UNILAG land confab highlights urgency of inclusive urban growth

L—R: David Garnvwa, Chairman, Board of Trustees, Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria (REDAN), Akintoye Adeoye, REDAN President; Folasade Ogunsola, UNILAG Vice Chancellor; Tunde Fanimokun, REDAN Life Patron; Abimbola Jakande, Wife of late former Lagos governor, Lateef Jakande; Shehu Osidi, MD, Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria; Moruf Akinderu-Fatai, Lagos State Commissioner for Housing, and Timothy Nubi, Founding Director, UNILAG Centre for Housing and Sustainable Development, at the 7th Lateef Jakande annual lecture in Lagos recently.

The University of Lagos on Tuesday opened the 3rd International Conference and Fair on Land and Development alongside the 7th Lateef Jakande Annual Lecture, bringing together academics, policymakers, industry leaders, and government officials to discuss sustainable land use and infrastructure development across Africa.

The three-day event, organised by the Centre for Housing and Sustainable Development (CHSD), had as theme, ‘Sustainable Land Development and Urban Infrastructure in Africa.’

In his welcome address, Professor Timothy Nubi, director of CHSD, said the conference was designed to forge practical solutions that cities across the continent urgently need.

“Over the next three days, we will explore innovative finance models, climate-resilient designs and community-led solutions,” he said. “We will use this platform to forge collaborations, challenge assumptions and, most importantly, leave here with concrete actions that can be implemented in Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Port Harcourt, and beyond.”

In her opening speech, Professor Folasade Ogunsola, vice chancellor, urged stakeholders across Africa to embrace innovation, collaboration, and inclusive planning to address the continent’s urban development challenges.

Acknowledging the enduring legacy of Lateef Jakande, Ogunsola described him as “a simple man, a humble man, but a man that carried a great burden to lift people out of poverty and to make life better.” She noted that his vision for affordable housing empowered ordinary Nigerians to aspire to home ownership, a spirit that continues to inspire urban development efforts today.

The Vice-Chancellor highlighted the urgency of addressing Africa’s rapid urbanisation, pointing out that by 2050, cities on the continent will accommodate an additional 950 million people. In Nigeria alone, the population is projected to reach nearly 400 million.

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“This growth must be managed, and how we do so will determine whether it is an economic opportunity or a serious catastrophe,” she warned.

Delivering the lead paper titled “Navigating Complexity: Land Policy and Urban Infrastructure Development in Africa,” Chudi Ubosi, principal partner at Ubosi Eleh & Co., highlighted the challenges posed by Nigeria’s land administration framework.

He noted, “Less than 10% of [Nigeria’s] land area has title. A few years ago, we actually did a survey and found out that in the entire country, there were less than 600,000 certificates of occupancy. In the entire country. Less than 10% of Nigeria, the whole land mass has title.”

Ubosi emphasised the implications of the Land Use Act on urban growth, noting how the legislation vests all land in state governments and often delays or obstructs development.

“Even with the Land Use Act, even with the fact that the governor can take your land, even the governor cannot enter certain lands…There has to be a lot more stakeholder engagement so that these developments that we want will come,” he said.

Highlighting the need for modernisation, Ubosi added, “The Land Use Act will be changed. It must be brought to the realities of modern times. This is a document that is nearly 50 years old. And nothing has changed in it. Not even the fact that we have mobile phones now. We didn’t have mobile phones 50 years ago.”

The conference also featured discussions on innovative financing, climate-resilient designs, and community-led solutions to urban challenges across Africa. Speakers emphasised collaboration between academia, industry, and government to drive sustainable and inclusive urban growth.

Taofeek Oyedokun is a correspondent at BusinessDay with years of experience reporting on political economy, public policy, migration, environment/climate change, and social justice. A graduate of Political Science from the University of Lagos, he has also earned multiple professional certificates in journalism and media-related training. Known for his clear, data-driven reporting, Oyedokun covers a wide range of national and international socioeconomic issues, bringing depth, balance, and public-interest focus to his work.

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