Gov Nyesom Wike of Rivers, on Monday inaugurated the N6.5 billion Benue Geographic Information Service Centre (BENGIS) in Makurdi.
Wike, while inaugurating the project said it would not only address the challenges of land administration but would increase revenue generation in the state.
He said land administration had become a crucial issue that must be taken seriously.
The Rivers governor, who was the guest of honour at the event, commended Gov Samuel Ortom for the initiative, adding that the project was world class.
”The initiation, construction and quality finishing of the project is what the G-5 governors stand for; we are people who have taste and we learn from each other,”Wike said.
Earlier, Ortom said that BENGIS was one of his legacy projects that would eradicate all problems associated with land administration in the state.
”The Service Centre which was one of the components of the N6.5bn contract has met the international best practice in modern land administration.
”With this, Benue state is now qualified for the anticipated 2.5 Million dollars World Bank grant,”he said.
The governor said that the contract which was awarded to GIS Transport Ltd in 2020 was to build, operate and handover within the agreed period.
He directed that all landed properties within Makurdi, Otukpo, Gboko and Katsina-ala must be re-certified within the next six months or face sanctions.
In his remarks, the Commissioner for Lands, Survey and Solid Minerals, Mr Bernard Unenge, said that the project was initiated, constructed by the Ortom-led administration.
Unenge said the Makurdi Service Centre was a major component of the N6.5bn land digitisation project.
He added that other components also completed included aerial survey and mapping of the entire state with high resolution orthophotos, conversion of analog map plans and files to the digital system.
He pointed out that the staff training, procurement of survey and other technical equipment as well as field vehicles for the ministry were also components of the projects.
“BENGIS is a system of land administration in which ICT is deployed through digital platforms and software for seamless management of land administration such as processing of Certificate of Occupancy (Cof Os), systematic and efficient land re-certification, regularisation and registration of titles, warehousing of land documents in soft copies and hard copies.
“It is also an automated and transparent system of revenue generation which eliminates leakages amongst other functions.
”The process of transfer of land ownership has also been streamlined for greater efficiency that has drastically reduced incidences of land disputes.
“Today, I am pleased to announce to you that the processing of C of Os has been reformed such that it takes just a month or two to get a Cof O at the Ministry.” he said
He said the BENGIS project also include construction of similar but smaller structures in the ministry’s Zonal offices in Gboko, Otukpo and Adikpo.
He added that the construction of the smaller structures could not be immediately carried out but would be implemented in the variation phase.
“In the course of this project, an additional component on field registration/data enumeration of residential and commercial structures was introduced to attract a World Bank infrastructural development grant, through the “States Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability, programme (SFTAS).” he said
Mr Mario Bajouk, the State Project Manager, and representative of GIS Transport Ltd., said the project was designed and built according to contract specifications.
