In its bid to position the
state as an investment hub in terms of service delivery, the Cross River State Government has set up a state-of-the-art survey and town planning department with a status of an extra-ministerial outfit.
Surveyor-General of the state, Mr. Eyo Oboko Oku, who disclosed this in Calabar, he was determined to revamp, reform and transform the survey department into a reputed extra-ministerial department, an MDA that can function like any other 21st century survey office globally.”
According to “the government decided to carve out this department from Ministry of Lands so that we can cut off unnecessary bureaucratic bottle neck to enable us render services to the public and meet up demands of the state.
Oku maintained that “with the installation of basic modern machineries in the office, access to land in the state for whatever purpose is now done in record time with the collaboration of Geographic Information Agency (GIA) which is now up to it billings.”
The Surveyor-General further stressed: “Since the reform process started, revenue profile of the department has increased tremendously and the governor now signs an average of 30 Certificates of Occupancy (C of O) monthly as against the old practice of once in a while adding that the move has made land acquisition easy and less cumbersome to investors.”
Calabar streets map which was recently launched by government under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) initiative, pointing out that, “it has now placed Cross River as one of the fifth most accessible states by investors and donor partners in the country.”
He was happy that the MDA has been approved as the pilot for civil service reform in the state by the governor. for me, civil service reform is not about coming to work early but providing the staff with the right tools to work with and in a conducive environment and with the right motivation.
He also lauded the Presidential Technical Committee on Land Reforms is in its awareness campaign in the state in partnership with other relevant agencies to assist Nigerians in acquiring C of O on their lands so that peasant farmers would have opportunity to add value and tittle to their landed property to enable them access facilities and grow their businesses.”
Decrying paucity of fund as a major challenge in expanding their services, Oku raised the hope that the mechanism put in place when fully embraced by relevant stakeholders, will unlock lands for investment in the state and also enable government have clear data of its landed property once they are captured in the Geographic Information System.
Friday Nwagbara, Calabar
L-R: Chairman of the ocassion, retired Col. Joe Achuzia, Secretary-General, Lower Niger Congress, Mr Tony Nnadi and Congress’ President, Mr Fred Agbeyegbe at the presentation of Referendum on Self-Determination by the Lower Niger Congress in Port Harcourt, recently.
