The Federal Government has announced plans to overhaul Nigeria’s land administration system as part of a major reform effort aimed at unlocking an estimated $300 billion in dead capital. The Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Dangiwa, made this known in Kano at the opening of the 30th Conference of Directors of Lands in Federal and State Ministries, Departments and Agencies. The conference is themed Nigeria Land Titling, Registration and Documentation Programme (NLTRDP): Implementation Mission.
Dangiwa said the reform was designed to support economic development across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. He explained that the government was shifting from long-standing discussions to real action, noting that effective land administration remained central to the national development agenda under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda. He recalled that since his first meeting with land directors in Lagos in 2023, he had repeatedly stressed the need for deep reforms to improve housing delivery, agriculture, urban renewal and investment growth.
According to him, the introduction of the Nigeria Land Titling, Registration and Documentation Programme, also known as Land4Growth, represents a major step toward modernising land governance nationwide. He said the initiative was developed in partnership with state governments and the World Bank to deliver a harmonised approach to land registration, documentation and titling. Dangiwa described as unacceptable the reality that less than five per cent of land in Nigeria was formally registered. He said this situation had trapped millions of citizens in economic stagnation by preventing access to collateral, credit and secure property ownership.
He noted that Nigeria’s poor ranking on the World Bank’s Registering Property index was a direct consequence of outdated and cumbersome land processes, excessive bureaucracy and inconsistent regulations that discourage both local and foreign investment. Dangiwa said ongoing digitisation efforts in several states had already shown clear benefits. He mentioned AGIS in the FCT, KADGIS in Kaduna, KANGIS in Kano, EDOGIS in Edo and NAGIS in Nasarawa as systems that had improved efficiency, boosted revenue and restored public confidence.
The minister outlined the key pillars of the Land4Growth programme to include the standardisation of procedures nationwide, expansion of systematic land titling, digitisation of registries, strengthening of legal frameworks and unlocking land-based financing for states and citizens. He added that unlocking even a fraction of undocumented land would significantly increase Internally Generated Revenue, expand access to credit and boost growth in agriculture, housing, industry and infrastructure.
Dangiwa encouraged state governments to position themselves properly within the Land4Growth framework, explaining that states currently fall into three groups: front-runners, emerging reformers and lagging states. He said he hoped that the 2025 conference would serve as a strategic turning point. According to him, by the next edition, all states should be able to present measurable progress reports on land titling and how it contributes to their Internally Generated Revenue and the country’s Gross Domestic Product.
Speaking earlier, the Kano State Commissioner for Land and Physical Planning, Abduljabar Umar, said the state had recorded notable progress in land administration reforms under the leadership of Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf. Umar explained that the state embarked on comprehensive reforms to restore order, protect public land, modernise the system and place citizens at the centre of governance.
He stated that before 2023, land administration in Kano faced issues ranging from disorganised records and illegal layouts to double allocations and weak GIS infrastructure, which weakened public trust. He added that the reforms, tagged The Kano Experience, reflect improvements in institutional restructuring, digitisation, capacity building and legal reforms. Umar said the state also removed land speculators who had operated freely for decades and influenced documentation and decisions within the ministry.
