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Less than 24 hours after commissioning the newly reconstructed Edo College of Health Sciences and Technology (Edo-COHEST), the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, on Thursday commissioned the state-of-the-art Edo Built Environment Hub.
Recall that the premises of the Environment Hub, housing the state Ministry of Physical Planning, Housing, Urban and Regional Development, Edo State Development and Building Control, and Edo State New Town Development Company (ESNTDC), were formerly occupied by the defunct Edo State Water Board.
Following the extinction of the state water board, the premises were abandoned until the coming of the administration of Governor Obaseki, who breathed life into the one-time abandoned premises.
Speaking at the commissioning ceremony in Benin City, Obaseki said that prior to his coming as governor of Edo, there was serious rot in the land and building administration in the state.
He said that the abundant land in Edo State has made the state one of the richest states in the country, asserting that the biggest value and greatest asset in Edo is its location, “therefore our land in Nigeria is premium.”
Obaseki said that the rationale behind the establishment of hubs in the state was to ease the process of providing government services to the people, maintaining that it is cheaper, easier, better, and more efficient when government services are allocated together.
Obaseki said, “So, what we are seeing here today is the result of deliberate and sustained planning and hard work. The transformation in our state is a result of the planning we have put in place.
“Looking at Edo State, the biggest value and greatest asset we have is our location, and therefore our land in Nigeria is premium. Because, as you know, they say location is everything when it comes to land and real estate.
“That is why you go to some places; the cost of land there is multiple of what it will cost the same type of land somewhere else.
“So, because of the location of Edo State in Nigeria, that very fact puts a premium on land in Edo State. But there was no way we could realise the value of our land or the benefit of our location if it was not organised.
“Edo is very rich, one of the richest states in this country in terms of land resources because our land traverses every aspect; we have swamps, rainforests, and Savannahs; we have minerals; we have a large reserve of gas.”
Continuing, the governor said: “But if all of this is not mapped, if the information is not available, then it is as good as having dead assets. That was what I noticed before I became governor
“So, it became clear that one of the first things we had to do was to start the process of getting information on our land resources.
“So, one of the first projects we did in January 2017 was to contract with the company that was doing Geographic Information Service (GIS) to help us provide source information on which we will now provide every other thing we need for our land resources. That was how the project of GIS started.
“All of you can remember that there was nothing like building control in Benin City, which has been planned for centuries. In Benin, traditionally, we don’t have any close, one street opposite the other, one house backs the other; we observed setbacks in our building practices for hundreds of years before the coming of the white man.”
Obaseki lamented that prior to his assumption of office, his parcel of land with the Edo State Government-approved Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) in Benin was grabbed by land grabbers.
According to the governor, “Before I became governor, the total number of Cof O’s that was issued before I became governor since Edo State was created till when I became governor was about 2000. In three years, we have signed and created more than 40,000 C of O’s.”
The high point of the ceremony was the naming of the EdoGIS building after the former Surveyor General of Nigeria, Surv. Daniel Omogui.
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