Design of a Digital Records Management System for Land Administration in Borno State

Land administration in North East Nigeria, particularly in Borno State, faces acute challenges resulting from the destruction of physical records during the insurgency period, compounded by pre-existing inefficiencies in manual land registration processes. This study focuses on the design of a digital records management system for land administration in the Borno State Ministry of Lands and Survey. A situational analysis conducted through stakeholder interviews with 12 land registry officials identified the following critical gaps: loss of approximately 40 percent of pre-2014 land certificates due to conflict, absence of a centralised searchable land database, and inability to detect duplicate or fraudulent title registrations. The proposed system was designed using a three-tier architecture comprising a GIS-enabled mapping module, a document scanning and indexing module, and a secure query interface for authorised users. The system design incorporates blockchain-inspired audit trail mechanisms to ensure tamper-evidence for all records transactions. Interface mockups were validated through a participatory design session with seven ministry officials. The study acknowledges that full implementation will require sustained government funding, staff retraining, and a community-level land data collection drive. Keywords: digital records management, land administration, Borno State, GIS, document management.