The President of the Nigerian Institute Of Town Planners, TPL. Dr Chime Ogbonna have urged both the federal government and the Lagos state government to come to an agreement on the issue of demolition of 170 estates along the construction of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal highway
Dr Chime Ogbonna in his remarks during an exclusive interview with Housing Tv, urged both parties to look at the structures one by one and find a way to minimize wastage, adding that the country’s investment should not be put to waste so easily
“The truth is that any structure not approved by law anywhere in the country is an illegal structure and could be pulled down anytime but this is a very special one because we are talking about over 170 estates not 170 buildings
“If those estates were not approved by the Lagos state government in accordance to the prevailing law, the state has the right to remove them. This is a very huge number, so consideration should be given to the fact that whoever the estate owners are, they are Nigerians and we used Nigerian money to build those estates”
“I would advice the lagos state government to take a look at those estates one by one if there are some that could be managed by instructing the owners to provide one facility or the other, i think will minimize the waste”
Dr Chime Ogbonna further pleaded that both parties shouldn’t go into a tussle on the issue but rather seek amicable solutions
“I wouldn’t want the federal government and the Lagos state government to go into a tussle over this. If we go strictly by law, the federal government has to agree with the state on what should be removed and what should be allowed to stay in the course of constructing that important coastal road”, he stated.
