Press Releases

“Develop Your Lands”, Fashola Urges Land-Owners At Abijo/Lekki
• Reiterates Government’s commitment to provision of housing

Jun 25, 2009 - Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), Thursday urged land owners in Abijo and Lekki Housing Estates to develop such properties even as he reiterates the commitment of his administration to the continued provision of houses for the people of Lagos.

Governor Fashola, who fielded questions from newsmen after an inspection tour of the two estates in the Ibeju Lekki Local Government Area, said the continued hold on the lands without developing them was hampering Government’s efforts to provide houses for Lagosians.

He told the newsmen, “What is more interesting is that if you looked as we drove from that other estate, Abijo, to this one in Lekki Phase 11, there are several multiples of hundreds of plots of land and all of those properties have been allocated as far back as four, five, six, seven to eight years ago.

“We have provided the infrastructure, the roads are there and you can see electrification. But nobody is building and this raises a serious question; are people just holding the land for speculation? If you come to Alausa, even as Governor, about 60 per cent of the letters and meetings that take my time everyday are about land”.

Wondering if the land owners are waiting for the time when value of property in those areas would appreciate so that they could sell, Governor Fashola declared, “But there is land to build and it does not justify the hue and cry that Lagos State has no land.

“All of those lands have been allocated, in Abijo and in Lekki Phase 2, and the roads are there, the drainage is there, and as you can see, the electrification has been done. A lot of them have water. I think the people are just not willing to leave their traditional areas. Therefore, we watch and wait and see”.

Acknowledging that Government cannot provide the entire infrastructure alone, the Governor, however, reiterated the commitment of his administration to continue to strive to raise the quality of life of the people.

“Truly, Government cannot provide everything. It is self-evident, whether it is Transportation, whether it is Education, whether it is Healthcare or Sports, these are icons that signpost our commitment to the welfare of our people”, the Governor said.

He said Government would continue to do housing projects such as those in Abijo and Lekki as long as land is available in order to ensure provision of enough habitation for Lagosians.

“We have made the commitment as a Government. We will continue to do projects such as this to signpost out intension to provide houses for our people”, Governor Fashola said.

Governor Fashola had earlier inspected a housing estate being developed by the Lagos State Development and Property Corporation (LSDPC) where he was conducted round the project by the Managing Director of the Corporation, Mr. Abiodun Oki.