This open letter has become necessary in view of the current economic situation in the Country as well as the need to encourage productivity. I had expected Mr Governor to automate all the land assets in the major cities in the State within 24 Months of his administration .This is in line with Solution manifesto which promised Ndi Anambra that processing of title document(s) will be done within 72 hours .
I have been reliably informed that ministry of land is making arrangements to digitalize land assets in the State,however ,such arrangement is still on the drawing board and has not seen the light of the day .
The purpose of this open letter is to draw the attention of Mr Governor to what has been going on in various communities in the name of development levy. In Nkpor for instance, youths and community leaders demand as high as N800,000 as development levy before property owners could be allowed to develop on their legally acquired properties. In Nkwelle Ezunaka, developers pay higher including all forms of levies . In Awka , youths have set a parallel government with different command structures extorting money from innocent property owners . In Nnewi and Oba axis , the story is the same . Few months ago ,a friend of mine wanted to fence his property in Isiagu , some youths stopped his site Engineers from mixing cement until development levy of N300,000 is paid . Mgbakwu and Okpuno are not left out in the development levy collections ! This development levy has become a tradition in all the communities in the State that even the Army and Police recognize it as a legitimate levy ,alas , nobody has seen where such money is utilized for any known purpose like construction of roads and drainage system!
Mr Governor , i have always believed that you would reform the institutions in Anambra State the very way you reformed the Nigeria financial market . In 21st century , technology has made very complex workload become easier.With technology ,Land management has become a major source of Government revenue earnings as well as avenue to build public wealth and increase people purchasing power. Land administration is not in exclusive list like crude oil and gas , it is under the command of Mr Governor.
Looking around us , the major source of income in most communities is land transactions,that many people can kill in order to control the ”oil business ‘ called land speculation ‘ .Your Government can do better by streamlining the land transactions such that it will encourage investment and increase Government revenue as well as creating quality jobs for youths and community leaders . A working formula could be worked out such that all the stakeholders will be smiling to the banks.
Note that lack of economic opportunities and income inequalities could be among others, reason why youths and community leaders see land development levy as their legitimate rights .
Mr Governor , the confusion in land transactions within the State calls for your urgent attention and intervention. It is a complex situation but only your office can resolve the situation and this could be done by working closely with the hardworking Commissioner of Land .
Our youths need to be shown how to earn legitimate income while enforcing the law on rural and urban planning . I still believe that our people are the best but they need visionary leadership.
Thank you.
Anaenugwu Ndubuisi
Ambassador General,Good Governance Ministry (GGM)
