By Kunle Somorin
On October 27, 2021, at the Ogun Tech Hub in Abeokuta, Governor Dapo Abiodun launched the Ogun State Land Administration and Revenue Management System (OLARMS) online portal as part of efforts to enhance land administration and seamless land service in the state.
The portal is expected to bring much-needed sanity to land administration and create an opportunity for the residents of the state and the general public to carry out land services issues more efficiently.
Speaking at the launch of OLARMS online portal, Prince Abiodun explained what the management system was envisioned to achieve. “OLARMS has its primary focus on areas such as titles ratification module for those that have built properties on government land that is under acquisition. These applicants can utilize the portal to perfect property titles and obtain their Certificate of Occupancy, including those who had enrolled in the Home Owners Charter Programme. Our ambition is that applicants should receive their title documents within 30 days of full payment,” he said.
Indeed, the launch of OLARMS online portal has demonstrated, once again, the commitment of the present administration in Ogun State to continue to build an assured future together with the people by constantly seeking to improve how business is conducted in the state. Abiodun recently told virtual participants at the Nigeria-British Chamber of Commerce (NBCC) webinar that part of his administration’s efforts to boost investment and development in the state was to embark on policy and regulatory reforms, including the restructuring of land acquisition process to remove all bottlenecks and red tapes.
He said then that the Ogun State Land Administration and Revenue Management Systems (OLARMS) was being implemented to digitalise land acquisition for both ease and efficiency, with an upgraded Geographic Information System (GIS) for a more transparent land administration.
Again, with the launch of OLARMS, Abiodun has delivered on yet another promise.
Diligent management of the state’s land is an essential part of the development and planning. Therefore, to be able to oversee the present and future wealth, wellbeing and prosperity of the people of Ogun State, OLARMS becomes an effective land administration platform that will improve and simplify land administrative processes in Ogun State.
The Dapo Abiodun-led administration in Ogun State believes that by making the process of registering property, obtaining government permits and establishing a single registry for transactions, OLARMS will improve the ease of dealing with the Ogun State concerning property and land. It will also make publicly accessible information on ownership of lands and properties centralised and easy to use.
With the core values of administering services transparently and efficiently; reducing waiting times; and improving revenue generation, OLARMS is set to address some of the perennial challenges in land acquisition and management experience in the state. For instance, under its Property Registration Programme (PRP), the Ogun State government requires all structures to be documented, licensed and registered to safeguard the community.
OLARMS portal will therefore offer those who have encroached on the state government’s land in different parts of the state an opportunity to get title documents for such land via PRP, in an official pardon programme that lasts till November 30, 2021.
Relevant agencies within the government are supposed to pay inspection visits to structures, allocate adequate resources, as well as enforce fees, taxes and fines. PRP is therefore set up to regularise illegal structures, ensuring the state has an accurate assessment of existing structures and boundaries.
It is believed PRP will also reduce cases of encroachment as the state uses the information to create a roadmap, allowing the government to properly plan development and conservation, as well as generate revenue for the current and future development of the state.
According to Ogun State Commissioner for Finance and the Chief Economic Adviser, Dapo Okubadejo, OLARMS will also cater for Certificate of Occupancy (CofO) applications submitted by property owners in Ogun State who applied through the Home Owners Charter (HOC) scheme of the previous administration upon full payment.
The HOC was a programme embarked upon by the previous administration to give people a window of opportunity to ratify and regularise their titles, particularly with respect to land that had been encroached on or properties that did not have the necessary approval. However, bureaucracy, clumsiness in processing, corruption and litigation halted the progress of the scheme.
It is not difficult to see why the implementation of a land management system is crucial to growth and development in Ogun State. In its 2021 second-quarter report for investment announcement, the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) put the estimated investment into Ogun State at $500 million, making the state the preferred investment destination representing 30 per cent of the total announcement in the quarter under review. Since May 2019, the present administration has made a commitment to investing in infrastructure, technology, human capital and strong structural institutions as part of its investment drive. And, understanding that no one wants to live and/or invest in a place where land administration, acquisition and management processes are chaotic, the state has put in place a trustworthy and accessible digital platform that will provide unparalleled quality in the administration of land products and services.
When it comes to land resources, Ogun State is in a peculiar situation. The state has intricate proximity to Lagos and bears a gateway status to the West African market through the Benin Republic. Ogun also shares either land or water (or both) boundaries with five neighbouring. Thus, meticulous management of its land resources is essential to its immediate and future prosperity and development. With the investment in OLARMS, therefore, it is easier to locate, plan, assess and obtain permits for land use in the state.
“The state government recognises that landed assets are arguably the most beneficial asset any government or people have at their disposal to bring about prosperity. And that is why the state government has taken this step to ensure an enabling environment is put in place via the implementation of an effective land administration system that would support the aspirations of her people,” Okunadejo said.
OLAMS became necessary as a result of the challenges associated with land acquisition, management and administration, some of which Okunadejo identified as: long and prolonged issuance of CofOs; inefficient manual processes with largely 100 per cent human intervention; public distrust in land administration processes; judicial entanglement; indiscriminate and unapproved property development; inefficient and insufficient property ownership and title documentation; and inefficient management of the state resources.
It is understandable why ease of doing business has been one of the priorities of the present government in Ogun. Governor Abiodun always emphasises that the state’s ease of doing business credentials must match its yearning for investment. “We continue to make efforts to improve the State’s ranking on the local and global ease of doing business index so as to promote and encourage local and foreign direct investment in the State,” he said.
One of the measures attributed to this continued improvement was the establishment of the Business Environment Council in September 2019.
The council has been implementing reforms aimed at harmonising and streamlining regulations for industrial development in the state. And since it covers industrial, commercial and residential property, the ease, transparency and efficiency which come with OLAMS can only portend more investment and revenue for a state whose government is doing all it can to challenge the stereotypes around diversification and the economic viability of states.