By Barbara Nwaiwu
The Federal Government has reaffirmed its commitment to reforming land administration systems to expand access to affordable housing for low-income earners and informal workers, saying efficient land governance is critical to addressing Nigeria’s housing deficit.
The Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Muttaqha Darma, stated this on Thursday during the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development Day at the ongoing 20th Africa International Housing Show (AIHS).
Represented by the Director and Head of Department, Public Buildings and Housing Development, Mr Temitope Pemi, the minister spoke on the theme, “Land as a Tool for Affordable Housing for Low-Income Earners and Informal Workers in Africa.”
Darma said no affordable housing policy could succeed without an efficient, accessible, transparent and secure land administration system.
“Land remains the foundation upon which housing delivery, urban development, economic prosperity and social inclusion are built,” he said.
The minister said rapid urbanisation across Africa had widened housing deficits and placed increasing pressure on urban infrastructure, while low-income households and millions of informal workers continued to face limited access to conventional housing finance and formal land administration systems.
“Many are unable to obtain secure land titles, access mortgage finance or navigate the complexities associated with land acquisition and documentation. Consequently, the dream of homeownership remains beyond the reach of many hard-working citizens,” he said.
He said the government was simplifying land administration processes and adopting digital technologies to reduce housing costs and encourage private sector investment.
He added that the Nigerian Land Titling, Registration and Documentation Programme is designed to expand land registration and improve access to housing finance, while the ministry is advancing digital land administration through Geographic Information Systems, digital cadastral mapping and electronic land records.
The Director of the Lands and Housing Development Department, Collins Alabi, said affordable housing would remain difficult to achieve without accessible, properly documented, well-planned and serviced land.
“Without accessible, properly documented, well-planned and serviced land, the objective of providing affordable housing for Nigerians and other Africans will remain difficult to achieve,” he said.
Alabi urged governments to increase the supply of serviced land and modernise land administration systems, adding that digitising land records and ensuring transparent land allocation procedures would reduce delays, lower transaction costs and improve transparency.
In his remarks, the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Dr Shuaib Belgore, represented by the Director of Urban and Regional Planning, Mrs Margaret Adejobi, said access to affordable housing depends on making land available, secure and affordable.
“It is impossible to provide affordable housing where land is inaccessible, undocumented, insecure or prohibitively expensive,” he said.
Belgore said millions of Africans, particularly low-income earners and informal sector workers, continued to face barriers to accessing decent and affordable housing.
“If we are to provide sustainable housing solutions for low-income earners and informal workers, we must ensure that land administration systems become instruments of inclusion rather than barriers to opportunity,” he said.
He called for stronger collaboration among governments, development partners, financial institutions and private sector stakeholders to tackle Africa’s housing deficit.
