The attention of the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development has been drawn to the story written by Oluwatosin Omojuyigbe and published in the Punch Newspaper of 24th February 2020, where he alleged that the Ministry served a short notice on Queen Diana International School, while the Hon. Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Dr. Idris Salako ordered the demolition of a school in defiance of a court order. The report also maintained that the Commissioner ordered that the school gates be locked with the students inside.
It is noteworthy to state that issues raised in the publication do not represent facts as, contrary to the portrayal in the report, the Lagos State Government had engaged occupants of the area in a series of stakeholder-engagements prior to the administration of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
The relocation of Computer Village in Ikeja to Katangowa, which began during the administration of the past Governor, Senator Bola Tinubu, is a key project in the urban renewal drive of the State Government, which in no small measure is designed to address the disorderly development in Ikeja and also bring development to Agbado/Oke-Odo LCDA as the project involves massive road construction and the growth of other ancillary services in addition to the proposed ultra-modern ICT Park.
Contrary to the report, people whose property were affected by this development had not been taken unawares as the Lagos State Government had opened channels of communication with stakeholders in Agbado Oke-Odo LCDA since the inception of the project. One of such engagements was the stakeholders' meeting convened by the State Government on the premises of Agbado Oke-Odo LCDA on 12th September 2017, where modalities of the project were discussed with the people.
More recently, on Friday, December 20th, 2019, another stakeholders' meeting was held at the frontage of the Agbado/Oke-Odo Local Council Development Area, where stakeholders were sensitised on the commencement of the project and requested to submit all relevant documents for consideration of compensation.
The message was also echoed in the publication by the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development in The Nation Newspaper of the 19th December and the Punch of the 20th December 2019.
As part of the process, a final 7- day notice was given to all affected stakeholders, while additional 7-days were conceded to Queen Diana International School to allow for the removal of its items, even as the owner was adamant and resorted to the use of uniformed men to stop officers of the Ministry from working.
It is also worth mentioning that no court order was served on the Ministry before the demolition, neither was there any pending court case, while it is also not true that the Honourable Commissioner, an astute professional and a compassionate individual, ordered that students be locked inside the school.
It is inconceivable and illogical to assert that any official of the Lagos State government will direct that students be locked within the school premises during the removal of structures; it is also intriguing that the reporter made no attempt to balance his story by seeking government’s side of the story in line with ethics of the journalism profession.
While we sympathise with the affected stakeholders, it is essential to reiterate that societies are able to cope with emerging physical and environmental challenges through painstaking efforts at urban renewal to engender an organised, liveable and sustainable environment.
Lagosians can rest assured that the State Government will remain law-abiding in its quest for a Greater Lagos.
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