Ibara Regeneration Scheme: Ogun govt warns allottees against selling their land

Ogun State Government has warned allotees of the Ibara Regeneration Scheme not to sell their land after it has been allotted, as doing so would negate the scheme’s goal.

The Commissioner for Housing, Jamiu Omoniyi, said the state government intends to give the state a world-class new city that would be the pride of all.

Omoniyi stated this at a stakeholders’ meeting in Abeokuta on Saturday.

He explained that the government plans to recreate Banana Island or Parkview Estates in Ogun State with the Ibara scheme as the starting point.

The commissioner said the conditions connected to the allocation mandated that allottees begin construction immediately and that any attempt to resell the land would be faced with swift revocation.

“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. 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 on the Ibara Estate, Omoniyi staid 232 bungalows with two or three bedrooms were constructed to house civil servants who relocated from Ibadan when Ogun State was established.

“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 going up, it remained stagnant because there is 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.

Special Adviser to the governor on Physical Planning and Enforcement, Tunde Olugbewesa, in his remarks, said the state has a huge land mass for both investors and developers, calling on those who bought 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 were an eyesore unbefitting of a state capital.

Meanwhile, the Vice Chairman of the Egba Economic Summit, Gbenga Adeoye called for the tightening of security in the Ibara GRA to prevent hoodlums from attacking residents.