Presidential Research & Communications Unit - Land Tenure Changes & Home Ownership

President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua on Thursday April 2 inaugurated the Presidential Technical Committee on Land Reform with a seven-point term of reference.

President Yar’Adua stated that land reform formed a key component of his administration’s seven-point agenda because “for us to develop as a country, we need to awaken the potential of land as a veritable resource for food security, poverty reduction, capital accumulation, economic growth and national development”.

The President handed down the terms of reference as:

• to collaborate and provide technical assistance to States and Local Governments to undertake land cadastral nationwide;
• to determine individuals’ “possessory” rights using best practices and most appropriate technology to determine the process of identification of locations and registration of title holdings;
• to ensure that land cadastral boundaries and title holdings are demarcated in such a way that community, hamlet, village, village area, town etc will be recognizable;
• to encourage and assist States and Local Governments to establish an arbitration mechanism for land ownership conflict resolution;
• to make recommendations for the establishment of a National Depository for Land Title Holdings and Records in all States of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory;
• to make recommendations for the establishment of a mechanism for land valuation in both urban and rural areas, in all parts of the Federation; and
• to make any other recommendations that will ensure effective, simplified, sustainable and successful land administration in Nigeria.

President Yar’Adua expressed faith in the collective expertise and impressive track-records of the Chairman, Professor Mabogunje and the distinguished members of the committee adding that the nation can count on the committee to acquit itself creditably and expeditiously on this task.