FROM IKHILI EBALU, BENIN CITY
Edo State governor, Godwin Obaseki and former Minister of Foreign Affairs and chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, High Chief Tom Ikimi, among other dignitaries, yesterday, commissioned the Edo Built Environment Hub, which houses the Ministry of Physical Planning, Housing, Urban and Regional Development, Edo Geographic Information Service, EdoGIS.
The building also houses the Ministry of Roads and Bridges, and Edo State Public Building and Maintenance Agency.
Speaking at the commissioning, Governor Godwin Obaseki said his government had, over the last eight years, taken deliberate steps to improve land administration and sanitise the built environment sector to sustain investors’ confidence, as part of efforts to drive sustainable growth, progress and prosperity.
Obaseki, who shared the story of how his land with a Certificate of Occupancy, C-of-Ọ, was reallocated and resold by land grabbers, said his government has sanitised the built environment sector and guaranteed security of lives and property, repositioning the State as one of the best places to live and do business in the country.
As part of the commissioning, the governor immortalized the late Daniel Omoigui, Nigeria’s first Surveyor General, naming the EdoGIS building after the deceased from Edo State.
He said, “I had the privilege of serving as head of the economic team before becoming governor and just looking at Benin City, Edo State, the biggest value and asset that we have is our location and therefore our land in Edo State is premium.
“Location is everything when it comes to land and real estate. Because of the location of Edo State, the land is premium and there’s no way to realize the value and benefit of our land if it’s not well organized. Edo is one of the richest States in this country in terms of land resources.
“Our land transverses every aspect; we have swamp, rainforest and savanna. We have minerals, large reserves of gas but all of these need to be mapped and because when information is not available, it’s as good as having dead assets.
“We have always had a planned environment and by the time I became governor, it was another story. Our land administration process had collapsed. Even as a governor, I had a C-of-O on a property at Iyekogba and yet that property was resold and the new owner built on it. It’s terrible and that was the situation we met; we can’t develop in this manner.
On development of various hubs across the state, the governor said, “The idea of the hub is cheaper, easier, and more efficient when government agencies are located and situated in one place. We have acquired more lands for the built environment sector as we have one in the right and the other in the left and this would amount to about nine hectares of land. All the agencies that will need to do something about the built space will be located here.
On immortalization of Nigeria’s first Surveyor-General of the Federation, the governor stated, “We have an outstanding Edo legend who is not here with us but when he passed on few years ago, during his funeral service, I made a promise that being the first Surveyor General of the Federation of the Edo extraction, that we were going to honour him.
