Date: 2013-05-24

The new Government Reservation Area (GRA), Budo-Oso, Tanke area, Ilorin, will be commissioned on May 29, the Director General of the Bureau of Lands in Kwara State, Alhaji Yusuf Babatunde Abdulwahab has disclosed.
Speaking with newsmen in Ilorin, Abdulwahab said government has given the contractors handling the projects until May 28 to complete and handover the project.
According to him, "We have held meeting with the contractors and we are hoping that they would be able to meet the deadline of 28th of May given to them. If it is completed and handed over that day, it could be one of the projects His Excellency would commission for his second year anniversary".
He disclosed further that over 200 plots have been allocated out of the 407 plots.
This, he noted was as result of review of the payment structure in the allocation with a view to making it affordable and accessible to the people.
"With all sense of modesty, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed is one of the visionary leaders we have around today. Visionary in the sense that not everybody would have thought that the old GRA is choked-up and if the step he took concerning the new GRA is not well articulated and put in place now, the old GRA in a few years would become a slum because of the population in Kwara State and their dire need for a very private place".
"Even, the facilities in the old GRA are becoming overstretched. But with the new GRA around Tanke area which is the heart of the town too, I think this problem will be well managed.
"The new GRA is of equal size with the old GRA in terms of land area. However, the part that is being developed now which we consider as zone A1 has just 407 plots.
"This is laid out into very low density and low density areas, i.e 3000m and 1,500m land area respectively. We have invested so much money into this place running into almost N1.5 billion and the allocation we are going to do is planned to re-coup current investment.
"Don't forget that this money was borrowed via bond from the investing public and we have to pay back the money.
"So, in allocating the land to individuals for their residential purposes because the place is basically for residential use, a plot of land particularly that of 1500m2 is going for N4.5 million minimum, that is N3,000 per square metre. Then, the one for 3000m2 is going for N9 million".
The Director-General said government was doing a lot of advocacy to sell the projects to Kwarans in all part of the country and abroad through the special campaign strategies.
"I want to appeal to the people who have not submitted their old certificates for re-certification to come over for re-certification.
"My appeal also goes to the general public that they need to pay land charges on annual basis on their properties whether titled or not titled," he said.