IMPROVING THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT IN PLATEAU STATE: LAND REGISTRATION EFFORTS WITH THE SUPPORT OF GIZ IN FOCUS

 

If you are visiting here for the first time, let me quickly inform you that the platform is created purposely to advance the interest of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria and the private sector activities generally. Development oriented programmes are also covered. We equally designed activities of the Platform, to reflect our unquenchable interest in inclusion of the vulnerable community, particularly Persons-With-Disabilities (PWDs). For this reason you will be served sumptuously from time to time with updates on the contributions of the PWDs to the social and economic development efforts of Nigeria. We do this convincingly aware that the PWDs have through their tremendous achievements borne out of the desire not be a burden to the society, proven to all and sundry, over and over again that the real disability they face consistently are in the society not the impairment that other people see in them. This revelation is a glaring indication that the PWDs do not need pity, but provisions of the right infrastructure to enable them do even more.

Moving straight into the discussion proper, I wish to draw attention to my earlier promise of identifying with activities that seek to address the Business Enabling Environment (BEE) constraints in Nigeria. I will be doing this taking a cue from the activities of Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit, which for ease of understanding/pronunciation is also referred to as the German Development Agency: GIZ.

According to the Donor Committee for Enterprise Development (DCED) the Business Environment (BE) is composed of policy, legal, institutional, and regulatory conditions that govern business activities. In the same manner the World Bank Doing Business Survey identified the frameworks and processes below as the key aspects of the business environment in Nigeria. They are:

• The framework and process for Business registration
• The framework and process for Obtaining construction permit
• The framework and process for Enforcing contracts, and
• The framework and process for Registering property

Registration of property, the subject of this discourse, is the last item in the list above. Focusing on Plateau state where the GIZ has and is still doing a whole lot to improve the business environment of the state, the improvements so far recorded in Property registration through GIZ facilitated programmes will be shared in this piece. The heartwarming achievements are fundamental for MSMEs development and the growth of not just Plateau state but Nigeria generally.

Before more is said with regard to the above, let me note that Registration of property refers to Land registration, which is climaxed by obtaining the Certificate of Occupancy or C of O. Simply put, property registration means securing the Governor’s consent or approval, for the use of the registered property. The processes of obtaining the “C of O” or securing the Governor’s approval are initiated and concluded at the Plateau state ministry of lands and survey. Property Registration does not immediately translate to a permission to embark on the development of the property (land), in the form of value addition, for example erecting a building on it. Approval for this phase is handled by another government Unit, the property development unit, known as the Jos Metropolitan Development Board (JMDB). For any other activities on the approved property, example farming, the relevant or appropriate Ministry, Department or Agency (MDA), saddled with the responsibility for such approval is approached or contacted. Truth be told, these procedures are not as simple as I have made them look. The idea for now is not to discuss the nitty-gritty. Before the emergence or involvement of the GIZ in the Property registration of Plateau state the challenges that necessitated the inclusion of Property Registration as one of the BEE issues were still very much prevalent as constraints to the development of the MSMEs in Nigeria. The challenges include:

• The number of steps or processes involved before a property (land) is registered
• The time or duration required to complete the process
• The financial involvement, or cost implication of the exercise

Added to the number of steps, are long processes and procedures involved in each step, and in each of the processes, including the very slow pace with which activities leading to the registration of properties were conducted. The resultant effects of this very nasty experience were prolonged hours and days that culminate into several weeks and months: long duration. If this is presented as an equation, the whole scenario will be captured in this format: 

Multiple steps + slow processes per step = long duration

Recognizing the fact that each of the steps and the processes involved have cost or financial implication attached, which citizens, including public commentators, economic analysts and development experts, unanimously affirmed was very high, our equation is adjusted to accommodate the new development:

Long duration + high cost per step = cumbersome or difficult business terrain (inefficiency)

It is this cumbersome or difficult business terrain arising from the challenges of Property Registration at the Plateau state Ministry of Lands and Survey that the GIZ has helped to dismantle, and improvement recorded in the activities of the Ministry in Property Registration in Plateau state. More on what the GIZ did in this regard to change the ugly narratives associated with Business Enabling Environment in the State will feature prominently in this platform in our subsequent publication.

Nnabugwu Chizoba

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