By Michael Eboh

The President of the Nigeria Institution of Surveyors (NIS), Mr. Yakubu Maikano, has said that the on-going land reforms being undertaken by the Federal Government will help in opening the country’s land market.

Speaking ahead of the forthcoming annual general meeting of the NIS, scheduled to hold in Calabar from 13th to 17th June, 2011, Maikano disclosed that at present, over 97 per cent of Nigeria’s land is rural and considered ‘dead capital.’

The development of land as an economy capital, according to him, can be used to drive the economy and also contribute positively in the fight towards the eradication of poverty, especially with the establishment of Continuously Operating Reference (COR) stations all over the country as the Nigerian Network by the Office of the Surveyor General of the Federation (OSGOF).

Maikano expressed the support of NIS to the federal government’s land reform programme and pledged that the NIS will help in the actualisation of the set objectives of the programme with its professional expertise. He also disclosed that the NIS had won the bid to host the international Federal of Surveyors (FIG) Working Week conference in Abuja, Nigeria from 4th to 10th May, 2013.

He added that the hosting right will present another opportunity to showcase Nigeria to the world, adding that the full support of the governments in this regard, would go a long way in making the conference a huge success.

On the forthcoming conference in Calabar, He said that the AGM tagged “The Nation’s Paradise 2011”, with the theme, “Land Reforms in Nigeria, Issues and Challenges.” He explained that there would be parallel technical sessions to address the main theme, selected sub-themes and plenary sessions to consider the new Continuous Operating Station (CORS) established across the country on the position of the surveyors in the Land Reform agenda of the government. He further stated that there would be exhibition by both local and foreign exhibitors at the AGM venue.