In a bid to restore the master plan of the state, Edo State Government announced that it had sealed off 50 different properties in the state in the last two months for violating the master plan
The state Commissioner for Physical Planning, Urban and Regional Development, Isoken Omo, who made the disclosure in Benin, said that the ministry had also visited 20,294 properties within the same period, in addition to talking to 81,000 persons.
Omo stated these in Benin City during a meeting with real estate developers.
According to her, the visit of the ministry to the local government areas in the state was to gather data to enable the government to plan the state for the benefit of its citizens.
“This is the data we have gathered so far in the past two months. We have visited two local governments already, Oredo and part of Ikpoba Okha.
“And also parts of Oredo but not finished. We have visited six communities apart from the commercial areas because we don’t classify commercial areas as communities.
“We have talked to about 81,000 people in different fora. We have visited 20,294 properties in that time and we have also sealed about 50 properties in that time, we also have other data of properties to be demolished but I can’t bring it here, just to tell you the magnitude of what can happen in two months. So, if you have to estimate based on this, if we continue this to the end of the year, we will cover the whole of Edo State easily”, she said.
Omo said from the ministry’s findings, that those who said that they were into real estate had not gotten approval from the state government.
The commissioner said the real estate developers had also failed to engage professionals in their dealings, thereby endangering the lives of the people who would live in the estate.
She explained that some of the properties sealed by her ministry posed threat to the inhabitants of the area.
“One of the houses we sealed, was a mould house and we saw them casting a slab on top of it, taking it up. Another we sealed, two hotels on two sides of the road, the owner of the hotel put a bridge across the road so that his people can be working on the other side of the hotel.
“Another place we sealed, is residential, the person without approval started excavating to build a shopping mall, no approval, no nothing, we sealed it.
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She asked the developers to err on the side of caution rather than that of the law, just as she warned them not to “go near Okoro-Oroma, Obagie, Obayantor, on this side.
“So, if you are on Iriri Road, where Iriri Road hits the Ogheghe Road, you know of this, all the lands from the Army check points, all of them belong to the government”.
She gave real estate developers two months to regularise their operations with the state government and failure to do so would be met with the full wrath of the law.
Edo govt to employ 50 additional agricultural extension agents
Meanwhile, the Edo Government on has said that it has concluded plans to employ the services of 50 additional agricultural extension agents to boost agricultural production in the state.
The State Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Peter Aikhuomobhogbe, disclosed this during the South-South Research Extension Farmers Input Linkage System (REFILS) meeting held in Benin
Aikhuomobhogbe explained that the 50 additional agricultural extension agents would help farmers with new technologies required to enable farmers to produce in a cost-effective manner in the state
Describing REFILS as a veritable tool to drive extension service in Nigeria as it links all the actors in agriculture together, Aikhuomobhogbe called on the System to build the capacity of extension agents, adding that, the ADPs were no longer functional because the extension agents lack new innovations.
“So, I want to urge you to build the capacity of the extension agents and the technical staff in the ADPs in the south-south. They need to be aware of new agricultural innovations
“Recently, Mr Governor asked us about technology around bitter leaf production, a company wanted to develop a drug and approach the state on how they can source for bitter leaf in commercial quantity.
“And I said it would be possible since we already have cluster farms in the state. But the issue is, do we really have the technology and the technical ability to produce the bitter leaf
“In Edo, we do not know the approved space for bitter leaf production and it is there. There is a lot of technology that we need to open our eyes to through capacity building.
“For quite a long time now, we have been trying to find solutions to tomato production which has reduced drastically but no solution has been found.
“I want to appeal to researchers that are here today to help us with technology and innovation that can increase productivity and income for farmers in the state.
According to him, this meeting is very important because farmers will be aware of improved technology and initiative that will drive agricultural productivity.
In his welcome address, the Project Manager of Edo ADP, Edward lzevbigie said, the essence of the meeting was to review some of the agricultural issues affecting farmers in the south-south
“It is a forum where stakeholders meet to deliberate on the issues and profer solutions
“Participants are drawn from all the research institutes such as NIFOR, NIHORT, farmers associations and Agric experts among others,” he said.
Also speaking, the South-South Coordinator of REFILLS, Mr Segun Solomon, said the purpose of the meeting was to review the activities of all the ADPs within the South-South zone.
Solomon, who is also the Director of Extension services at Nigeria Institute for Oil-Palm Research (NIFOR) said” We are here to look at their activities and the technical inputs that get to the farmers.
“We are trying to see how we can bring the ADP back because they have the capacity and structure to reach out to farmers within their localities in the zone.
“Basically we are here to look at what they have done since the beginning of the year in relation to agricultural extension, input Innovations,” Solomon said.
According to him, ours is to ensure that the ADPs are running and ensure the injection of new technology into production in the zone.
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