Property owners impacted by the ongoing Ojoo/Akinyele road expansion in Ibadan have begun receiving compensation from the Oyo State Government.
The payment exercise forms part of the state’s efforts to ensure that residents whose properties were affected by the major infrastructure project are adequately supported.
Speaking during an engagement with beneficiaries, the Commissioner for Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Williams Akin-Funmilayo, said the government remains committed to combining development with fairness and social responsibility.
According to a statement issued by the Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Dotun Oyelade, the compensation programme was approved to prevent residents from bearing undue losses as a result of government projects.
He said, “No development should bring negative consequences to the members of the public, as the development of infrastructure being experienced in the state is aimed at expanding the economy of the state and to make it a business hub among other states.
“The ongoing road expansion in the area, upon completion, will in no measure boost the agric business and open doors of opportunities for the people with the siting of the inland dry port, railway station, new town and construction of the Circular road, which will further boost the economic growth of the south-west region as investors can clear their goods at the dry port with ease.
“The state Governor, Seyi Makinde, has mandated the ministry to always process the documents of the affected property owners without any delay.”
To oversee the process, the state constituted a verification and compensation committee headed by the Governor’s Executive Assistant on Security, retired CP Sunday Babatunde Odukoya.
Government records show that 65 affected property owners were captured in the first phase of the exercise. Of that number, 22 have completed the verification process and have already received payment, while the remaining claims are still being reviewed.
The government also warned applicants against attempting to influence the process through unofficial payments, urging anyone approached for bribes to report such incidents immediately.
Beneficiaries, including Kayode Adebayo and Alimot Tolulope, welcomed the development and expressed gratitude to the state government, noting that they had not expected compensation to come so soon.
Senior officials of the ministry, including Permanent Secretary Hakim Audu and other directors, attended the exercise.