[The Alausa Blog]: Ikoyi, Banana Island, Festac and Trade Fair belong to LASG – Okunnu

Former Federal Commissioner for Works and Housing, Alhaji Femi Okunnu on Tuesday expressed sadness over the current status of the Federal Secretariat in Lagos and other abandoned and surplus assets of the Federal Government in the State, urging that the assets be returned to the State Government for effective and proper usage.

Okunnu,  a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), spoke at Lagos House in Ikeja while presenting the report of a Special Committee which he chaired set up by Governor Akinwunmi Ambode on Federal Government Assets in the State.

He said the whole of Ikoyi, Banana Island, Osborne Foreshore, Festac Town, Satellite Town, Trade Fair, among others belonged to Lagos State Government, and title of the lands were vested in the Governor of the State, urging the Federal Government to hand over the assets to the State Government.  

Okunnu said the issue of Federal Secretariat in Ikoyi was particularly saddening to him for the fact that it was during his tenure as Federal Commissioner for Works that the structure was constructed. 

“Federal Secretariat makes me sad because I built it when I was the Federal Commissioner for Works. The land upon which the secretariat is situated is part of the Crown land now State land. The title is vested in Lagos State but when he was Governor of Lagos State, Brigadier General Omobola Johnson (Rtd) agreed to release that land to Federal Government when they wanted to build Federal Secretariat.

“It is not only the quarters but the land on which many of these buildings in the areas are situated. In our Committee, We have tried to argue that the whole of Ikoyi with the boundary at Lagos Canal standing between Ikoyi Island and Lagos Island, title to the whole of the Island is vested in the government of Lagos State when Lagos became Crown Colony. The whole of Ikoyi including Osborn Foreshore, Banana Island, and others belong to the State Government”.

Okunnu said the title to the whole of Festac Town was vested in the Government of Lagos State and that the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) remained the tenant of the State Government, same as Trade Fair.

“Lagos State Government acquired the Land of the Trade Fair site but Federal Government took over the land and gave a promise to pay the state compensation which was to be paid to the original owners of the land but that compensation was not paid. Today, the Trade Fair has been turned into market far from the original purpose intended.

“We hope that discussions between Lagos State Government and Federal Government over Federal Government lands and state lands within Lagos, as well as over disuse or surplus lands which Federal Government especially Defence and Prisons are still occupying in Lagos, and are now surplus to requirement, will be held to settle this palaver once and for all,” Okunnu said. 

Governor Ambode in response to Okunnu’s remarks said “We are hopeful that this report will get favorable response from the Federal Government especially given the fact that the Honourable Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN) was a passionate advocate of this issue during his tenure as the Governor of Lagos State and is also now a representative of Lagos State in the Federal Cabinet.”

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