- Minister, experts reiterate commitment to unlocking economic power of land in Nigeria
The Lagos State Government on Tuesday unveiled the pilot phase of its innovative “Identifier” project, a comprehensive digital addressing system designed to streamline geographic house numbering and street naming across the State.
The project, which will kick off in Ikeja, the state capital, next week, was unveiled by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu at the sideline of the Nigeria Land Titling, Registration and Documentation Programme (NLTRDP) organised by the Lagos State Office of Electronic Geographic Information System (e-GIS) and Urban Development in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, at Victoria Island.
The digital house numbering system, a sophisticated approach designed to allocate a unique digital identity to each building throughout Lagos State, will play a crucial role in facilitating seamless navigation for emergency responders, utility personnel, and local residents, thereby enhancing the overall efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery.
Speaking during the display of the house numbering plates, Governor Sanwo-Olu said the project is aimed at providing a unique digital identity to every property, enhancing navigation, service delivery, and overall urban management.
He said: “Lagos digital house numbering system is a novel idea. It is about technology, and that is one of the things that we are trying to achieve: using technology as a strong enabler to be able to resolve all our land issues, where from the comfort of your house you can access and resolve land title issues.
“It is still a journey, and we are not there yet, but this digital house numbering system is really more about ensuring that if you can get the address of a property, all the information that is needed on that property can be accessed, and people will see it.”
Speaking about the Nigeria Land Titling, Registration and Documentation Programme, Governor Sanwo-Olu commended the Federal Government for the Renewed Hope Agenda initiative to unlock the economic power of land.
Governor Sanwo-Olu said electronic land documentation is the only way forward to reduce physical interference and build a future where land rights are secured.
Also speaking, the Special Adviser to the Governor on e-GIS and Urban Development, Dr Olajide Babatunde, said Lagos State Government is committed to the project embedded with QR codes and local government-specific colour codes for easy identification.
He said the digital house numbering system project is a significant step towards modernising Lagos’ infrastructure and improving the quality of life for its residents.
Dr Babatunde said with the successful implementation of the “Identifier project”, Lagos State expects to see improvements in security, revenue generation, and overall efficiency in service delivery.
He said: “House numbering and documentation has to do with ownership. So one of the byproducts of titling and documentation in land administration is also house numbering and digital addressing systems. So this is a digital addressing system.
“The digital house numbering is part of technology, and at the back end, we have all the information that we can share with the public. You can scan the QR code to get the information about a land, particularly bills and some other important information that we may need to know whether a building has an approval or not. We are now in the age of technology. We need to embrace technology.”
Speaking earlier, the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Arc. Ahmed Dangiwa, announced plans to improve land title to 50 per cent in the next 10 years as part of the efforts being put in place to unlock the economic power of land in Nigeria.
He said the initiative is aimed at modernising land administration and making land a viable asset for wealth creation, house delivery and inclusive growth, noting that states will retain full control over land administration.
According to the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, over 97 per cent of land in Nigeria is not formally titled, limiting its use as collateral for loans and its value in property transactions.
He noted that with this initiative, all other states can now commence digitisation of land registries, integrate geographic information systems and adopt global best practices which have already been implemented in Lagos State.
