Ondo Coastal Community Kicks Against Allocation Of Land To Private Developer

By Ayodele Oni

The Ilaje/ Aheri community in Ondo state has vowed not to release an inch of its land under any guise of development to private individual.

Recently, the state government, in an attempt to invite Dangote to invest in the stste had promised vast of land in the coastal area to the private investor for its projects.

It will be recalled that this will not be the first time for Dangote to show interest to invest in Ondo state.

The Dangote oil refinery currently sited in Lagos was initially meant to take off in the state, at the Olokola Free Trade,(OKFTZ) area but had to relocate to its present location due to disagreement among communities in the coastal area of Ondi state.

Now with a fresh planned investment, the community’s position at the end of a meeting attended by representatives of the state government and Dangote group rejected “any so-called investment that may make us now and posterity, tenants on our land.

A communique signed byAyeoba Ige Asemudara,

Secretary, Aheri Development Council,  states “That to all intents and purposes, Dangote is a private business concern as we insist on the full constitutional and statutory definition of the overriding public interest for which any inch of our land may be acquired by Government.

“That we refuse to be added to the list of communities all over Nigeria whose lands were acquired by governments for private projects and whenever such project failed, the lands which were supposed to revert to the indigenous owners had been held by such tenants and their own families as owners to the detriment of the indigenous owners.

“We will also not tolerate the grabbing of any portion of our land under any guise either investors and local elite.

“That the current divide-and-rule- tactics of engagement and planned acquisition of land from persons with no legitimate ancestral titles will not deter but strengthen our resolve to adequately deal with such shenanigans in the fullness of time, not only by the people of Aheri but all men and women who desire justice for indigenous people..

“That for the avoidance of any doubt, we welcome Dangote and other genuine investors in our land and within the OKFTZ along the Atlantic corridor only, but not anywhere in the hinterland along the Alape lagoon.

“That the Olokola Free Trade Zone (OKFTZ) comprising a Deep Seaport, Oil Refinery and other projects was initiated in 2007 to cover 10,000 (Ten Thousand) Hectares of land spanning the coastal boundary corridor of Ondo and Ogun States, which were each expected to acquire and release 5,000 hectares for the project.

“That the project was yet to take off when Dr. Olusegun Agagu in whose administration it was initiated was succeeded by Dr. Olusegun Mimiko as Governor of Ondo State and towards the end of whose government, Aliko Dangote briefly came into the project.

“That no land was acquired for the OKFTZ by either the Agagu or Mimiko administration as even Ondo and Ogun States could not agree before Dangote left OKFTZ to build his Refinery in Lekki Lagos.

“That Aheri kingdom of Ilaje welcomes the return of Dangote and associates with the industrial development agenda of the administration of His Excellency, Governor Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa within the OKFTZ along the Atlantic coast.

“That we note as an inexplicable omission the non-inclusion of representatives of the host communities in the Technical Committee set up by ODSG to collate records and liaise with Dangote and other private companies in the OKFTZ which will only widen the current abysmal communication gap between the stakeholders.

“That as Government acts only through verifiable documentations; it is unacceptable that our land and forests are currently invaded by strangers on the basis of a proposed government acquisition of land with no clear location, dimension, and on the pretext of crops enumeration, data collection and environmental impact assessment of undisclosed projects.

“That while Dangote left OKFTZ and its 10,000 hectares for Lekki, only 2,635 hectares in a low-lying, swampy, sand-filled and reclaimed area similar and contiguous with the Ilaje coastline, was acquired and released by the Lagos State Government (LASG) for the building of the gigantic Dangote Refinery including its unused areas.”