By Yinka Kolawole
In a bid to decongest metropolitan centres, stem the growth of slums in the rural communities and ensure even development across the state, the Lagos State government has prepared development guide plans for six excised villages.

The government is also planning to issue a development guideline to the affected communities to ensure realisation of the need to protect the interests of landowners in the excised communities.

Speaking recently at a stakeholders’ meeting in Lagos, the state Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Mr.  Francisco Bolaji Abosede, leaders from the six affected communities of government’s concern for their social and economic well being.

Abosede said that the development guide plans will enable individual land and plot owners to obtain building development permits and title documents easily before embarking on the construction of any structure on their sites.

He said that government was responsive to the needs of the communities  to develop their land for various purposes, but were initially hindered because of its land acquisition programme.

He noted that the preparation of the development guide plan was of symbiotic benefit to both the state government and the villagers since it would allow development to get to the grassroots, while enhancing the mega city status of the state, improving the economic status of the owners on one hand, while allowing  the state realise the latent revenue which were locked up within the excised villages, on the other hand. This, according to him, will make more resources available to government to enable it provide more infrastructure .

Abosede explained that prior to the development of the plans, excised villages had illegally been developing structures on their land without approved permit, making it difficult for land owners to sell it to prospective buyers since they had not obtained development permit or title documents.

“With the development guide plan, life will be better, properties will be legally strengthened and infrastructure development brought closer to the grassroots  to tame the rural-urban drift. With the plan put in place, efforts are made at improving the physical, social, economic and environmental well-being of the village communities through the provision and incorporation of the necessary social and public infrastructure which are lacking in the existing situation,” he stated.

The six communities have been listed as pilot areas for new town projects. The new towns are to be located at Onigbongbo Village in Ibeju-Lekki Local Government Area (LGA) with a total land size of 35.19 hectare; Olowo-Ira Village in Kosofe LGA with a land size area of 81.76 hectares (Fully Developed); Agbenaje Village in Mosan-Agbado LCDA with land size of 21.609 hectares; Shasha/Oguntade Village bounded by both Ikeja LGA and Alimosho LGA with a total area of 54.6 hectares; Isheri Village in Kosofe LGA with a land mass of 22.688 hectares and Ologolo Village in Eti-Osa LGA