FG Partners UK Valuation Body on Review of Compensation for Publicly-owned Land
CHIGOZIE AMADI
The Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development has begun a partnership with the Central Association of Agricultural Valuers (CAAV), a UK-based professional body specialising in agricultural and rural valuation.
The collaboration, a statement from the ministry said yesterday, aims to leverage the expertise, knowledge and experience of CAAV towards finalising the long overdue review and update of methodologies for compensation rates for public land acquisition in Nigeria, with a focus on crops and economic trees.
Speaking on the first day of the Knowledge Exchange Programme in London, the Minister of State for Housing and Urban Development, Tijani Gwarzo, emphasized the significance of the partnership.
He stated that this was in the context of Nigeria’s ongoing land reforms, noting that the programme marked a critical step in the country’s efforts to review, update and harmonise land compensation rates and standards in line with global best practices.
“This collaboration is vital to our ongoing reforms, designed to tackle the systemic challenges in land governance and administration. By leveraging the specialist knowledge of institutions like CAAV, we are confident in developing a framework that is both effective and sustainable,” Gwarzo said in the statement.
Under President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, the ministry said it has embarked on comprehensive land reforms aimed at addressing bottlenecks and inefficiencies in the country’s land value chains.
One of the core aspects of these reforms, it stressed, is the review of outdated compensation rates that had been in use since 2008.
During his remarks, Gwarzo highlighted the challenges faced in implementing the Land Use Act of 1978, which defines the process of compulsory land acquisition and compensation for affected landowners.
These challenges, he explained, include the outdated compensation rates and the absence of a nationwide, scientifically grounded structure for determining compensation.
To address these issues, the Nigerian government, through its National Technical Development Forum (NTDF) on Land Administration, Gwarzo said, has been working on developing a revised compensation regime.
The partnership with CAAV, he explained , is expected to provide critical insights and methodologies for ensuring that compensation rates are updated in real time and meet international standards.
“Our engagement with CAAV will enable us to apply critical professional input in the work we have already done to finalise and develop national reference rates for compensating crops and economic trees in public land acquisition.
“ This will help us implement a dynamic, updatable, and scientifically based central repository of rates for use in various projects,” the minister added.
The meeting featured technical presentations by the Lead Consultant to the Ministry on the draft Compensation Rates Methodology, Prof. Olurotimi Kemiki and Secretary and Adviser CAAV, Jeremy Moody.
In his presentation, Moody said the association was pleased to work with the ministry towards achieving its objectives.
The knowledge exchange programme will continue throughout the week, with both parties expected to share valuable insights and experiences, a statement by Mark Chieshe, the Special Assistant to the minister in the ministry, Ahmed Musa, on Media and Strategy, said.
The outcomes from the engagement, he said, will contribute to the ministry’s final report, which is scheduled to be presented in October 2024.
“The Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development remains committed to ensuring that land acquisition processes in Nigeria are fair, transparent, and in line with global standards,” the statement added.
