How Nasarawa crisis slowed land revenue
The cash haul of N608.6 million with the month of December alone raking in N136.1 million was realised from lands fees and charges, the source of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) where the ministry was making less than N50,000 on the average prior to the inauguration of administration of Umaru Tanko Al-Makura on May 29, 2011. Revenue […]
The cash haul of N608.6 million with the month of December alone raking in N136.1 million was realised from lands fees and charges, the source of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) where the ministry was making less than N50,000 on the average prior to the inauguration of administration of Umaru Tanko Al-Makura on May 29, 2011.
Revenue returns from the ministry in previous years show that the state earned from the same sub-sector the sum of N29.2 million in 2007; N49.9 million in 2008; N41.3 million in 2009; and N53.7 million in 2010. In 2011 which Al-Makura ran his first six months, the ministry generated N34.8 million and in 2012, the sum of N317.4 million was realised, while 2013 had N448 million and 2014 came with N608.6 million.
“We’re not even comfortable yet as a ministry, because the support the big boss, the governor himself has given us should send us fetching numbers that hit our target of not less than N5 billion from lands alone,” Sonny Agassi, the state commissioner in charge of lands said to Daily Trust.
How the cash haul was realised
August of 2014 marked the 24th month in the execution of a computerised lands administration and management project called Nasarawa Geographic Information Service (NAGIS). NAGIS is a 21st Century urbanization project which output is expected to provide the roadmap that will lead the current administration to give Nasarawa the same planned development as its big neighbour, Abuja. It was awarded at the cost of N2.7 billion. The multi-faceted project is executed by Siraj Consulting Engineers, leading a consortium of: GIS Transport, handling GIS; Aeroprecisa Limited, handling DAM; and a team of Nigeria’s leading town planners: Pragmatic Solutions Consult Nigeria, Envicons, and National Environmental Design Associates, handle the planning component.
Siraj made a projection that 24 months from last August, the state will be looking at cash haul of about N5 billion from lands alone, a projection which is tied to the NAGIS project.
The projection named three revenue components of NAGIS to include: Property Registration; Lands Fees and Charges; and Property Allocation, according to state commissioner of Lands and Urban Development.
The project suffered some setbacks arising from the waves of bloody hostilities that hit the state between 2012 when NAGIS was awarded, and much of 2013 and 2014 when the execution continued and completed. Payments trickled in minuscule as expected from a less endowed state; and coupled with the loss of confidence in doing business with Nasarawa State, much of what was expected from applicants of titles could not pour in. This is just as it was not possible to send a field team on ground to do property registration, the first component of the revenue projection, at a time parts of the state were displaced because of the wave of killings. The project, therefore, did not meet the target in goldmine.
“But there’re no compromises in terms of deliveries on the NAGIS job. The quality has not been compromised. The governor did not rest in making sure the partners delivered quality,” Agassi, a Nigerian-Canadian supervising the project had said.
He said from property registration alone, the sum of N100 million was projected at the 24th month of the project. Although this component was never implemented because of the drawbacks, the project partners including the ministry are using the projection as a recess button pressed to hit the road in target of N100 million monthly from last August.
Agassi said the ministry has procured field vehicles and has assembled the field workers on the team to commence the registration, using GPS equipment to capture the square meters of every property on ground in Karu and Lafia, and title all the properties as they are, for the purpose of generating the revenue. The team will be armed with maps and orthophotos generated from after Aeroprecisa Limited flew over the landscape of Nasarawa with light aircraft to capture every beat of what is on ground on the land size of 27,300 square kilometers.
The second component: Lands fees and charges is the only one implemented so far, to 100 percent. Here, the state has hit N1.1 billion in collection, from the target set by the project partners at the 24th month of the commencement of NAGIS. Siraj projected N1.5 billion, according to documents shown by Agassi, who also disclosed that what has been generated is over and above the projection.
“Right now, over 1000 Rights of Occupancy (RsofO) are yet to be collected by applicants, after they were generated,” Agassi said.
The third component, which is Property Allocation is also expected to come, although he was not specific about the time. He said the administration plans to acquire lands for new layouts and develop them with infrastructure to allocate plots to prospective developers from where revenue is being targeted.
Agassi named “Asokoro of Lafia”, a new layout carved out as a pilot project, where about 200 plots have been surveyed, saying after the development, the layout and many more to come as well as the two other components, Nasarawa will achieve the targeted big cash haul.
Revenue from lands charges alone edged towards a billion naira in the year ended December of 2014 in Nasarawa State, numbers at the state Ministry of Lands and urban Development have shown.
The cash haul of N608.6 million with the month of December alone raking in N136.1 million was realised from lands fees and charges, the source of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) where the ministry was making less than N50,000 on the average prior to the inauguration of administration of Umaru Tanko Al-Makura on May 29, 2011.
Revenue returns from the ministry in previous years show that the state earned from the same sub-sector the sum of N29.2 million in 2007; N49.9 million in 2008; N41.3 million in 2009; and N53.7 million in 2010. In 2011 which Al-Makura ran his first six months, the ministry generated N34.8 million and in 2012, the sum of N317.4 million was realised, while 2013 had N448 million and 2014 came with N608.6 million.
“We’re not even comfortable yet as a ministry, because the support the big boss, the governor himself has given us should send us fetching numbers that hit our target of not less than N5 billion from lands alone,” Sonny Agassi, the state commissioner in charge of lands said to Daily Trust.
How the cash haul was realised
August of 2014 marked the 24th month in the execution of a computerised lands administration and management project called Nasarawa Geographic Information Service (NAGIS). NAGIS is a 21st Century urbanization project which output is expected to provide the roadmap that will lead the current administration to give Nasarawa the same planned development as its big neighbour, Abuja. It was awarded at the cost of N2.7 billion. The multi-faceted project is executed by Siraj Consulting Engineers, leading a consortium of: GIS Transport, handling GIS; Aeroprecisa Limited, handling DAM; and a team of Nigeria’s leading town planners: Pragmatic Solutions Consult Nigeria, Envicons, and National Environmental Design Associates, handle the planning component.
Siraj made a projection that 24 months from last August, the state will be looking at cash haul of about N5 billion from lands alone, a projection which is tied to the NAGIS project.
The projection named three revenue components of NAGIS to include: Property Registration; Lands Fees and Charges; and Property Allocation, according to state commissioner of Lands and Urban Development.
The project suffered some setbacks arising from the waves of bloody hostilities that hit the state between 2012 when NAGIS was awarded, and much of 2013 and 2014 when the execution continued and completed. Payments trickled in minuscule as expected from a less endowed state; and coupled with the loss of confidence in doing business with Nasarawa State, much of what was expected from applicants of titles could not pour in. This is just as it was not possible to send a field team on ground to do property registration, the first component of the revenue projection, at a time parts of the state were displaced because of the wave of killings. The project, therefore, did not meet the target in goldmine.
“But there’re no compromises in terms of deliveries on the NAGIS job. The quality has not been compromised. The governor did not rest in making sure the partners delivered quality,” Agassi, a Nigerian-Canadian supervising the project had said.
He said from property registration alone, the sum of N100 million was projected at the 24th month of the project. Although this component was never implemented because of the drawbacks, the project partners including the ministry are using the projection as a recess button pressed to hit the road in target of N100 million monthly from last August.
Agassi said the ministry has procured field vehicles and has assembled the field workers on the team to commence the registration, using GPS equipment to capture the square meters of every property on ground in Karu and Lafia, and title all the properties as they are, for the purpose of generating the revenue. The team will be armed with maps and orthophotos generated from after Aeroprecisa Limited flew over the landscape of Nasarawa with light aircraft to capture every beat of what is on ground on the land size of 27,300 square kilometers.
The second component: Lands fees and charges is the only one implemented so far, to 100 percent. Here, the state has hit N1.1 billion in collection, from the target set by the project partners at the 24th month of the commencement of NAGIS. Siraj projected N1.5 billion, according to documents shown by Agassi, who also disclosed that what has been generated is over and above the projection.
“Right now, over 1000 Rights of Occupancy (RsofO) are yet to be collected by applicants, after they were generated,” Agassi said.
The third component, which is Property Allocation is also expected to come, although he was not specific about the time. He said the administration plans to acquire lands for new layouts and develop them with infrastructure to allocate plots to prospective developers from where revenue is being targeted.
Agassi named “Asokoro of Lafia”, a new layout carved out as a pilot project, where about 200 plots have been surveyed, saying after the development, the layout and many more to come as well as the two other components, Nasarawa will achieve the targeted big cash haul.