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Ogun Makes Land Accessible - Orubon
[September 15, 2014]

Ogun Makes Land Accessible - Orubon


(AllAfrica Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Ademola Orubon is an information officer with the Ogun State Ministry of Information. In this piece, he examines the issue of land accessibility in the state The Ogun State Bureau of Lands and Survey is an agency responsible for sustained and productive management of State's Land Area of approximately 17,000 square kilometres (both public and private land).



With this, the Ogun State Government under the leadership of Senator Ibikunle Amosun has decided to transform the entire operations of the Bureau of Lands and Survey by embarking upon on the complete computerization of its registry documents into a digital archive, developing a Geographic Information System (GIS) to capture, store, analyze, share, manage and display all types of geographical data in the Bureau and other Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and automate the business and workflow processes within the Bureau.

Since land is central to all human activities (social, economic, religious, developmental etc), creating systems that enable government to fulfill her responsibilities to the populace is central to achieving good governance. The Ogun State Government via the Bureau of Land and Survey desires to improve the overall performance of government, by building a robust platform to centrally manage land and all related activities through the Geographical Information System (GIS).


The GIS remains a viable and sustainable system to achieve corporate agility, strengthen the state's fiscal outlook and engender growth through standardization and collaboration which would bring about positive change to land administration in the state. The Bureau of Lands and Survey reaffirm her position via the Ogun State GIS to implement a functional Cadastral and Base Map for Ogun State, implementation of a Comprehensive Land Information System, carry out various Geospatial Data Analysis, carry out 3D Visualization and Terrain Analysis.

It would also implement a functional GIS Web Server, execution of Geospatial Enterprise Operations of the GIS system, provision of capacity building and training for relevant personnel of the Bureau, with the readiness of Ogun State GIS proper comprehensive land administration in the state will be achieved.

The aim of the Ogun Geographic Information System (GIS) and Land Management System (LAMS) Project is to ensure land administration in Ogun State meets the acceptable global standards. This will help the state government to enforce prudent use of government land and ensure compliance with the various land use policies and building regulations, eradicate double allocation of land, ensure easy processing of title documents and prevent loss of land to other states and the neighbouring Benin Republic.The benefits of the project include the increased survey accuracy, faster local searches for property titles, online search facilities, digital archive of valuable land documents and easier processing of title documents. The project would also assist the government to respond quickly to increasing demand for land by investors who intend to establish businesses in the state.

The Scope of the project includes implementing an enterprise process and workflow automation system for the Bureau, a system for the automation of the Deeds Registry, a functional Revenue Administration System for the Bureau to complement the overall revenue administration system run centrally by the State Government; the physical and digital archiving of documents in the Bureau of Lands and retrieval of the documents in the entire lands registry installation of a Document Management System for continuous archiving of ongoing future documents.

The would also includes implementing a comprehensive Land Information System and an enterprise GIS system with cadastral and base map for the entire state, the geospatial data analysis for the state and the geospatial enterprise operations of the GIS system; the framework for administration of survey controls in the state and executing the correction of second and third order survey controls in the State, acquisition of processed Satellite Imagery of the whole State, execution of the Geoid computation and framework of entire State and installation and operation of a Continuous Reference Stations (CORS) Network in the State.

The re-engineering of the Bureau's business processes and workflow will lead to efficient processing of title documents. The Workflow Transaction Information Management System prevents fraud and ensures that senior management can see exactly what stage and where each document is in the process (no more missing files), and with the Single User Sign-on for each transaction, all activities have audit trails and are traceable to Individuals. The paperless system inherently reduces cost of printing by up to 80%.

An Electronic Document Management System (EDMS) has been implemented by IQ Systems Solutions. They have scanned all existing land titles and other related documents such as maps and archivied digitally. Prior to full implementation, the time taken to retrieve files either for official use or for searches by members of the public has been significantly reduced. This digital archive is also going to be used to providea computerised search capability at the Bureau and online. A Bureau of Lands and Survey search room equipped with high-end desktop computers will be available for members of the public shortly while organisations such as solicitors and financial institutions will be able to carry out searches on land in Ogun State from the comfort of their offices.

As an integral part of the Ogun State Geographic Information System (OGIS), Ogun State Bureau of Lands & Survey has implemented a fully functional cadastral system through SpatialMatrix Limited. The unique integration between the GIS based cadastre and property records from our Deeds Registry, will help achieve a robust Land Information System.

The Land Information System (LIS) will serve as a "tool for legal, administrative and economic decision making; and an aid for planning and development". The LIS consists of a database containing spatially referenced land related data for the entire state and of course, procedures and techniques for the systematic collection, updating, processing and distribution of that data.

OGIS_LIS.jpg As the pressures for land increase in Ogun State, the need for a secure and fully automated system becomes insistent. The Ogun State GIS provides excellent tools for The Bureau of Lands & Survey as well as other MDAs to improve the quality of service delivery, reduce the problem of data silos, provide increased value to property owners and deal with chaotic and unregulated development in border towns between Ogun State and other states, especially Lagos State.

Our system conforms with the highest global standards and is fully compliant with the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) standards which ensures that there is excellent data interoperability. After the launch of OGIS, access to clean and dependable data will be offered via our GeoPortal via Web Map Service(WMS), Web Feature Service(WFS) and Web Coverage Service(WCS).

Ogun State Government is fully committed to this wave of change, embodied in "Ogun Standard", by collating, processing and capturing cadastral information on all government schemes and acquisition. This will ensure that charting and searches offers consistent and dependable results to our clients.

The Ogun State Bureau of Lands & Survey's Land Administration System (LAMS) is fully automated. The system is geared towards solving age old issues relating to quality of service delivery, unusually prolonged turn around time, poor record and document preservation and inconsistency in service offerings.

The fully implemented Land Administration System employs global standards in Process Re-engineering and Optimization to reduce the turnaround time, establish and sustain quality service delivery, ensure consistency in transactions and services, eliminate the incentive for sharp practices and provide a world class work environment for the members of staff.

Ogun State's position as the Investment destination will be further emphasized through this array of technology adoption as this delivers direct value to investors and members of the public.

Ogun State Bureau of Lands & Survey is also a leader in the provision of a Helpdesk in the public sector. The Help desk offers direct access to Land Officers as well as an interactive voice response system from between 8 am and 3pm daily. This is to ensure that members of the public can access correct and up to date information on all land related issues in Ogun State. Applicants can also follow up on their transactions from the comfort of their homes or offices. This feature is also extended via the Ogun State Website.

The Ogun GIS and LAMS project is unprecedented in the history of the Country, and when it goes live in a few weeks' time it will launch the first modern Continuously Operating Reference System(CORS) network in the Country. The COR Stations are been built to international standards and one of the stations is generating a lot of international interests. In order to carry out surveys of a very high accuracy, surveyors who work in Ogun state can buy the rights to use the 2nd and 3rd Order Controls. They can also obtain annual corrections licenses to receive real-time corrections data and post processed data.

Ogun State recorded the first stereo 50cm imaging by satellite in the developing world (seven months ahead of India & Brazil). Ogun State completed the first high resolution imaging of all LGA HQs and all expressways within the State. The modernization of Ogun State survey Controls carried out by GeoQinetiq Limited under the supervision of Surv. Ogbechie FNIS and Prof. Fajemirokun FNIS are being talked about all over the surveying community in Nigeria. Now, Ogun State is leading the Country in rapid 3cm imaging with capacity for pitch dark night operations (infra red), live video and oblique photogrammetric.

Copyright Daily Independent. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com).

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