NAN-AE-7
Compensation
By Akeem Abas
Ibadan, May 2, 2017 (NAN) The Oyo State Government has assured landowners at Akilapa and Kuponiyi villages, along Lagos-Ibadan expressway, that it would pay due compensation to them for their lands it acquired for industrial purposes.
Mr Isaac Omodewu, the Commissioner for Lands, Housing and Urban Development, gave the assurance on Tuesday in Ibadan at a meeting held with representatives of the landowners from the villages.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the government acquired lands in the two villages in Oluyole Local Government Area for its industrialisation programme.
Omodewu said that lands would be made available to investors and industrialists, as part of the government’s efforts to increase its Generated Revenue (IGR) and provide jobs.
“We all need to make sacrifices for the good things we desire. Government, on its part, is ready to pay compensation but firstly, there will be an enumeration of all the properties, according to the stipulated law.
“The request of the villagers on what will benefit them whenever the foreign companies start working is natural.
“The companies will, through their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), establish hospitals and schools, while providing other benefits for the communities where they operate.
“We implore our people to key into the vision of the government towards increasing employment opportunities and the state’s financial capacity through industrialisation,’’ he said.
Earlier, Alhaji Rasaq Akilapa, the leader of the landowners’ delegation from the two villages, said that the people shared the vision of the Ajimobi-administration to create a commercial hub in their villages through the Pacesetter-Polaris Free Trade Zone.
He pledged the people’s readiness to always support the government in its efforts to improve the quality of lives of the rural dwellers.
Akilapa, however, called on the government to speed up the process of compensating the landowners, adding that they were happy that free trade zone and industrial park were located in their communities.
“We are happy about development; we know that we will be the most benefitting party but our prayer is that government should fast-track the compensation payment,’’ he said.
NAN reports that the Oyo State Government and China Polaris Group, on Nov. 1, 2016, entered into a partnership to establish a two-billion-dollar Polaris Pacesetter Free Trade Zone on 1,000-hectares of land in the two villages. (NAN)
TAA/ORO/OOK
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Edited by Razak Owolabi and Dayo Komolafe