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A Review of Land Information Management Systems

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DOI: 10.52589/AJESD-RI2X0ZQ2

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African Journal of Economics and Sustainable Development
ISSN: 2689-5080
Volume 5, Issue 1, 2022 (pp. 109-125) [Link]

A REVIEW OF LAND INFORMATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

Ifeanyichukwu Valentine Nwafor1, Raphael Oshiobugie Sado2,
and Inipami Prince Johnnie3
1
Department of Estate Management, University of Nigeria
[Link]@[Link]
2
Department of Estate Management, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka
[Link]@[Link].ng2
johnniepami@yahoo.com3

Cite this article: ABSTRACT: The need to improve on a system must begin with
Nwafor I.V., Sado R.O., glare lapse(s) in the existing system yearning for redress. The
Johnnie I.P. (2022), A Review
of Land Information
desire for a much better way of going about the business evokes
Management Systems. African intensive search for possible available alternatives. The process
Journal of Economics and ultimately leads the relevant stakeholders to discovery or
Sustainable Development
5(1), 109-125. DOI:
fashioning of a pragmatic model that will not only serve the
10.52589/AJESD-RI2X0ZQ2. purpose more effectively and efficiently but will also have the
approval of the majority of the stakeholders and stand the test of
time. This study provided an overview of contributions made so
Manuscript History
far on land information management systems, with the sole
Received: 25 Feb 2022 purpose of ascertaining the progress recorded and inherent
Accepted: 21 March 2022 challenges to the existing system. Nigerians suffer unnecessary
Published: 30 March 2022 delays in obtaining land title and land title information. The
scenario has caused failure and abandonment of many
Copyright © 2022 The Author(s).
developmental projects. A more robust and integrated land
This is an Open Access article information management system that will provide timely land
distributed under the terms of information for the stakeholders in Nigeria is imperative.
Creative Commons Attribution-
NonCommercial-NoDerivatives
4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND KEYWORDS: Land records and title registration, physical
4.0), which permits anyone to
share, use, reproduce and
planning, cadastral records.
redistribute in any medium,
provided the original author and
source are credited.

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DOI URL: [Link]
African Journal of Economics and Sustainable Development
ISSN: 2689-5080
Volume 5, Issue 1, 2022 (pp. 109-125) [Link]

INTRODUCTION
Information management is critical for sound decision making in every facet of life. Harrison,
as cited by Obongo (2003), opined that information is the lifeblood which flows into and out
of an organization. The success of any enterprise or organization to a large extent depends on
the accuracy and timing of the information supplied and its effective use. The Ministry of
Lands, Survey and Town Planning especially in Anambra State, Nigeria, being the custodian
of the state land wealth, should effectively tap the potentials of communication and information
technology to improve on its service delivery, revenue collection and physical land use
planning.
A Land Information Management System (LIMS) is essentially a computerized tool for legal,
administrative and economic decision making for land use planning and development. It
consists of a structured database with spatial referenced land related attributes and spatial data
for a defined area as well as procedures and techniques for systematic collection, processing,
updating and distribution of the data to aid in solving land management problems (Pindiga,
2012).
Currently, the world has more or less become a global village and information on a particular
phenomenon at one part of the globe may be required by someone at another part, at any point
in time. The need for land information computerization and land titling procedure automation
is more crucial now than ever before. A functional land information management system
should not only ensure that all data relating to land are consistent, correct and up-to-date but
should also avail different users their required information without necessarily engaging in
generation of new datasets. This entails the availability of land information to government,
industry, business, academia and citizens to meet their needs through easy and simple access
solutions (Akingbade, 2005).
In many countries, improvements to the existing land administration systems are driven by
developments in technology. Land and property datasets grow larger in volume as population
expands. Consequently, the need for a reliable means of storage and easy retrieval of land
information in support of development becomes critical and ever more urgent. Both the
administrators and users of land information need accurate and up-to-date data (Dale &
McLaughlin, 1999).
Additionally, information technology is dynamic; new ideas and inventions are released almost
on a daily basis and this should equally reflect in the land information management system. In
2007, Anambra State Government of Nigeria developed and started the use of the Land
Information Management System (commonly referred to as ALIMS) hoping to reduce
corruption, delays in title registration and enhanced internal revenue generation from state land
management. However, challenges of the state land management are still prevalent despite the
system which has remained the same. Similar stories are obtained in different states of the
federation. A scale up of the existing system may reasonably solve our problem. A holistic land
information management system that captures the needs of all relevant stakeholders is
expedient.

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DOI URL: [Link]
African Journal of Economics and Sustainable Development
ISSN: 2689-5080
Volume 5, Issue 1, 2022 (pp. 109-125) [Link]

Statement of the Problem

Effective land information management not only provides the necessary information on the
land title and records for the use of the stakeholders but also does that with dispatch. The current
systems and practices of land administration in the states of the federation and Federal Ministry
of Works, Land and Housing are mainly analogue systems. The systems are fraught with
bureaucratic bottle-necks and human-engendered hiccups that inhibit timely completion of land
title perfection. The systems are frustrating and seriously put off prospective investors; they
invariably militate against national economic development. Though some states and the
Federal Ministry of Works, Land and Housing have ventured into computerizing their cadastral
records, their levels so far very much fall below what a good land information management
system should provide to the stakeholders. Ukaejiofor (n.d) noted with dismay that despite the
benefits of computerization of land information, only about 20% of the states in Nigeria have
commenced the application of ICT in their land administration system. The need to leverage
and improve on the land information management system cannot be overemphasized especially
in the contemporary age of information and communication technology (ICT) driven global
economy. Computerizing land administration can ensure speedy processing of first registration
of title, prevention of unnecessary duplications, and facilitation of access to land-related data
as well as in-built quality control measures, among others.
Securing land title in Nigeria today is still shrouded in secrecy; prospective investors outside
the country can hardly contemplate investing in Nigerian real estate due to this obvious
predicament. Access to land information is still very difficult and the government is invariably
losing enormous revenue from the sector. The few states that have ventured into
computerization of their land information system only automated a fraction of the entire sector
which still makes them face challenges of delays and hiccups in processing and perfecting land
titles. There is therefore a dire need in today’s Nigeria to reduce the time it takes to process
land titles and their documentation. The Ministry of Lands and Urban Development in most
states comprises different departments which complement each other in the discharge of their
core functions to the public. Improvement in their working relationships is imperative for better
service delivery. But before such improvement is considered, review of present processes is
very necessary. Such a review will identify the existing gaps and likely areas that require
improvement. This study captures the aim and objectives of the existing land information
management system and on that basis proposes recommendations of enhancement in the
system that will cater for the needs of the present and future generations.
Aim and Objective of the Study
Improvements in information systems are essential due to constant changes in the ways
activities and outputs are carried out and expected. Land information is very crucial for any
meaningful investment; investors must determine location choice of investment and many a
time, the time taken to arrive at a consensus contributes to the overall successes or failure of a
project.
Delays in obtaining land information in Nigeria is a serious challenge even with skeletal land
information systems in use in some states; therefore, improvement on the existing system is
imperative. This study is aimed at proposing factors that should be considered based on the
existing systems while articulating improvement or developing another LIM system for
effective and efficient land administration in Nigeria. Other objective include:
1. To ascertain the nature of the existing land information management systems.

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African Journal of Economics and Sustainable Development
ISSN: 2689-5080
Volume 5, Issue 1, 2022 (pp. 109-125) [Link]

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
Land Records and Title Registration
Maintenance of comprehensive and robust land records which are easily accessible by
stakeholders is one of the most important issues facing governance today. "Land Records" itself
is a general term and can include records such as the register of lands, Records of Rights
(RoRs), tenancy and crop inspection register, mutation register, disputed cases register, etc. It
can also include geological information regarding the shape, size, soil type of the land, and
economic information relating to irrigation and crops (Ministry of Electronics and Information
Technology India [MeitY], 2015).
Indian land records currently seek to accomplish the following across the country:

⮚ Completion of all data entry relating to digitization of land records,

⮚ Provision of legal sanctity to computerized Records-of-Rights (RoRs),

⮚ Stopping further operation of manual RORs,

⮚ Setting up computer centers at Tehsils, and

⮚ Enabling web access.

In Nigeria, the federal government developed a land information management system which is
not only a land records system but its features also include:

● A central control and monitoring of remote sites from the headquarters via the
internet,

● Large data storage capacity of 10,000,000 records within an expandable system,

● Multi-user functionality: Up to 1000 users sharing same database,

● System entities are linked together within the relational database system,

● C of O to land to owner and to other transactions,

● Appropriate statistics and reports in both textual and map forms for policy
action.
Land records are very important because they form the basis for assignment and settlement of
land titles issues. The records kept at Tehsil office in India are of two types:

❖ Alphanumeric data containing record of rights details, crop statistics of

individual plots, and

❖ The cadastral maps depicting the boundaries and extent of the plots.

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African Journal of Economics and Sustainable Development
ISSN: 2689-5080
Volume 5, Issue 1, 2022 (pp. 109-125) [Link]

These are maintained in the form of village maps or Field Measurement Book (Thakur,
Khadanga, Venkatesh, Shukla, & Meena, 2003).
On the other hand, UNFIG (1999) defined land registration as the process of recording rights
in land either in the form of registration of deeds or the registration of title to land, and
adjudication as the process whereby the ownership and rights in land are officially determined.
Dale and McLaughlin (1999) averred that land registration provides the means for recognizing
formalized property rights, and for regulating the character and transfer of these rights.
Registries take note of certain interests in land including information about the nature and
spatial extent of these interests and the names of the individuals to whom these interests relate.
In Lesotho, the registration system focuses on the land with the unique identifier obtained from
cadastral surveying (Selebalo, 2004).
Title registration systems is an authoritative record of the rights to clearly defined units of land
as vested for the time being in some particular persons or bodies, and of the limitations, if any,
to which these rights are subject and kept in a public office. With certain unavoidable
exceptions, known in the English system as ‘overriding interests’, all the material particulars
affecting the title to the land are fully revealed merely by a perusal of the register which is
maintained and warranted by the State (Simpson, as cited by Selebalo, 2004).
To ensure that the land records under the title registration systems are authoritative and
warranted by the State requires the lengthy processes of adjudication and surveying to cadastral
standards, which are usually rigorous. The processes of land registration in many African
countries can be quite time consuming; it still takes over six months to obtain a registered title
(Steyn, 2003). It is therefore not surprising to find that there have been a number of initiatives
to bypass the formal land registration system and to create land records that can be used for
development projects.
In Nigeria, land instrument registration is the predominant land record. The Land Registration
Act No. 36 of 1924 as variously amended is the major law regulating land registration in
Nigeria, and it has been adopted and re-enacted in most states under different nomenclatures
(Nuhu, 2009). The Land Instruments Registration Laws of the various states and the federation
have been expressly ratified by S. 48 of the Land Use Act of 1978 to the extent of their
conformity with the Act. Section 315(5)(d) of the 1999 Constitution provides for the sanctity
of the Land Use Act. The Constitution thus gave the Land Use Act a strong footing. These laws
prescribe for the establishment of a land registry in the respective state under a land registrar
charged with the responsibilities of registering instruments affecting land in the state and
keeping the registers, books and files in relation thereto safe.
Types of Land Registration Systems
There are three main types of land registration systems:
1. Private Conveyancing,
2. Registration of Deeds, and
3. Registration of Title.

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ISSN: 2689-5080
Volume 5, Issue 1, 2022 (pp. 109-125) [Link]

Private Conveyancing
In a private conveyancing system, land transactions are handled under private arrangement.
Interests in land are transferred by the signing, sealing and delivery of documents between
private individuals with no direct public notice, record, or supervision. The pertinent
documents are held either by the individual to the transaction or by an intermediary such as a
notary. In such a system, the state has little control over the registration process (save for
regulating the intermediaries), and there is little if any security for errors or fraud. This system
is known to be invariably slow and expensive (Dale & McLaughlin, 1999). Despite these
serious limitations, notarial versions of private conveyancing are still in operation in some parts
of Latin America.
Registration of Deeds
Under this system, a public repository is provided for registering documents associated with
property transactions (deeds, mortgages, plans of survey and so forth). There are three basic
elements in deeds registration: the logging of the time of entry of a property document, the
indexing or referencing of the instrument, and the archiving (i.e., storing) of the document or a
copy thereof.
Many versions of deed registration system exist today; however, they all center on three core
principles (Nichols, 1993), which are:

❖ Security: Registration of a document in a public office provides some measure of

security against loss, destruction, or fraud.

❖ Evidence: Registered documents can be used as evidence in support of a claim to a

property interest (although they cannot provide an assurance of title).

❖ Notice and priority: Registration of a document gives public notice that a property
transaction has occurred and, with exceptions, the time of registration provides a
priority claim.
Deeds registration provides a means for registering title documents only; it does not register
title to a property. Registration is often not compulsory and, as a general rule, many rights are
not registered. Reviewing and assessing all the documents required to determine the validity
of a claim to ownership can often be extremely tedious and expensive to undertake, and
sometimes open to disputes (Dale & McLaughlin, 1999).
Registration of deeds is the predominant system of land registration in Nigeria today. Each
state in Nigeria has its own Land Instruments Registration Law (Imhanobe, 2007).
Registration of Title
In this system, the register describes the current property ownership and the outstanding
charges, obligations and liens. Here, registration is usually mandatory, and the state plays an
active role in examining and warranting transactions. In most countries where this system
obtains, the entry in the register becomes the proof of ownership. This is because in most cases,
once a title is issued, it becomes irreversible. If someone with a better claim to the land

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ISSN: 2689-5080
Volume 5, Issue 1, 2022 (pp. 109-125) [Link]

resurfaces and establishes his claim, he does not recover ‘his property’ but rather has a remedy
against the state in indemnity (Burdon, 1998).
There are various types of title registration system; the best known is that introduced by Sir
Robert Torrens in Australia in the latter half of the nineteenth century. The Torrens registration
system is based on three well known principles, namely:
a. The mirror principle: The register reflects accurately and completely the current state
of title; hence, there is no need to look elsewhere for proof of title.
b. The curtain principle: The register is the only source of title information, which means
a curtain is drawn blocking out all former transactions; there is no need to go beyond
the current record to review historical documents.
c. The insurance principle: The state handles the veracity of the register and for
providing compensation in the case of errors or omissions, thus providing financial
security for the owners.
Title registration systems show a significant improvement over the rudimentary deeds
registration systems. However, these title registration systems have been criticized for being
often too expensive and cumbersome to implement and also for the length of time required for
state examination and approval of the title and survey evidence. Some overriding interests that
are not specifically registered gradually diminish the significance of the mirror principle. The
details on the title certificate may not reflect all the rights as they exist on ground (Dale &
McLaughlin, 1999).
The title registration system is unfortunately not popular in Nigeria (Olubodun & Onukwuli
2010). It was operated only in some parts of the old colony of Lagos, which include the present
day Lagos Island, Victoria Island, Apapa, Ikoyi, Yaba, Surulere and some parts of Mushin
(Imhanobe, 2007). Despite this, registration of titles is still valid under our laws.
Survey/Cadastral Records
The efficient and effective administration of land and its associated resources depends on the
availability of sound land information. Many nations are computerizing their cadastral records
and creating large, national databases. Land-related data are now being integrated, analysed,
and distributed in ways that until recently were not possible (Zegeye, 2019).
Kurwakumire (2007) submitted that without functional and up-to-date land information, it is
difficult to implement planning, development and exploitation of land resources sustainably
for the betterment of the communities. Land is unarguably one of the most valuable resources
of any nation and land information management forms a major part of urban development.
Likewise, the increasing growth in rural population and the massive migration of people to the
cities (especially in the developing countries) have put increasing pressure on rural and urban
lands and facilities (Dale & McLaughlin 1988). Therefore, a systematic record and rational use
of the land should be of prime importance to planners and policy makers.
Cadastre, as defined by the International Federation of Surveyors FIG. (1995), is a parcel based
and up-to-date information system containing a record of interests in land (e.g., rights,
restrictions, and responsibilities). It usually includes a geometric description of land parcels

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linked to other records describing the nature of interests and ownership or control of those
interests. It may also include the value of the parcel and its improvements. More aptly, a
cadastral system consists of collection, recording and storage of all information relating to
individual land parcels. Cadastral surveying is that which establishes and records the location,
boundaries and features thereon, and ownership of land and property. This is one of the data
sources in the Geographic Information System (GIS).
According to Nwilo, Omotilewa and Alademomi (2010), GIS is a system for capturing, storing,
manipulating, analyzing and presenting geographically referenced data. It is a multidisciplinary
concept because it cuts across virtually every profession. They however stressed further that
basically, a GIS consists of a set of tools that professionals in various disciplines use to improve
the way they work. It allows many different types of data to be geographically viewed,
organized and analyzed. This information can be used to computerize the Cadastral register.
Egbenta, Ndukwu and Adisa (2012) opined that GIS technology can potentially lead to the
development of efficient and organized land markets, guarantee tenure security among land
owners, increase revenue generation by government, reduce disputes among land owners, and
as well foster prudent land management by establishing efficient system of land administration.
Computerized land information system through GIS is therefore seen as the most appropriate
technology in the reformation of cadastral systems and land administration all over the world
(Siriba & Farah, 2014). GIS according to Nuhu (2009) is one of the modern methods that could
be used in the computerization of land records as well as enhancing the process of land
registration in Nigeria. This underscores the reason why many state governments in Nigeria
are beginning to adopt GIS in their land administration processes. With the success story of the
Abuja Geographic Information System (AGIS), other states such as Lagos, Niger, Bauchi,
Benue, Cross River, and Nasarawa have also established their respective GISs.
Land Use/Physical Planning
Land use or physical planning can be described as a process aimed at achieving orderly physical
development with the overall aim of evolving a functional and liveable environment where
individual and common goals can be achieved. In urban centres, the essence of land use
planning is to ensure that urban activities are organized and developed in physical space with
due consideration for the protection of the public interest which include health, safety,
convenience, efficiency, energy conservation, environmental quality, social equity, social
choice and amenity (Adeagbo, 1998; Nnah et al., 2007).
It can also be described as the systematic assessment of land and water alternative patterns of
land use and other physical, social and economic conditions in such a way as to encourage land
users to select options that increase productivity and meet societal needs in a sustainable
manner (Onibokun, 1985). This means that it is an art and science of organizing the use of land
for the greater good of the society. Land use planning could therefore be expressed as physical
planning. This is because physical planning attempts to achieve an optimal spatial coordination
of different human activities for the enhancement of quality of life (Olajuyigbe & Rotowa,
2011).

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Summarily, physical planning involves the reconciliation of land uses; provision of the
right site for the right use; control of development; provision of facilities, services and
public goods; preservation, protection and conservation of resources; and preservation of
heritage sites, among others (Oduwaye, 2009).
The use of information communication technology (ICT) in physical planning is not new; it
has been in fact contemporary with the development of computers themselves. The investment
in research on urban models around the 1950s and 1960s was very intense and led to the
development of some important models that were applied for the first time to real world case
studies. An example is the Lowry Model (Lowry, 1964). These complex, aggregated models
were aimed not only to research but also to help some highly capacitated public agencies to
start understanding urban and regional areas as systems that could be controlled as machines.
The period was described as the era of systems planning.
The 1980s brought to the limelight three instrumental features that were decisive for
rebounding the interest of planners on new tools that from then on were beginning to be named
as ICT:
i. Microcomputers which made the use of powerful computational and visualisation
resources cheap and available to everyone,
ii. More capable database technology, which allowed the use of larger and better datasets,
and
iii. The development of GIS as the first powerful tool to deal with data and cartography in
an explicit visual manner.
The 1990s and the 2000s were the coming to age decades of the development of new ICT in
planning. After a rapid diffusion of the use of GIS among all levels of planning agencies,
professionals understood that they could take the next step towards exploring new tools and
new approaches that would not only make use of GIS but also benefit from their popularity to
interest the practitioners, a wide set of new tools and decision support systems based on many
different concepts coming from different areas of knowledge—from physics to mathematics,
from life sciences to economic theory. At the same time, computation became increasingly
more visual, and brand new technology was used to create the first feasible virtual
environments.
During these years, spatial and urban systems came to be regarded as complex ones; new
disciplines were summoned, with researchers from all backgrounds becoming involved in the
study of urban matters. This brought an entire new perspective to the field. Complexity became
a central perspective in urban research, spanning from the more perceivable social, institutional
and governance perspectives (closer to planning practitioners) to the mathematical and
geographical perspectives (closer to researchers). The scenario gave birth to a wide set of ICT
tools that are currently available for planning and policy design. They range from the use of
advanced GIS, with new and more sophisticated methods of spatial analysis, to the enhanced
capacity of providing valuable visualisation (both on 2D and on 3D), to the development of
new modelling tools based on several approaches, from cellular automata (Pinto & Antunes,
2010) and agent-based simulation (Wise & Crooks, 2012), to discrete choice based models
(Kakaraparthi & Kockelman, 2011), and to simulations based on optimization (Koomen et al.,
2011). The development of 3D environments is also experiencing a significant increase based

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on the LIDAR technology (Yu et al., 2010) but mainly driven by the industry from which many
platforms emerged, allowing the creation of highly realistic virtual environments (for example,
the ESRI City Engine and the widely used Google Earth).
Additionally, the application of GIS in land use planning is well established (Fedra, 1995;
Alshuwaikhat & Nassef, 1996; Brazier & Greenwood, 1998; Cromley & Hanink, 1999;
Bojorquez-Tapia et al., 2001; Ball, 2002; Hoobler et al., 2003; Malczewski, 2004 and Trung et
al., 2006). Notably however, Trung, Tri, Mensvoort, and Bregt (2006) applied GIS in three
different land planning approaches:

⮚ The participatory land use planning (PLUP) which strongly considers the local people
perceptions and beliefs for land utilizations,

⮚ The guidelines for land use planning by FAO enhanced with multi-criteria evaluation
(FAO-MCE), and

⮚ The land use planning and analysis system (LUPAS) using interactive multiple-goal
linear programming.
GIS plays a crucial role in the application of these approaches. In PLUP for instance, GIS helps
to integrate the acquired spatial entities and attribute data from farmer discussions and analyzes
the changes not only in biophysical land cover but also in farmers’ perception on land
utilizations. In FAO-MCE, GIS is used to combine biophysical and socio-economic
characteristics and to perform multi-criteria evaluation. In LUPAS, an optimization model was
developed. The model is linked with a GIS for data input and results presentation. The land use
planners can (as has been established) use the model to explore different land use scenarios
with different objectives and constraints, both biophysically and socio-economically.
Empirical Review on Land Information Management Systems
In this review, we identified existing land information management systems that will at a glance
display contributions made so far in this sector. However, since timely completion of activities
involved are yet to be achieved with existing models especially in land registration;
stakeholders still yearn for further improvement in the systems. It still takes weeks and months
to secure approval from any government agency in Nigeria on land registration; an
improvement on the system is imperative.
Ducker (1987) studied technical, economic and institutional issues surrounding the
multipurpose land information system. His focus was on ways of modernizing land records
through application of geographic information systems in land administration and possible
problems the proposed system may face in implementation. The study noted institutional and
economic constraints as major barriers in the implementation of the multipurpose land
information system.
Enemark and Sevatdal (1999)—on their work titled Cadastres, Land Information Systems and
Planning: Is decentralization a significant key to sustainable development?—evaluated the
interrelationships of different land systems: land tenure system, land value system, land use
control and land development system. They noted that the design of adequate systems in the
areas of land tenure and land value would lead to the establishment of an efficient land market.
On the other hand, the design of adequate systems in the areas of land-use control and land

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African Journal of Economics and Sustainable Development
ISSN: 2689-5080
Volume 5, Issue 1, 2022 (pp. 109-125) [Link]

development would lead to an effective land-use administration. They averred that the
combination of an efficient land market and an effective land-use administration would
consequentially form the basis for a sustainable approach to economic, social and
environmental development. The cadastral identifications of land parcels permeate through the
land administration and land management systems and provide the basic infrastructure for
running the interrelated systems within the areas of land tenure, land value and land use.
As a result of this development, the traditional surveying, mapping and land registration focus
moved away from being primarily provider-driven to now being clearly user-driven. However,
each of the systems (involved in the interrelated systems) includes tasks and processes that
impose quite different demands on the cadastral system. The success of a cadastral system is a
function of how well it achieves these broad social and economic objectives.
Fourie (1999) looked at developing cadastre and land information systems for decision makers
in the developing world. The study emphasized that African countries should design land
information management systems without a cadastral layer due to the cost implications
associated with putting up such a structure. He therefore recommended a national spatial
framework solely for visualization.
Due to challenges such as cadastral maps problems and the insufficiency of paper maps and
land registers, Ibraheem (2012) proposed the development of computerized land and
geographic information systems (LIS/GIS). The system is poised on digital cadastral maps and
digital cadastral data bases (DCDB). The methodology involved several phases which include
data collection and conversion, LIS structure and analysis, and the assessment of the accuracy
of the digital maps. The results showed that the developed system can present the structure and
information content of the digital maps as well as its differences with analogue maps. This
digital cadastral map can be the basis for additional thematic layers, successively converting it
into a complex system for management of administrative units. Ibraheem developed a large-
scale land information system (LIS) by using geographic information systems (GIS) and field
surveying. His work portrayed the problems of analogue cadastral maps, observing that the
existing cadastre which consists of paper maps and land registers was highly insufficient. He
recommended the creation of a land information system and a digital map.
Pindiga and Orisakwe (2013) developed a land information system of Tumpure residential and
commercial layout in Akko Local Government Area of Gombe State. They created and tested
a multimedia relational database of the attributes of the individual parcels and properties and
linked them to the polygonized spatial positioning GIS software. On the other hand, video clips
of properties within the studied neighborhood were obtained and linked to GIS software and
the system developed afterwards was found to be efficient. The study recommended the use
of Arc 3.2 GIS software in land administration.
Chiemelu and Onwumere (2013) noted that the manual land administration system has been in
use by the Ministry of Lands and Survey, Port Harcourt since its inception and it has not
meaningfully assisted the government in physical planning and revenue generation. Manual
land registration from their findings is prone to abuses, time consuming and inefficient. The
study discovered that since the implementation of integrated land information management in
Rivers State, the government’s internal revenue in the land sector improved and delays
associated with land administration greatly reduced.

119 Article DOI: 10.52589/AJESD-RI2X0ZQ2

DOI URL: [Link]
African Journal of Economics and Sustainable Development
ISSN: 2689-5080
Volume 5, Issue 1, 2022 (pp. 109-125) [Link]

Abbas, Ben-Yayork and Muhammad (2014) developed a Land Information System (LIS) for
providing a better and more efficient system for land management in Tsaunin Kura Residential
Layout in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Nigeria in response to the absence
of an electronic way of land administration. The system developed can maintain and track
changes, detect errors and make online corrections.
Kurwakumire (2014) made conceptual contributions to digital cadastres facilitating land
information management. According to his work, modernization of cadastral systems in
municipalities through technological reforms to improve access to cadastral information, as
well as modernization of deed generating processes, can greatly reduce time required for land
transactions.
Delays in land registration encouraged Wanjohi and Mutua (2015) to develop a Web Based
Integrated Land Information System (WBILIS) for ownership, value and taxation using the
Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Kenya to demonstrate the application of
the system. The system aimed at providing an effective land information collection, storage
and dissemination platform for the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development. The
WBILIS contained information on parcel ownership, land use, taxation, location boundaries,
land value, encumbrances and many more. It demonstrated a streamlined flow of land
information within the Ministry ensuring there was a well structured process of collecting,
storing and disseminating land information.
Deane, Owen, and Quaye (2017) summarized all the required activities on “The Ghana
enterprise land information system (GELIS) as a component of national geospatial policy” that
can enable Ghana to develop a comprehensive land administration system that will ultimately
lead to a national spatial data infrastructure. The policy implementation plan was not an
academic exercise; it was rather a practical and operational solution to well known and
acknowledged sets of problems designed to ensure greater effectiveness and efficiency across
many units within the land sectors. The study carried out an extensive review of the current
GELIS (under land administration project 1) noting all the inherent problems and current public
needs; on the basis, an integrated comprehensive Ghana land information management system
was developed (under land administration project 2). Critical stakeholders and their individual
roles were identified; the linkage of all units and demonstration of the systems functionality
was vividly elucidated.
Emengini, Akpata and Ejikeme (2017) developed a Cadastral Information System (CIS) which
can be used to organize land records, holdings and descriptions of both spatial and non-spatial
entities of parcels and land information. The (CIS) has the capabilities that allow recording,
storage, update and retrieval at any time of all land related information.
3D Land Administration: A Review and a Future Vision in the Context of the Spatial
Development Lifecycle by Kalogianni, Oosterom, Dimopoulou and Lemmen (2020) looked at
the possibility of improving 2D based systems used to define legal and other spatial boundaries
relating to land interests. The study noted that the built environment is increasingly becoming
spatially complex; land administrators are presently challenged by the unprecedented demand
to utilize the space above and below the earth’s surface and the relationship between people
and land in vertical space can no longer be unambiguously represented in 2D. They further
submitted that in order to integrate different standalone systems for optimal service delivery,
3D data collaboration, sharing and reuse across sectors and disciplines in the life cycle is very

120 Article DOI: 10.52589/AJESD-RI2X0ZQ2

DOI URL: [Link]
African Journal of Economics and Sustainable Development
ISSN: 2689-5080
Volume 5, Issue 1, 2022 (pp. 109-125) [Link]

crucial to enable new ways of data harmonization and use in any complex environment. Web-
based system architecture was proposed in the study for a future 3D Land Administration
System.
From the above studies, it is evident that land information management systems (LIMS) still
function at different units especially where they are obtainable and no holistic and nationalistic
view has been taken, especially in Nigeria. Most LIMS in place did not specify the actual
information system adopted for its design but noted the importance of such systems in the land
market.
More so, the human computer interaction perspectives of automation were not considered. This
can be traced to the fact that most of the authors are not software specialists and/or land
management experts. This review exposed the fact that specific activities that constitute the
mandate of the Ministry of Lands have not been holistically covered in LIMS developed in
Nigeria. The existing automations are only within specific units of the ministry and this
explains the delay still experienced in completing documentations in the Ministry. Inter
departments’ or units’ relationships in the Ministry have not been integrated in the systems;
hence, undue time is wasted to link departments or units especially when there is a need for
their professional opinions on the subject applications.
This review reveals that available land information management systems are yet to solve the
problem of delay in land title registration process; obtaining real time information for effective
physical planning and reliable decision making is not only important in Nigeria but also across
the globe. Indeed there is a need to fill this existing gap through the development of a robust
system that can integrate and run the activities for the Ministry. Such a system must be web
based for global accessibility and use.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Land management information system is a critical component of nation building. It is
positioned to assist policy makers in making decisions that are evidenced based for effective
physical planning and policy making. On the other hand, it also enables citizen’s access land
title information with ease. This review revealed that Nigeria is still far behind in this regard;
some states of the federation have introduced a working automated land information
management system in their relevant ministry, but delays in processing land title applications
are predominant. Aside from delays in getting consents from the chief executive officer of the
state or the designee, completing the documentation is still an issue that should be addressed
with a functional system in place.
Additionally, land title registration procedure is still shrouded in secrecy in Nigeria and many
citizens still lose their allotted plots due to the poor documentation system. Based on these
findings, the study recommends the following:
i. Streamlining land management activities of the Ministry of Lands to serve as a
benchmark for operations of the ministry in Nigeria.
ii. Integrating the activities of all the departments or units in the Ministry of Lands in
their interrelatedness for easy automation as a process.

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DOI URL: [Link]
African Journal of Economics and Sustainable Development
ISSN: 2689-5080
Volume 5, Issue 1, 2022 (pp. 109-125) [Link]

iii. Developing national land information management system which integrates the
states’ land management systems as answer to the quest for national land database.
iv. Training of all relevant officers on modern ICT skills to increase their dexterity in the
prosecution of automated land management systems.

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