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From Isaac Anumihe, Abuja
Human rights advocate and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr Femi Falana, has decried a situation where over 90 per cent of land in Nigeria exists as dead capital.
Falana presented a position paper on the second day of the ongoing 30th Conference of Directors of Lands, holding in Kano today, where he gave a detailed analysis of the reform of Nigeria’s land administration system.
He stressed that over 90 per cent of Nigerian land assets currently exist as ‘dead capital’, a condition that undermines mortgage access, hinders housing development, and limits economic participation.
The human rights activist, however, urged the government to ensure that the Land4Growth remains inclusive, accessible and free of financial burden for citizens, especially vulnerable households in rural communities.
Accordingly, he called for a financing structure that places the responsibility of titling costs squarely on the government while ensuring legal enforcement and transparency at every stage of implementation.
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In a statement, he further noted that the success of the programme must go beyond digitisation and urban pilots, warning that without parallel reforms in enforcement of the Land Use Act and protection of customary rights, digitisation could simply “modernise the old inequities”.
He also advocated a stronger linkage between land titling and financing mechanisms under existing laws like the National Housing Fund and Federal Mortgage Bank frameworks, so that formal titles translate directly into real access to mortgages and mass housing delivery.
The Senior Advocate, therefore, made a strong call to action to stakeholders across government institutions, financial institutions, developers, civil society and youth to treat the Land4Growth as a national development imperative, not just a technical exercise.
“No country can develop without proper land documentation,” he declared, urging stakeholders to seize the moment to restructure Nigeria’s land sector into a transparent, equitable and economically empowering system for all citizens.
