Stakeholders seek land reform to boost affordable housing

By : Chinedum Uwaegbulam

Date: 1 December 2025 4:20am WAT

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Chairman, Board of Trustees, Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria (REDAN), David Garnvwa (left); REDAN President, HRM Oba Akintoye Adeoye; UNILAG Vice Chancellor, Prof. Folasade Ogunsola; REDAN Life Patron, Tunde Fanimokun; Wife of late former Lagos governor, Lateef Jakande, Abimbola Jakande; Managing Director of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, Shehu Osidi; Lagos State Commissioner for Housing, Moruf Akinderu-Fatai and Founding Director, UNILAG Centre for Housing and Sustainable Development, Prof. Timothy Nubi during the 7th lateef Jakande yearly lecture in Lagos.

Chairman, Board of Trustees, Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria (REDAN), David Garnvwa (left); REDAN President, HRM Oba Akintoye Adeoye; UNILAG Vice Chancellor, Prof. Folasade Ogunsola; REDAN Life Patron, Tunde Fanimokun; Wife of late former Lagos governor, Lateef Jakande, Abimbola Jakande; Managing Director of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, Shehu Osidi; Lagos State Commissioner for Housing, Moruf Akinderu-Fatai and Founding Director, UNILAG Centre for Housing and Sustainable Development, Prof. Timothy Nubi during the 7th lateef Jakande yearly lecture in Lagos.

Stakeholders have renewed calls for a comprehensive review of the Land Use Act (LUA) to reflect current realities, particularly in areas of tenure security, registration, acquisition and compensation.

The call was made at the opening of the 3rd International Conference and Fair on Land and Development, and the 7th Lateef Jakande Lecture, organised by the University of Lagos (UNILAG) Centre for Housing and Sustainable Development (CHSD), the ARUA Centre of Excellence in Urbanisation and Habitable Cities, and the Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria (REDAN). The event was themed “Sustainable Land Development and Urban Infrastructure in Africa.”

Setting the tone for discussions, Principal Partner, Ubosi Eleh & Company, Mr Chudi Ubosi, said the LUA had slowed development across sectors. He urged stronger stakeholder engagement and improved collaboration between government, communities and the private sector.

“The government at all levels needs to act with urgency in implementing recommendations that will fast-track national development,” he said.

Ubosi also stressed the need for easier access to land titles through the removal of bureaucratic bottlenecks, robust public enlightenment, process transparency, lower costs and digitalisation, including the use of blockchain and GIS technologies.

Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Dangiwa, declared that Nigeria’s pathway to a trillion-dollar economy depends on unlocking land value through structural reforms, digitised titling, and coordinated investments in urban infrastructure.

Delivering his keynote, Dangiwa cautioned that Africa’s rapid urbanisation, 70 per cent of which is occurring in informal settlements, could escalate into a crisis if governments fail to strengthen land governance and ensure equitable access.

“Africa must not urbanise into poverty. Our cities must become engines of inclusive prosperity, resilience and productivity,” he said.

According to him, weak land administration undermines mortgage systems, infrastructure planning, compensation processes, titling, and the ability of land to serve as capital for investment.

He announced that the new National Land Registry launched last week in Kano is designed to harmonise titling processes, digitise land records, standardise service delivery and unlock over $300 billion in dead capital across states.

Represented by the Managing Director of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), Shehu Osidi, the minister directed states to commit one to three per cent of their annual budgets to land administration, with at least half dedicated to titling, digitisation, cadastral surveys and dispute resolution.

“When states invest correctly, citizens gain secure rights, investors trust the registry, mortgages become accessible, and governments generate sustainable revenue,” he said.

Describing Land4Growth as the most consequential land reform initiative in recent history, Dangiwa said its success is essential to achieving Nigeria’s trillion-dollar economic ambition.

Linking land reform with urban revitalisation, he disclosed that the Federal Government has completed over 150 slum-upgrade and renewal projects across the six geopolitical zones under the National Urban Renewal and Slum Upgrade Programme.

UNILAG Vice Chancellor, Prof. Folasade Ogunsola, noted that hosting both a major international conference and the annual Jakande Lecture provided a strategic space for rigorous engagement. She warned that Africa, expected to absorb nearly 950 million new urban residents by 2050, must act swiftly to prevent infrastructure collapse, land conflicts and worsening inequality.

“The era of fragmented planning is over. We require a paradigm shift where research, policy and industry action are fully synchronised,” she said.

She added that UNILAG continues to develop evidence-based solutions on coastal resilience, transport systems, land-use efficiency and smart urban planning.

In a message to the conference, Second Deputy President of the Association of Professional Bodies of Nigeria (APBN), Toyin Ayinde, reaffirmed the association’s commitment to advancing sustainable land development and urban infrastructure.

Ayinde, a former Lagos Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, said the conference theme reflects the urgent need to integrate land governance with infrastructure delivery for Africa’s fast-growing cities.

Earlier, President of REDAN, HRM Oba Akintoye Adeoye, commended the legacy of late Lateef Jakande, describing him as “a visionary whose social housing blueprint remains a reference point for modern governance.”

This year’s Jakande Lecture, themed “Delivering Sustainable Housing Infrastructure Finance in Nigeria,” he said, is central to addressing rising construction costs, poor financing mechanisms and the widening housing deficit.

He called for stronger public-private partnerships, innovative financing and transparent regulation to drive sustainable housing delivery. “Housing is not just a social necessity; it is a driver of economic growth, employment and national development,” he said.

Lagos State Commissioner for Housing, Moruf Akinderu-Fatai, also paid tribute to Jakande. “Jakande understood the urgency of shelter. He knew governance must be felt at the home, where families gather, where children grow, where dignity begins,” he said.

He noted that over 30,000 housing units were delivered under Jakande’s leadership using simple, functional and scalable designs targeted at civil servants and low-income earners.

“He prioritised affordability and transparency. Housing became not just a government programme but a social benefit,” he added.

Akinderu-Fatai said current challenges, economic downturns, rapid population growth and expanding informal settlements have strained housing delivery efforts, especially in Lagos, the destination of choice for millions seeking opportunity.

“The real tribute we owe him is to build on his vision, not by replicating the past, but by applying its principles to a future where families no longer choose between affordability and dignity,” he said.

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