… Says era of land grabbing, double allocation, revenue diversion over

In a major move to sanitise and modernise land administration and management in Enugu State, the governor of the state, Dr. Peter Mbah, on Monday, inaugurated the Enugu State Geographic Information System, ENGIS, describing it as a major win for the people of the South East State.

Recall that Mbah had in March this year signed into Law the Enugu State Geographic Information System Service Bill initiated by his government and passed by the Enugu State House of Assembly, stressing that it was in line with his administration’s campaign promise to automate governance process, starting with simplification and sanitisation of land administration and management in the state.

Inaugurating THE ENGIS office and system in Enugu, Mbah said, “This is not just a win for government. It is a win for Ndi Enugu as well because nothing is as important as trusting the integrity of a process. Today marks the end of the era of land grabbing, unauthorised construction, double allocations, revenue diversion,” Mbah said.

The governor explained that the milestone was in furtherance of his campaign promise to grow the state’ economy to $30bn and make it conducive for business, noting that whereas ENGIS could process an application for title in a few hours, a duration of 48 hours was stipulated to provide a buffer for other control elements built into the process.

“We had during our campaign mentioned that we were going to invest hugely in the digital sector and that we were going to ensure that we make Enugu State the number one in terms of Ease of Doing Business.

“If you look at the major indicators of the Ease of Doing Business, you would notice that two items there: the ease of obtaining your title and ease of obtaining construction permit, are core indicators.

“So, what we are launching today would enable us to accomplish our economic growth target because with the ENGIS, you are able to start and complete your application for title within 48 hours. From the comfort of your home, you can apply for titles, conduct your searches, and you get the results almost immediately.

“It is also going to create transparency in our land management and administration. Thus, the era of opacity in our land transactions is also gone because you can now view everything.

“We believe that this is going to motivate the investors a lot and is going to bring us closer to our dream of growing this economy from $4.4bn to $30bn in four to eight years. We know that we can achieve that because the value of real estate in our state is rising. You can see people troopping in.

“So, with ENGIS we are ready for business and we are open for business because we are now able to treat the title applications expeditiously,” he stated.

Mbah also congratulated his team, which he said worked extremely hard to achieve the feat in a very short time, converting to digital platforms land documents dating back to early colonial days when the entire Southern Nigeria, except Lagos, was at some point administered from Enugu.

Meanwhile, the Commissioner for Lands and Urban Development, Barr. Chimaobi Okorie and the Coordinator of ENGIS, Dr. Cyril Ezeama, explained that the ENGIS would boost the revenue profile of the state and create an advanced geospatial centre of excellence for land administration and data management.

Ezeama said, “With this system, we will enable the transparent, accurate, and efficient registration of land titles, provide reliable geospatial information and ensure sustainable geospatial management for Enugu State.

“The project is not only designed to eliminate revenue leakages, but is also projected to significantly enhance revenue generation, contributing an estimated N300bn annually to the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of Enugu State.

“ENGIS is the first of its kind in Nigeria because with this system, land applications and searches can now be initiated and completed entirely online seamlessly, conveniently, and without the need for physical visits,” he concluded.

The Speaker of the Enugu State House of Assembly, Hon. Uchenna Ugwu; Chairman of the Enugu State Traditional Rulers Council, Igwe Samuel Asadu; Council Chairman of Enugu North LGA, Hon. Ibenaku Onoh; Chairman of Enugu Branch of Nigeria Bar Association, Barr. Venatus Odoh; his Nigeria Institution of Surveyors counterpart, Surv. E.C Nnamani; Chairman, Institute of Town Planners, Enugu State, Charles Ngene; and Chairman, Enugu State House of Assembly Committee on Lands, Hon. Pius Ezeugwu, lauded Governor Mbah’s digital transformation of governance in Enugu State, pledging full support for his development agenda for the state.