PROPERTY TRANSACTION GUIDE

‘Land revenue consultants’ll help manage Ogun’s land resources’
By Our Correspondent

Punch, Monday 29th March 2010

The Director-General, Ogun State Bureau of Lands and Survey, Mr. Gbenga Ogunnoiki, in this interview speaks on land administration in the state, the influx of investment and appointment of land revenue consultants for the state. Excerpts

In the last few years, there has been a noticeable influx of companies into Ogun state. What is the attraction?

Well, the first thing I will say is the unusual business approach of the Ogun State Government. You know that the governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, was a private sector operator and he has brought private sector mentality into the public sector, which has really assisted us. We have shunned bureaucracy in Ogun State and there is also human capital development through training, seminars and conferences. These have assisted in liberalising the way we do business in the state.

For instance, over the years at the Bureau of Lands and Survey, we have really liberalised land allocation and land acquisition procedures and processes. I joined the Bureau in early 2004, and before then, land management system in the state was a bit bureaucratic. But through the grace of God, we have been able to introduce professionalism into land administration in Ogun State and this has really escalated real estate business in the state.

The state is known as an investment destination of choice, the reason being that government has put in place a lot of measures to accommodate and also encourage as well as support businesses, be it small scale, medium enterprises, big businesses, local and international investments alike. We give them access to land freely; there is perfect serenity and tranquillity in our state, which has also encouraged investment. Peace reins in Ogun State despite all the things people read in newspapers, the state is a place to be.

Besides, the state is also taking advantage of its contiguity to Lagos, the commercial centre of the nation. The overflow of urbanisation is having its impact. The population from neighbouring states has made us to position ourselves just as New Jersey is to New York.

We have created an enabling environment for accommodation, commercial activities, recreational facilities and industrialisation to thrive. All these we have been able to do through harmony in the various organs of government. There is synergy between various ministries and this has really promoted good investment climate in the state.

So you can now see why companies like Nestle Nigeria Plc, Lee Group of Companies, Leventis Nigeria Plc, Parco Group of Companies and many other blue chip companies as well as the Nigeria Postal Service, which is setting up its regional mail sorting centre for West Africa in the state, have come to Ogun State.

What is the latest on the Geographic Information System-based Certificate-of-Occupancy and recertification project introduced by the Bureau?

The Geographic Information System is capable of doing so many things. One of them is the GIS-based C-of-O. It is a new C-of-O, with all the trappings of security and many enshrined and embedded security codes. It is a C-of-O that is one of the best in the country. Before we came out with the GIS-based C-of-O, we went to Abuja GIS and other states that had started the new C-of-O; we sat down and came out with something better. The new C-of-O project is still on, the governor has started signing and we have given people up till June 2010 to change their old C-of-Os under a process known as recertification.

The usual bureaucracy and all the problems associated with procurement and processing of C-of-O in the past have been eliminated because through the GIS laboratory, we have done a lot of computerisation of both the survey and estate departments. All these are the good effects of the GIS.

Why is the Bureau appointing land revenue consultants?

We introduced the concept of land revenue consultants into our operation because we want to get to the grass roots as well as interact with the Community Development Centres and Community Development Areas in the state. We also want to take our operation to the local government level, go to people at their various homes and ask if they have got their C-of-Os or any registered title instrument and if not, we want to help them. We cannot do it alone, which is why we decided to involve land revenue consultants.

We have short listed the consultants and within the next few weeks, these consultants will be going round the state. Of course, we would give them identification.

Besides, the essence of engaging these consultants is also to do property evaluation in the state, so that we would be able to know what and where we have things. Those are the things we have to do and it would also boost our databank in Ogun State.

The BLS is a major revenue earner of the state. Considering the current economic downturn, do you think the Bureau can meet its target for the year?

In 2009, we generated more than N4bn revenue into the state coffers from revenue of under N200m that we met in 2004. The Bureau will meet its target this year by the grace of God. The reason is because we have actually revolutionised land management and administration in Ogun State. And of course, because we have professionals at the helm of affairs and we are doing our things professionally as well as using the unusual business approach of Ogun State Government. We know that we would exceed our target. One of those approaches we intend to use this year is the introduction of land revenue consultants like I said earlier. They are going to go to the grass roots and every household by taking our services to them such that if anyone wants to do anything with BLS, you have the consultants at your doorstep.

The land revenue consultants are going to make processing of land title documents easy, accessible and affordable to property owners in Ogun State. As part of the strategy, we are also doing a kind of decentralisation of our land administration by looking at the hinterlands, creating hubs for development at the hinterlands.

Typical examples are the Gateway International Airport, Sagamu Business Park and Sagamu Mixed Development Scheme. Companies such as Nestle, Lee Group, Parco Group and so many other big companies are being attracted to this region because of the airport.

Looking at Iwopin, where we have tank farm estate, various tank farms are developing around that axis. We are also looking at Olokola Free Trade Zone, where we have Delago Island as well as the Bluewater Estate, which is about four kilometres from Lekki/Akodo axis in Lagos. You can see the kind of integration happening around that area. Now going towards Badagry, around Agbara/Igbesa axis, we have our Ogun Guandung Free Trade Zone, which is another hub for development. And coming to Kajola near Ifo, we have our rail-based Free Trade Zone. So all these projects are clearly situated at the hinterlands to be a kind of nuclei for development and this we are achieving. You can see Ogun State is where to be.

What is the state government doing to stop original land owners also known as Omo oniles from harassing people who got allocations through the BLS?

I want to say broadly that since the inception of BLS, we have not had any ugly incident from Omo oniles or speculators. We have always engaged in consultation as against confrontation, and this we have done through sensitising the communities as well as close monitoring of our various estates. I will say that we have a good rapport and it is a continuous process. Just last week, we returned some land through a process called village excision to some villages such as Laderin, Ake, Keke and Gbarawi, around Abeokuta South and Obafemi Owode local councils.

I am also happy that government is bringing new measures to make sure that we satisfy our allotees. We have started opening up the state with roads, embarking on construction of drainages through chanelisation and dredging. We have started construction of box culverts and electrification of our various schemes.

I want to say categorically that we have allocated land to almost everybody that paid in Riverview Estate, Obasanjo Hilltop GRA Estate, Hillcrest Estate and other government-owned estates. Anybody that has paid to government for land and has not got his/her allocation could be due to the fact that such person has not had time to come for his/her allocation. In the last few weeks, every allotee has been attended to. The survey of the parcels of land is in progress, which we are actually doing bit-by-bit from block to block, but all pending allocations in government schemes have been met. I want to use this medium to enjoin anyone that has paid money to government for land to come for their final letters of allocation, which are ready in our offices at either Isheri or Abeokuta.

What has government done on the payment of compensation to communities whose land was acquired?

Compensation is a continuous process. We started compensation since I assumed office in early 2004. We have paid compensation on Industrial Park, part of Gateway International Airport, International Market at Owode Yewa, Mechanic Village at Abeokuta and so many other places. Even as at last week, we paid compensation. As the parcels of land are put to use, their compensation are paid, so it is a continuous process.

What exactly is the extent of government‘s acquisition along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway?

Land acquisition is done in Ogun State to control development. The land between Isheri and Sagamu, two kilometres on either side of the road had been acquired since 1984, before His Excellency, Otunba Gbenga Daniel came to power. This acquisition is not limited to that area alone; it is also done in other parts of the state.

Acquisition is actually to control development in the state because we don‘t want land in major areas, especially, to develop into squalor settlements and slums. So we try as much as possible to do this acquisition to control development.