Nigeria’s land governance remains a formidable barrier to inclusive growth. Outdated tenure laws and opaque titling systems have locked away economic potential, undermining urbanisation, housing, industrialisation, and agriculture. Reform is no longer optional; it is urgent, as Nigeria’s housing deficit is severe, estimated at over 21 million units, with annual funding needs pegged at N5.5 trillion to close the gap within a decade. Meanwhile, real estate’s projected value is soaring to $2.25 trillion by the end of 2025, yet land access constraints prevent that value from translating into economic uplift across the board.
Analysing the crisis, Minister of Housing and Urban Development Ahmed Musa Dangiwa recently disclosed that approximately 97 percent of land in Nigeria lacks a formal title, rendering most plots non-collateralisable and dead capital. The Federal Government now aims to formalise 50 percent of land titles within 10 years, rolling out the National Land Titling, Registration and Documentation Programme (NLTRDP) in partnership with states and development partners.
“Institutionalise land reform at the national level, establish a National Land Commission via constitutional amendment to coordinate reforms, enforce standards, and oversee titling across federal and state levels, a role currently absent in our governance framework.”
Amid federal disinterest in this, several states have pioneered reform, like Lagos State’s Identifier Project, launched in August 2025. This initiative assigns every building a QR-coded plate linked to digital records – ownership, approvals, and utilities – boosting transparency and reducing bureaucratic friction.
The Gombe Geographic Information System (GOGIS), established in 2020 and reappointed leadership in 2023, has digitised land acquisition, ownership, and valuation, dramatically reducing land conflicts and administrative delays.
Bayelsa State, under former Governor Seriake Dickson, introduced computerisation into land administration, guaranteeing Certificate of Occupancy issuance within 30 days. This streamlining surged internally generated revenue from N50 million to over N1.2 billion monthly.
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A World Bank-supported project piloted land procedure streamlining in Cross River, Kaduna, Kano, and Lagos, achieving measurable reductions in steps, processing time, and transaction fees.
These efforts illustrate that targeted, state-led interventions, with digital tools and streamlined processes, can yield meaningful progress in land administration.
Despite these advances, land reform in Nigeria is held hostage by deeply rooted challenges, as a 2023 study reveals Nigeria ranks among the worst globally in ease of registering land, requiring 12 steps, 70 days, and costs equal to 10.5 percent of property value. Formal registration barely exceeds 3 percent of land value.
Survey data from eight states (Cross River, Benue, Bauchi, Ekiti, Enugu, Kaduna, Lagos, and FCT) show that 80 percent of beneficiaries and 41 percent of professionals report that land registration takes over two years. Information asymmetry and bureaucratic complexity remain pervasive. Estimates of dead capital tied up in untitled land range from $300 billion to $900 billion, dwarfing Nigeria’s GDP and revealing the scale of economic inactivity.
To unlock land’s economic value and propel shared prosperity, Nigeria must scale up reforms across five strategic pillars.
Institutionalise land reform at the national level, establish a National Land Commission via constitutional amendment to coordinate reforms, enforce standards, and oversee titling across federal and state levels, a role currently absent in our governance framework.
Secondly, expand and digitalise land titling by fast-tracking the NLTRDP rollout and replicating the Lagos QR system and GOGIS models nationwide. Set tangible targets, such as 10,000 e-titles per month per state, to escalate coverage. Also, eliminate bureaucracy, costs, and time frames by simplifying procedures and introducing tiered fees to align with property value. The target is reducing processing time from months or years to a matter of weeks.
And more seriously, leverage idle land for economic development by unlocking land and reducing speculation. Introduce incentives or enact land-use taxes to encourage utilisation, mirroring innovations seen in Lagos and Gombe.
To achieve this, there should be a push for reform beyond technocrats. Embed public consultations into legislation, launching media campaigns and town halls to demystify titling, champion equity, and shift cultural perceptions toward land ownership.
Land reform is not just an administrative act but a societal transformation. The examples of Lagos, Gombe, Bayelsa, and the World Bank pilots make clear that modernisation is achievable. But scaling it demands political will, intergovernmental collaboration, and a shared belief that productive land governance is foundational to economic justice.
As the minister says, formalising half of Nigeria’s land titles in a decade is audacious but necessary. Without reform, housing deficits will deepen, cities will sprawl chaotically, and citizens will continue to bear the cost of inaction. But with targeted institutional reform and digital tooling, unlocked land becomes the anchor of homes, industries, infrastructure, and opportunity.
Nigeria’s land reform must be actionable, inclusive, and unstoppable. Break restrictions, streamline systems, empower states, legislate boldly, and educate citizens. In doing so, we transform land from a limiting relic into a catalyst for shared prosperity.
