Abia Lands Boss Storms Lagos to Bring Modern ‘E-Land’ Magic to Umuahia

In a move to end the era of “missing files” and long wait times for property owners, the Abia State Government has sent its top land officials to school specifically the “Lagos School of Land Administration.”

Abia’s Commissioner for Lands, Chaka Chukwumerije, spent the better part of this week touring the high-tech facilities of the Lagos State Lands Bureau. The mission was simple: see how Lagos has successfully moved its land records from dusty shelves to digital servers and bring that same efficiency back to Umuahia.

The Abia delegation was given a “behind-the-scenes” look at the Lagos GIS Centre and the state’s massive Land Digitization Centre. These facilities are the brains behind Lagos’ ability to track every square inch of land in the state with a few clicks. For Commissioner Chukwumerije, the goal is to use these insights to bolster Governor Alex Otti’s promise of making land titles faster and more secure for investors.

“We aren’t here just to look; we are here to learn and implement,” one official noted during the tour. The team was particularly impressed with how the Electronic Physical Planning Centre integrates with the land archives, ensuring that when someone applies for a building permit, the system already knows who owns the land and what it’s meant for.

The Lagos team, led by Olajide Babatunde, the Special Adviser on eGIS, welcomed the collaboration. He noted that while Lagos has spent years building its digital fortress, sharing the “secret sauce” with other states like Abia helps strengthen the entire country’s economy by making property transactions safer and more transparent.

For the people of Abia, this “study tour” means the state is getting ready to upgrade its current reforms. By adopting the tech-driven Lagos framework, the Ministry of Lands hopes to finally shut the door on “middlemen” and ensure that getting a Certificate of Occupancy is as easy as ordering a meal online.