The Governor of Edo State, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has pledged his administration’s support for the Obazagbon New Town Project’s quick development.
During an inspection visit to the project site at Obazagbon, Obaseki provided the assurance. Ms. Isoken Omo, the Commissioner for Physical Planning, Housing, Urban and Regional Development, was also present.
The Governor stated that the State is eager to take advantage of the current dry season in order to deliver the infrastructure required for the project’s actualization as quickly as possible.
He stated: “I believe that for us, the first step is to just lay out the plan and then start constructing the infrastructure—the roads, water supply systems, electricity, fiber optic connectivity, and everything else that the locals will need to live here.
“The length of our rainy seasons is the reason we are traveling quickly. We aim to start building the infrastructure as soon as possible, making the most of the dry season.
“The majority of land grabpers have been listed as wanted, and I believe some are presently facing charges. We would pursue those who have been declared wanted as soon as we have information about their whereabouts.
“We would seek their repatriation back home and try them for stealing because they have undoubtedly stolen other people’s land, even if they are abroad. They will go to jail for outright theft; we will not refer to this as “land grabbing.”
He went on to say that funding would not be a significant issue because the State will use the money from land sales to supplement its internally generated revenue and the large number of people who have expressed interest in purchasing land at the project site for development.
In her remarks regarding the project’s status, Isoken Omo, the Commissioner for Physical Planning, Housing, Urban and Regional Development, stated that the enumeration process for the affected lands has been completed and that the State government is currently determining the type of houses that the victims owned prior to the start of the compensation process.
Omo stated that restitution was a significant problem currently facing the project because, with the exception of a small number of individuals, the majority of those affected do not have Certificates of Occupancy (C-of-O). However, Omo also expressed the government’s readiness to start selling land to interested parties by January.
“For compensation, as you are aware, we have completed the enumerations of everyone we met on the ground when we came to take possession. Now, the next stage is to look at the type of houses, so we have also established that.
“After that, we will now deal with the issues of compensation. It is also necessary for me to inform you that there are problems with restitution rather than just compensation because there are not many C-of-O here.
We will be getting in touch with them after we have completed this task. We also announced the plans, their implications, and the advantages they will offer to all parties involved at a meeting that was extended to them.
She continued: “As you can see today, we have already started marking out the roads and we are doing the major connector roads because once those roads are open, it will be easier for us to parcellate and people can see exactly what the plots are, what land uses they are and all others.
“Using this season, we want to move very fast with the infrastructure so that by January we would be able to start giving people what is available for sale”.
