The Ondo State Governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, has identified inconsistent land policies, uncoordinated execution of polices with poor monitoring and evaluation as factors militating against effective governance of the land sector.
Inaugurating an 11-man Land Reform Committee at the Cocoa Conference Hall of his office in Akure, he said upon the constitution of the State Executive Council, he directed the Ministry of Lands and Housing to urgently encourage, and explore possible means of correcting all the observed lapses and anomalies of the past in the land resource sector of the state.
According to him, the Ministry was mandated to focus on acquisition of land, both public and private, Procurement of title deed to land, Commercialization through land use charge, digitization of the land process, Mapping of the state, Legal reforms, Management and Monitoring of land.
A statement by the press officer to the Governor, Mr Bode Akinwumi, said that he added that the leadership of the Ministry of Land and Housing was encouraged to embark on measures which included peer review trips to other states to ensure the institution of enduring policies around the land sector.
“This became imperative for obvious reasons as this administration needs to break grounds to shore up the revenue base of the statein order to meet its ever increasing demand and be responsive to people’s needs.
“Our major desire was to undertake measures aimed at tapping all vital resources to strengthen the state’s social-economic base.
“One major means is to embark on aggressive land reform that will not only enhance our revenue generation capacity, but would provide a secured environment for prospective and potential investors. It is the only sure way to instill confidence in the system”, he said.
The governor expressed confidence that the reform would be comprehensive, pragmatic and simple enough to enable people of the state buy into its overall goal which is to enable government improve the quality of life of the people.
He added that efficient governance and responsible use of land would attract large scale agricultural investments adding that it would enhance job creation through entrepreneurship and industrialization.
Akeredolu listed terms of reference under which the Land Reform Committee will operate to include Review of existing land reform activities in the state, Review of implementation of Presidential Technical Committee on Land Reform (PTCLR), Assessment of Word Bank Ease of Doing Business Index, and Data Gathering for centralized land repositioning among others.
He assured that the Committee’s recommendations will be instrumental to charting a new course for the state as regards the most valuable sector upon which other variables rest.
He charged members of the committee to be more efficient in discharging their duties, even as they consider useful suggestions more valuable in their assignments.
Earlier, the Commissioner for Lands and Housing, Mr Donald Ojogo had noted that the Committee embarked on series of trips and the outcome showed that there is need for a holistic, more enduring and effective land management and acquisition system in Ondo state.
He said the committee particularly took cognizance of the projections in the State’s Development Blueprint otherwise known as the Strategic Policy Development and Implementation Committee report with focus on the land aspect.
“We observed that the State, with a total landmass of about 15,500 sphere kilometers and having a population of about 3.6 people would be under pressure to effectively manage the available land which informed our collaboration with land experts on how best we could come up with policies that would be enduring.
“The Committee came up with a lot of measures that would eradicate human errors in the administration and acquisition of land in the state,” he said.
The Commissioner stated that the Land Reform Committee would ensure that policies are initiated and developed for proper implementation with minimum errors in administration and management of land.
Responding on behalf of the Committee, its Secretary, Mr Wale Adegoke thanked the Governor for the opportunity given the Committee to serve, and assured that they will not compromise the confidence reposed in them.
He stated that the Committee would focus on the best practices of purposeful land administration system that would drive revenue generation and investment to the state which would ultimately create job opportunities.
“Without effective land governance, as population grows, there would be issues on proper allocation of lands, not just for investment, but there would be social tension.
“The Committee will chart a way forward and present recommendations that would ensure that land is effectively managed within the best practice.
“We will also ensure inter-agency collaboration in the use of land data as well as delivering value and unlock the economic potentials of land in the state”, he stated.
The 11-man Committee members has former Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Akure, FUTA, Prof Peter Adeniyi as its Chairman; Commissioner for Lands and Housing, Ojogo as Co-Chairman while Mr Wale Adegoke will serve as Secretary.
Members of the Committee include Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Prince Solagbade Amodeni; Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Lands and Housing, Engr Alex Aragbaiye; Acting Surveyor-General; SSA to the Governor on Agriculture and Agribusiness, Pastor Akin Olotu, a representative each of ONDIPA, and Ondo State Board of Internal Revenue, BIR, SSA to the Governor on ICT and Director Deed from the Ministry of Lands and Housing.
