The Lagos State Government on Tuesday launched the pilot phase of its Identifier Project — a comprehensive digital addressing system designed to modernise house numbering and street naming across the state.
The project, which will begin in Ikeja next week, was unveiled by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu during the Nigeria Land Titling, Registration and Documentation Programme (NLTRDP) held in Victoria Island.
|
|
The programme was organised by the Lagos State Office of Electronic Geographic Information System (e-GIS) and Urban Development in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.
Under the initiative, every building in Lagos will be assigned a unique digital identity embedded in a house-numbering plate featuring a QR code and colour coding specific to its local government area. The system is expected to improve navigation for emergency responders, utility providers, security agencies and residents, while enhancing service delivery and urban management.
|
|
|
|---|
“This digital house numbering system is a novel idea,” Governor Sanwo-Olu said while displaying the prototype plates. “It’s about using technology as a strong enabler to resolve our land issues. From the comfort of your home, you will be able to access and resolve land title matters. If you have the address of a property, all the information you need about it will be accessible.”
Commending the federal government’s Renewed Hope Agenda, the governor described electronic land documentation as “the only way forward” to reduce physical interference in land administration and secure property rights.
Special Adviser to the Governor on e-GIS and Urban Development, Olajide Babatunde, said the Identifier Project is a major step toward modernising Lagos’ infrastructure and boosting quality of life.
He explained that scanning the QR code on a property’s plate would provide verified information on ownership, building approvals, bills and other official records — a move expected to improve security, curb rental fraud, and increase government revenue.
“House numbering and documentation go hand in hand,” Mr Babatunde said. “At the back end, we have all the information ready for public access when needed. This is the age of technology — we must embrace it.”
Earlier, Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Dangiwa, announced plans to increase Nigeria’s land titling coverage to 50 per cent within the next decade.
He noted that over 97 per cent of land in the country is not formally titled, limiting its use as collateral and in property transactions.
He urged other states to emulate Lagos by digitising land registries, integrating geographic information systems and adopting global best practices.
Background
In June, the Lagos State Government launched the Lagos Identity Project, a precursor to the current Identifier Project, aimed at improving property identification and service delivery.
At the time, Mr Babatunde explained that the digital plates, featuring QR codes and local government-specific colour codes, would boost emergency response, postal services, and urban planning.
He said the initiative would help address challenges such as tax evasion and untraceable addresses, while scanning the QR code on a building would grant access to key property details.
The project was developed in partnership with Interspatial, which spent two years conducting aerial mapping across Lagos to create a standardised civic address system that meets global identification and data protection standards.
