We Will Build 2500 Housing Units Within 12 Months — Oyo Housing Chair
The Chairman of the Oyo State Housing Corporation, Demola Omotosho has revealed that all plans have been concluded to ensure the construction of 2500 housing units in Ajoda new town is completed within 12 months from the day the project is commissioned.
The agency’s chairman stated this while speaking with journalists on the current state of housing projects at a briefing in Ibadan on Wednesday. “The 2500 housing units will be done in twelve calendar months from the day the Governor gives us approval and lays the foundation,” he said.
“We are latching onto what the Governor is doing. We want to key into it as Oyo State Housing Corporation. If you look at the history of the corporation, our core assignment is simple: housing. We have come up with a new initiative to build affordable housing across all our estates in all areas of the state. But we are starting with the capital city, Ibadan.
“We came up with the vision of 2,500 housing units. When we started people doubted the visibility of achieving that. We are starting it at Ajoda new town which was established 47 years ago in 1976. We want to add more value to Ajoda town. I want to commend the previous board of the Housing Corporation who came in and moved Ajoda new town from being a forest. The place is sitting on 5,000 hectares of land. The last board opened up the place with new roads and that’s why it’s now becoming attractive for others.
“We, as the new board, have to build on the work of the last board and that’s why the impetus to build 2500 housing units came up. The new town is specially located. It’s going to open up massively because the circular road is connected to it. It’s also 8-10 minutes drive away from the Ladoke Akintola Airport which is now being upgraded into an international Airport. We also have plans for a new golf estate,” the chairman explained.
Speaking on other projects that the agency has in the pipeline, he noted that as soon as the ajoda town project takes off, “we will work on the Owode housing estate. We are also going to flagoff the construction of the Olubadan shopping mall opposite Gbagi market. It will include 350 shops and offices. We are also talking to investors and developers to take up the opportunities we have in other parts of the state and we are sure that in a few months, new developments will happen in those places too.”
“I know there are issues with revocation, resettlement, and relocation with some of these projects. Yes, it’s true that this will happen in some places and that’s because there are speculators holding on to our lands in these areas and when this happens, no estate can develop. The law that sets up the Housing Corporation is emphatic on this, after a year if you don’t develop, we will remind you. After another year, we can revoke it. There are some that have held on to these lands for twenty years and not embarked on any development. There are some that have not even paid their statutory payments.
“I want to emphatically say that as long as you have paid and done everything you are expected to do, you will not lose your land. There will be a rejig because of development. But we will not revoke anybody’s allocation if there is no need to. There might be an understanding between us and the allottees for rearrangement for development to take place but it won’t be a case of revocation. We are not here to add to anybody’s travail, we are here as problem-solvers and solution-givers,” he added.
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