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By Christopher Oji
Nigerians living abroad have sent a save- our-souls to President Bola Tinubu and the Senate to come to rescue them from the hands of the Ministry of Works and its other agents that have destroyed their investments on Okun Ajah community in Lagos.
The concerned parties, under the banner of Diasporan Real Estate Investors and Developers (DREID), have also called on the senators to investigate the bribery allegations levelled against some workers in the Ministry of Works, who they claimed altered the original route of the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway to favour their paymasters.
At a press conference yesterday in Lekki, Lagos, the diaspora investors, among other demands, urged the President Tinubu and the Senate to prevail on the Ministry of Works to revert to the original route as gazzeted in the 2006 road alignment when the Tinubu was the governor of Lagos State.
Addressing journalists, the managing director of Winhomes Global Estate, Stella Okogwu, said, “We urge the President to make a prompt decision and also to hold his public officials accountable for the damage incurred. The President should also instruct public office holders to cease this action, which is the misuse of the President’s immunity as a shield for wrongdoing.
“We are also calling on the Senate Committee on Works to urgently investigate the corruption allegations within the Federal Ministry of Works, to ensure transparency and accountability in Nigeria’s investment landscape.
“We are here over the cries and pains of diasporan real estate investors and developers in Nigeria. This press conference intends to expose all of the falsehood and lay bare all the facts of the illegal coastal road alignment and diversion from the initial and authorized alignment of the 2006 gazette earmarked by the then Lagos State governor, now our President, His Excellency, Bola Ahmed Tinubu. I am Engr. Stella Okogwu, a professional real estate investor leading other diasporans to invest in our country, Nigeria, through Winhomes Global Estate, Okun Ajah.
“As a true patriot and a Nigerian, I have never lost touch with my Nigerian roots. I am committed to progress, growth and development in all areas and spectrum, economically, politically and socially. I not only show this when I am back on Nigerian soil but demonstrate and attribute the value in Nigeria and also in America where I have other businesses, including real estate. “Consequently, it was an easy choice for me to answer the call by His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, after his inauguration on May 29, 2023, which he followed up with various overseas travels in his insistent drive for Nigerians in the diaspora to come back home and join hands in the development of the country by investing in Nigeria. As a real estate investor, my partners, Engr. Femi Adekoya and Mr. Olawale Oluwa (Pelle Homes), and I knew we had to contribute and make our impact felt immediately.
“We collaborated to acquire a substantial tract of land to support our esteemed President’s economic agenda and proceed with its comprehensive development. Driven by our commitment to invest in Nigeria, we inspired our fellow diasporans to do the same. As a result, 70% of our subscribers who are diasporans invested in Winhomes.
“We embarked on full due diligence and secured all necessary documents, including fulfilling requirements from Lagos State government. Our due diligence included confirming that the property had a certificate of occupancy issued by the Lagos State government for the Okun Ajah community. We proceeded to obtain the governor’s consent and clearance from the coastal road right of way, which further confirmed the validity of the title to the land. We crossed our t’s and dotted our i’s. I need to emphasize that securing these documents was not only challenging but also painstakingly involved a lot of effort, including traveling to and fro America to Nigeria countless times and meeting with the heads of departments at the Lagos State Bureau of Lands, the Surveyor General’s office and ministry of physical planning, in the end, the estate land was secured and its development continued in earnest after confirming the land was free from the proposed coastal road alignment.
“However, we were surprised that the ministry of works has now done the unimaginable by destroying the properties, investments and sweat of Nigerians in the diaspora without prior notification, using the name of the President of Nigeria as leverage to cause pain, trauma and depression to people in the diaspora after securing all these titles. The ministry’s action has made a complete nonsense of the entire investment. Above all, the ministry’s action is not only destructive, but also antithetical to President Tinubu’s foreign investment drive, thereby undermining the dream and goal of the office of the chairman of Nigerians in the Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri, and Doris Uzoka-Anite, Minister of Trade & Investment in Nigeria, who has constantly encouraged Nigerians living in the diaspora to return home and invest in the country’s developmental and economic initiatives, most especially that of Mr. President. As an active member the board of directors for the Africa Canada Global Trade and Investment in Nigeria, we are constantly preaching to Nigerians in the diaspora to remember that Nigeria is all we’ve got and as such we need to bring our investment back home. The ministry of works has with its actions hampered efforts to convince Nigerians living in the diaspora to come back and invest in the country.
“The situation surrounding the demolition of Winhomes Estate is deeply concerning and raises serious questions about the conduct of the ministry of works. I recently learnt of an allegation that Ocean Bay residents paid a substantial amount to the ministry officials to divert the coastal road, thus avoiding the demolition of their properties, which violated the original alignment. I contacted the minister to inform him of this, but he dismissed my concerns. Subsequently, news outlets reported allegations of bribery and corruption within the ministry of works. Furthermore, I brought to the minister’s attention about seven pending legal cases against the ministry of works around Okun Ajah. Despite this, he remained unresponsive.
“On Thursday, October 3, 2024, I was shocked to discover that Hi-Tech had sent its staff to come and peg our property for demolition without prior notice. I went to brief Mr. Femi Falana, SAN, and he put a call through to the minister, where the minister on his honour promised Mr. Falana that he would come to Lagos the upper week to discuss the issues surrounding the pegging.
“To our astonishment, on October 5, 2024, the ministry of works officials, accompanied by military personnel and Lagos State Task force officials, stormed our site and demolished Winhomes property and also assaulted our personnel on site. After which they proceeded to remove essential building materials worth hundreds of millions claiming they had orders from above to do so.
“This isolated attack and vendetta raises the following questions: Is the Federal Ministry of Works aware of the bribery and corruption allegations and deliberately ignored them? Is this a case of retaliation for speaking out and doing what is right? The actions of the ministry of works are deeply troubling and require immediate investigation and accountability by the Senate Committee on Works.
“Indeed, the way the ministry of works has embarked on the destruction to give way for the Lagos-Calabar Highway has been brazen, rash, and punitive. The ministry has flouted all laws, degraded men and women, communities, and, above all, destroyed businesses, most especially the demolition of Winhomes Estate investment. The ministry of works did not consider the environmental impact of siting a coastal road project through residential property investment around the Okun Ajah corridor before diverting it from the initial master plan and gazette of 2006.
As diasporan investors, we are not seeking financial compensation of any kind from the government, but rather appeal to the President to mandate the minister of works to revert to the 2006 gazetted alignment as we made sure proper and detailed due diligence was done before this property was purchased.
“Take note that the minister publicly challenged Landmark on National Television claiming he lacked legal land titles. However, we possess necessary legal titles all of which were implemented when President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was the governor of Lagos State. We are addressing the President because this issue stems from a specific faction of his administration, which is the ministry of works. If this continues, it would be wrongfully generalised as a problem with Lagos State.”
