As part of its second term agenda for sustainable development, the Oyo State government on Saturday, September 23, said it is set to regulate the activities of real estate developers.
In a meeting with real state developers held at Secretariat, Ibadan, the Commissioner for Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Mr. Williams Akin Funmilayo said that the development is part of efforts to guard against bad eggs among the developers, adding that one of the components of the present administration is to ensure the urbanisation of the state.
According to a statement by the Commissioner, Ministry of Information and Orientation, Prince Dotun Oyelade, the Commissioner for Lands, Housing and Urban Development spoke on the complaints received by the state government from several innocent victims who had been duped by the bad eggs among the developers.
Mr. Akin-Funmilayo stressed that government had taken the step of registering practitioners and not allowing dubious real estate developers to take advantage of its people.
The commissioner said: “It is essential for government to know who is who in real estate business in the state, we should work hand in hand to achieve same purpose with Govenor Seyi Makinde’s Agenda.
“To protect the interest of innocent investors in the state, we have come up with modalities to accredit all real estate developers in the state, in order to have a robust relationship and curb the excesses of those that have polluted the industry.
“To this end, they will know where we have designated for housing development because not all land spaces in the state are meant to be developed for housing estate. We will provide them information on government land that is needed to be developed even outside Ibadan.”
“With this, our people in the state cannot be duped, and if they have land to develop into a housing estate, they will apply to the state government and they will be profiled properly. This will give our people in the diaspora hope to come home and invest in the state.”
In his remarks, one of the real estate developers, and representative of Ark View Investment Limited, Peter Olutoyese, applauded the laudable initiative.
He said that the advantage of free entry had been abused and the industry polluted, adding that the regulation would limit the pollution and also give credible developers more chance to thrive.
