United Kingdom (UK) Secretary of State for International Development Alok Sharma yesterday lauded Vice President Yemi Osinbajo for his role in driving the Ease of Doing Business reforms.
Speaking during a meeting with the vice president at the State House in Abuja, the UK official also commended Nigeria for moving up 24 places in the World Bank Ease of Doing Business Ranking.
On the specific issue of land registry, he noted how the process was simplified in the UK using technology.
Osinbajo and the UK Secretary, among other issues, discussed the rehabilitation of the Northeast and how the British could support the process going forward.
The vice president said Nigeria can benefit from the UK in its ongoing reform of the business environment by learning from how the British resolved similar challenges.
According to a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, the vice president said: “One of the critical issues with the ease of doing business is with respect to the registration of property and how the process is long drawn.”
He noted that while states such as Lagos and Kano have done well with issues around land registration, there are still some outstanding issues.
According to him, this is an area where the UK and Nigeria can collaborate.
“I think one of the ways by which we could get some help is in the whole land registry concept”, the vice president noted.
He added that Lagos State had such collaboration when he was serving there.
According to him, the UK “gave us quite a bit of help in establishing what was used in Lagos State land registry years ago.”
“Every state has its own peculiar issues and challenges. How to document across the various states is what poses the challenge,” Osinbajo observed.
Osinbajo also explained that the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP), stating that the federal and state governments decided on ranching as an option for livestock breeding.
He noted that the states would determine the implementation methods suitable for adoption in their respective domain, while the two tiers of government would share the costs.