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| Fashola and Amosun |
•Lagos needs them for agric -Ogun Govt
•It’s anti-people, inconsiderate, says group
Ogun State Government at the weekend came under attacks for handing over some border communities in the state to Lagos State. Locals claimed the handover was carried out without due consultation with them.
The action, it was observed, had sent jitters into some landlords with plots of land without approved plans, as they expressed concerns that once the Lagos State Government takes over, their buildings would be demolished.
To that extent, an Ogunbased human rights group, The Masses Rights Movement of Nigeria (MRMN) has taken up the locals’ case, asking the Ogun State Government to rescind the action, as “the land of the people cannot be sold or leased without the owners and residents of those areas, who are the primary stakeholders, being carried along”.
In a recent agreement between Lagos Governor, Babatunde Fashola, and his Ogun counterpart, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, 500 hectares of land in Egua community of Yewa Local Government area of Ogun State were leased to Lagos State.
It was also gathered that the leasing extended to Okearo, a densely populated area in the locality.
Both states have justified the land transfer with explanation that Lagos needed the land for agricultural pursuits.
In the same vein, the Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) of Iju Water Works area of Ogun had been handed over to Lagos, according to a communiqué issued by both Fashola and Amosun, a copy of which was obtained by Sunday Mirror.
The communiqué, however, stated that regarding 15 other communities under dispute between the two states, joint boundary resolutions have been found, and that the deputy governors of the respective states will flag off the joint signposting of the boundaries that had been agreed on.
The areas include Iragbo, Agbara, River Ilo, Iroko Village, Isheri, Emuren, Ojodu, Akute and Ajuwon. Others are Mojoda, Ogijo, Agbado, Alagbole, Iju and Ilogbo Eremi. The communiqué added that reconnaissance (a mode of survey) of Adiyan Water Works land area, also an Ogun community on the Lagos border, would soon be determined.
Both Ogun and Lagos states are being governed by Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) whose cardinal objectives include a “regional integration of the Southwest”.
But MRMN in a statement yesterday by its Coordinating Secretary- General, Comrade Mark Adebayo, accused the governments of both states of trivialising the rights, welfare, and destiny of residents in the traded areas, in the name of party camaraderie.
“Our own concern is about the welfare and the right of ownership of the mass of the people to be permanently affected by this action. First, all the places earmarked for sale or lease to Lagos are residential areas, heavily populated by people who have built houses on these lands. Secondly, there are communities who have owned these areas for centuries. No matter how laudable this deal may be, if it does not take into cognisance the welfare and the right of ownership of the people affected by this deal, then that deal is anti-people, inconsiderate and wicked.”
The group added, “As at now, there is no evidence that the Ogun State Government engaged those directly affected by this deal in meaningful dialogue before the two governments perfected the deal.
“We hereby call on the two state governments to stop forthwith any decision, action or deal between them that will negatively impact on the people of the two states. All actions on this matter must be put on hold until all the communities affected are adequately engaged in an open and transparent process that will ensure that the will of the people prevails.”
But in her reaction, Senior Special Assistant on Media and Communications to Governor Amosun, Mrs Funmi Wakama, said, “Ogun State government did not sell land to Lagos State government with respect to Egua and Okearo areas of Ota Local Government. What Lagos has in Egua is a leasehold. The land is leased to Lagos for agricultural purposes. There are conditions attached to the Egua land lease, which include hiring of locals from these communities.”
National Mirror
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