Mark canvasses effective land management

The President of the Senate, David Mark, has said land is an important factor of production that requires conscious and quality attention in its management.Mark, who was represented by the Vice-Chairman, Senate Committee on Housing, Land and Urban Development, Gbenga Ashafa, said this at a policy dialogue meeting in Lagos on Friday.A statement made available on Sunday quoted Mark as saying that effective management of land resource would lead to agricultural revitalisation, job creation, crop diversification, housing construction, infrastructural optimisation as well as other uses that could guarantee posterity and preservation of life."Land governance is central to sustainable development of the real sector of the economy and its management, therefore, should be enhanced through the necessary policy dialogue," he said.While noting that land was scarce and had remained fixed since creation, the President of the Senate added that demands for land resources were unlimited, adding that the means through which the demands could be met were limited.He promised to present the imperatives of the policy dialogue meeting to the upper legislative chamber for inputs that might be required in moving the country to the next level.He further said that some of the important inputs made during the meeting would be considered by the senators during the constitution review exercise.Earlier, the coordinator of the countrys Land Governance Assessment Framework, Prof. Peter Adeniyi, said the International Food Policy Research Institute and the World Bank, with support from other partners, had promoted an in-country study on improving land sector governance in Nigeria.'According to him, the study is a diagnostic tool based on the LGAF to help countries assess their policies and practices regarding land governance.Adeniyi explained that LGAF focused on five broad thematic areas that had been identified as major areas for intervention in the land sector.These, according to him, are legal and institutional framework, land use planning, management of public land, public provision of land Information, and dispute resolution and conflict management. He said that the participation of the Senate in the meeting was important given its role in making laws for good governance and the critical role of good land governance in the nations socio-economic development.
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