Why issuance of C of O is often delayed in Nigeria – Doherty

Aare Tunde Debayo Doherty, executive director, 27th Development has explained why the issuance of Certificate of Occupancy often referred to as C of O, an official document issued by the government in Nigeria that certifies a person or organisation as the legal owner of a piece of land or property is often been delayed in Nigeria.

Doherty said the delay happens because Nigeria has a very old system of doing things, where people still do transactions with papers.

He further explained that the new innovations the government is trying to bring in has to do with technology but unfortunately, some of these documents have been lost over time.

“At some time, the capital of the Western region used to be in Ibadan. By the time they moved some of these documents to Lagos and they archived them, they were poorly treated. Some of those documents are torn and have lost value,” he said.

He said in the process of processing the C of O, the government officials often discover that the ‘Root of Title,’ (documents showing ownership of property) is often missing and they can’t find it in their archives.

“If there is no Root of Title, you can’t proceed with your registration. Until this is addressed, we will still be having these problems where you can’t even get your documents registered. It is not just delayed, it doesn’t get registered. This can go on for three to four years. Most times, they blame the lawyer but it is not the fault of the lawyer. It is a poor system of storage and facilitation,” executive director of 27th Development said.

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Doherty disclosed these while speaking on the topic ‘The Legal Perspective of Real Estate in Lagos,’ at The Associate’s Workshop 1.0 Learn to Earn, a workshop organised by 27th Development, company at the forefront of real estate, investment and technology sectors.

The workshop was held in Lagos to enable people to understand the concept of real estate.

Doherty said the recent demolition going on in Lagos is happening because people failed to do due diligence.

“A lot of developers will buy land and will not do proper documentation. They will allow you to pay for it. They will give you bogus documents and they will make you build on these lands. It is just a matter of time. It is unfortunate but that’s where we find ourselves,” he said.

He said that a lot of people only understand real estate as just buying and selling land.

“That is why we took our time to give people the historical perspective from people who know about land and the legal perspective where we respond to all the questions on how to approach land issues. This is just for us to educate the academy and to bring in fresh ideas and innovations into the industry.

Also speaking at the event, Alexander Olusegun MacGregor, Ola Orile Ilawo and chairman MacGregor Heritage Foundation said the greatest asset God has created on earth is the land and people and God created man to have dominion over the earth.

“God says use the land well and serve Him better. Man is not supposed to be poor,” he added.

MacGregor who spoke on the topic ‘Journey through Lagos’s Rich Real Estate History,’ encouraged participants to acquire the best they can on this earth so that they may leave this earth a better place than you found it.

“Invest in the land and make it better than you saw it. If you go to Dubai today, it is real estate, developments and building. We had oil in Nigeria and didn’t do anything about it. A lot of people made lazy money from oil blocks. Whatever God has given us, we are supposed to use it to develop the future. God gave us land and people. It is time to know what is good for us.

“We are not attracting the best investments because we are not doing the right things.When you invest in land, it is long lasting. It is the people that invest in lands that make a difference,” he added.