Unilag, centre move to shore up Lagos land development

To proffer a lasting solution to housing, two organisations have initiated a platform to accelerate land development and administration in Lagos State.

The platform tagged, International Conference on Land and Development in Lagos, pioneered by University of Lagos Research and Innovation office, Akoka and Centre for Housing and Sustainable Development Studies is aimed at bringing together experts and stakeholders to discuss various issues relating to land in metropolitan Lagos.

Convener of the conference, Prof Rufus Akinleye said Land is the true wealth of nations and the basis on which civilization and development are constructed as well as the ultimate resource of the biosphere, the physical aspect of the earth upon which the foundation of other components is built.

According to him, critical stakeholders in the housing sector in and out of the country are invited to show case what they have to offer in Land Use, management, conflicts, identity, power relations, policies, researches on land in its multifarious dimensions.

Prof Akinleye said the choice of University of Lagos was borne out of its ability to deploy her multi disciplinary faculties to address the problem of land in the state.

He stressed that the event is aimed at localizing what is being done by the Presidential Technical Committee on Land Reform in Abuja in Lagos.

“The government is looking for solution to the issue of land charges and the conference provides an avenue to bring everybody to a roundtable.

Also, the co-chairman of the Local Organising Committee, Prof Wellington Oyibo said the issue of land is critical and the conference is a pathway towards national resource management vis avis Lagos location and surrounding environment , population and business activities..

The platform provides a roundtable for academia, government and other stakeholders to be able to interface in a genuine reasoning.

According to him, the conference resonates current thinking and plan of the institution in research and engagement into problem solving.

The three-day event themed: “ Land and Development in Lagos”, has sub themes as Land tenure system, land valuation, land use historical, political and social evolution, land Development, spatial data infrastructure and land development, as well as land management policy and advocacy.

The conference scheduled for October 24-26, at the University of Lagos Jelili Omotola Multipurpose Halls, Prof Akinleye said, will assist the government in formulating appropriate land policies.

The conference will feature exhibitions on the side by interested practitioners and stakeholders in the land use and development value chain including proprietors of land for sale, housing estate developers, housing plan and mortgage schemes providers, rent-to-own schemes, land reclamation and dredging companies, industrial and mixed use land developers and surveyors and valuers.

Lagos State governor, Akinwunmi Ambode is the Special Guest of honour, while Senator Gbenga Ashafa is the guest of honour.

The keynote speakers include Professor Peter Nwilo, former surveyor-general of Nigeria, Professor Peter Adeniyi, Chairman of the Presidential Technical Committee on Land Use and Land Reforms and Dr. Mika-Petteri Torhonem, Lead Land Administration Specialist of the World Bank.