The Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV), a body representing all Estate Surveyors and Valuers in the country, has urged all levels of government to repeal the Land Use Act from the Nigeria Legal System in order to remove all bottlenecks that impede the smooth application and documentation of land titles and land allocations.

Speaking at ahead of 53rd Annual Conference of NIESV holding in Ilorin, Kwara State capital, Johnbull Amayaevbo, the President and Chairman of NIESV, declared that quite a number of clauses in the Act are archaic and no longer fashionable with current trends in the industry, saying if Nigeria must be ranked high in the World Bank Ranking on Ease of Doing Business, unhindered and easy access to land, landed property and land title documents must be properly looked into.

Amayaevbo told the media in Ilorin on Monday that the Federal Government and some state governments that combined the Ministries of Works and Housing should unbundle them for easier management, adding that a Ministry of Land and Housing should be established instead of the Ministry of Works and Housing.

"The Act has long been overdue to be removed from the Constitution so that it can be easily amended." You don't just leave anything like that on Land for 45 years when things change all the time. We beg both the federal and state governments to remove it because it has no bearing on their respective powers.

"One of the major clauses in that Land Use Act is that the land is entrusted in the citizen of the State and in the Government of that State; remember, you are in the Government today and will not be there tomorrow."

"Land is very important in production and should be viewed as a true tool for economic development and growth." Governments must concentrate inward on land issues, which, if correctly managed, will have a significant impact on our IGR. "The government should create the Ministry of Land and Housing rather than the Ministry of Works and Housing that we currently have," he stated.

He did, however, urge the President Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government to take tough measures against corruption, which he said had infiltrated almost all sectors, explaining that the theme of the Conference, "Asset Valuation as a Global Anti-Corruption Tool: The Nigeria Experience," is aimed at developing effective policies and strategies to combat corruption and improve transparency in the system.

Source: Businessday.ng