NIESV advocates for repeal of Land Use Act

• Says 90% of lands yet to be registered

Indication has emerged from the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers,(NIESV) that over 90 per cent of lands in the country were yet to be registered as NIESV calls for the abrogation of the Land Use Act in Nigeria.

The President of NIESV, Emmanuel Wike, who  made this disclosure at the unveiling of its 2020/2021 conference logo created for its 51st anniversary in Abuja, said the real estate remained one of the vital sectors that could revamp the economy and build it to better and valuable form.

Wike said, “We have been advocating for the abrogation of Land Use Act because we have been told that over 90 per cent of lands in Nigeria are not registered.

“That is an untapped potential because what this means is that you cannot use any land that is not registered for financial transaction. You can only use land that is registered so that is an untapped potential we have not looked into.”

President of NIESV posited that there are a lot of untapped potential in the real estate sector, stressing that the government should invest more in the sector to unleash the untapped potential.

He disclosed that even though the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus had affected the profession negatively, yet there were a lot of positive lessons to learn from the disruption caused by the pandemic.

Wike lamented that “Most of our members are into real estate construction and into project management and they could not find building materials and some in the financial sector are affected because they are people who carry out valuation of project.

“Also, it affected those in the facility and property management because most of us cannot collect rent on behalf of the property owners. We should look more on the positive sides because we have been able to develop some applications using the Information Communication Technology that aid our work.”

Wike stressed that the rise in the cost of property in the country was as a result of the astronomical rise in the cost of building.

According to him, the unveiling of the logo was a repackaged and rebranded product, designed to give the profession a more distinct identity.