It added, “The aim of the Ogun Geographic Information System and Land Management System project is to ensure land administration in Ogun state meets the acceptable global standards. This will help the state government to enforce prudent use of government land and ensure compliance with the various land use policies and building regulations, eradicate double allocation of land, ensure easy processing of title documents and prevent loss of land to other states and the neighbouring Benin Republic.

“The benefits of the project include the increased survey accuracy, faster local searches for property titles, online search facilities, digital archive of valuable land documents and easier processing of title documents. The project will also assist the government to respond quickly to increasing demand for land by investors who intend to establish businesses in the state.”

The scope of the project, according to the bureau, includes implementation of an enterprise process and workflow automation system, a system for the automation of the Deeds Registry, a functional revenue administration system to complement the overall revenue administration system run centrally by the state government.

Source: Punch Newspaper