The Edo State Government has said it is leveraging technology to boost investment inflow into the state, facilitate ease of doing business, and promote business growth through the land administration reforms by the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led administration.
Speaking to journalists in Benin City, Managing Director of the Edo Geographic Information Service (EdoGIS), Grace Aihie, noted that the ease and convenience in processing title documents for landed property and the improved land administration system has opened the state for economic growth and attracted several investors.
“We have done so much to enhance the ease of doing business through our reforms in land administration. Ease of doing business comprises that the investors should have a fair playing ground and the people should be carried along to understand what the investors have come to do.
“ So, what we do is sit together and discuss. Where there are problems, we look at the problems and look for a solution and everybody agrees, then we go on. That is the ease of business we are talking about.
“We have ensured that businesses and investors don’t have bottlenecks that are stopping them from doing their business. We also make the people understand that if they cooperate with the investors, they are likely going to get employment and other benefits,” she said.
The EdoGIS MD said since the beginning of the new technology that the state has deployed, many things had changed.
According to her, land grabbing has reduced drastically and there’s no more loss of investment or capital.
“ Before now, some people would just go and buy land without conducting a search and when they come to EdoGIS, they see that the property is either mortgaged or does not belong to the person who sold it to them. There is a loss of investment there.
“But what I keep saying is that you should conduct a search. If you are going to buy land for N100 million, you just need N25,000 to find out if that land is free from all encumbrances.
“ If you do that, and we tell you, ‘Yes, it is John that owns the land, then you are good to go. Then, if there is already a C-of-O and you come for the same land, there is an overlap and we cannot continue. We stop there and call those involved, communities even come,” she added.
She explained that for issues that cannot be immediately resolved, they are referred to the court to decide who the owner is.
“When they send in the judgement, we accept and implement it. Because of all this, the issue of double-dealing has been drastically reduced,” she added.
