Ogun State Government has warned allotees of the Ibara Regeneration Scheme not to sell their land once allocated as doing so would defeat the purpose of the scheme.
Speaking at a Stakeholders’ meeting in Abeokuta on Saturday, the Commissioner for Housing, Jagunmolu Jamiu Omoniyi, said the state government intends to give the state a world-class new city that would be the pride of all.
According to him, the plan of the state government is to recreate Banana Island or Parkview Estates in Ogun State with the Ibara scheme as the starting point.
He said that the present administration’s vision is to revolutionize housing in the state, adding that the caveat attached to the allocation mandate allottees to start construction immediately while any attempt to resell the land would be met with immediate revocation.
He said: “This administration intends to create another estate that will be better than Banana Island. We want to create another Abeokuta where our sons and daughters who live abroad, Lagos or Abuja, can find a place they can call their own instead of sleeping in hotels whenever they visit.
“The agreement is that you will not buy the property for speculative purposes. We will not allow anyone to buy and resell those plots. As a matter of fact, 60 days from today, you must start developing your plot. If you don’t, there is an agreement under oath that everyone has signed to. We will revoke those plots no matter how highly placed you are. If you deviate from the agreement, we will go ahead and revoke and reallocate to another person.”
Giving a background of the Ibara Estate, Omoniyi said a total of 232 bungalows made up of two and three bedrooms were built at the creation of Ogun State to provide accommodation to civil servants who were moved from Ibadan, noting that the location was chosen because of its closeness to Oke-Ilewo, where the state secretariat located as at then.
He said massive development has taken place in Government Reservation Areas in the States that were part of the old western region except Ibara GRA, which is still underdeveloped.
“By not developing this estate, we deny ourselves the value that this land brings to our state. Ibara Estate sits on 32 hectares of land valued at over N20 billion in today’s value and this is what the state government has decided to turn into a world class city that this generation can be proud to associate with.
“We realized that many people have bought into the GRA scheme since the 1970s, but what we have also realized is the fact that rather than the value to go up, the value remains stagnant because there are no new development, no innovation and this is de-marketing your assets. But with the little intervention we have done in the last three months, I’m sure those of you who have assets here know that the value would have been more than double.
“A plot of land that was barely sold for about N25 million, now goes for about N50million-N60million,” the commissioner added.
He appreciated those who keyed into the scheme, adding that though many tried to pull the administration down with flimsy write ups and campaign of calumny, the Prince Dapo Abiodun-led administration remained undaunted in seeing that its vision for housing come to pass
Some of the housing projects across the state, Hon. Omoniyi noted have provided employment opportunities for close to 50,000 people, just as the ongoing Ibara Regeneration Scheme has offered jobs to about 160 artisans in various fields.
The commissioner said the project was divided into two clusters with the first being 35 units duplexes of five bedrooms with a two bedroom boy quarters, while land is being allocated to subscribers of the second cluster to build with specification.
Accoding to him, subscribers apart from being allocated their plots, would also be given survey sheets and their maps as promised by the government, as a total of 95 applicants who applied were given their allocation.
Special Adviser to the governor on Physical Planning and Enforcement, Tpl. Tunde Olugbewesa, in his remarks said the state has huge land mass for both investors and developers, calling on those who buy more than one acre of land to carry out proper layout on their property.
Also speaking, the Osi of Egbaland, Chief Bode Mustapha, praised Governor Abiodun for taking the initiative to give Abeokuta a new lease of life, saying structures at the old Ibara housing estate was an eyesore unbefitting of a state capital.
Also speaking, the Vice Chairman, Egba Economic Submit, Dr. Gbenga Adeoye called for the tightening of security in the Ibara GRA to prevent hoodlums from attacking residents.