Nigeria needs ministry of lands, not housing

There is no law in Nigeria that regulates the operations of the property market and that is a big mistake. The factors of production are land, labour, capital and entrepreneurship. But how comes that for a resource like land, in Nigeria there is no ministry or a department that will be bringing out policies of […]

There is no law in Nigeria that regulates the operations of the property market and that is a big mistake.

The factors of production are land, labour, capital and entrepreneurship.

But how comes that for a resource like land, in Nigeria there is no ministry or a department that will be bringing out policies of government that are tied to the economy.

Every land-related policy that will be issued should have a link with the fiscal policy of the economy. The finance ministry will tell you this year we are removing tariff on rice, or CBN and its fiscal policies, but for land, the Land Use Act has locked the opportunities to make policies. However, the governors are given the go ahead because they are empowered to issue regulations under the act.

There is no law that regulates the real estate market and that is why it is difficult to bring out the best from that sector hence the need to really have a special ministry of lands tied to the national economy.

We have a ministry for labour in Nigeria to regulate labour matters, a ministry of finance and economic planning and the CBN to handle financial and economic issues and for entrepreneurship we have ministry of trade and investments and SMEDAN, among others. These form a triangle within a square of production. What is missing is a Ministry of Lands. What we have is a Ministry of Housing, while housing is a product of land.

So we should have a ministry of lands with a housing department under it, not vice versa. This ministry will be churning out land policies along with the governors in line with government’s economic policies. 

Adamu Kasimu is an Abuja-based estate surveyor and valuer