BY:
ONYENWE PRINCELY,08036856526
 |
| OKOROCHA |
On the
good efforts of the of the state government of Imo state to deal with cases of
land menace posed by land speculators in the State, betrayals of good
governance are parading themselves as land agents on increase at the rural
communities where they may feel so free to perpetuate obnoxious acts against
the already existing ethics of the ministry of land, survey and Urban planning
in Imo State.
It has
been discovered that most of the communal war and conflicts are caused by discrepancies
on land sharing and occasional trespass by government without due settlement
and compensation to the rightful owners of the land. Because of this anomalous hit
over land issues, owners of land have decided to map out their lands to individual
owners.
Besides,
it is a criminal act for the owners of a particular portion of land to sell same
portion of land to more than two or three buyers at a time. Some may even re-sell
a particular portion of allotted land to their relatives with fake documents to
fraud the buyers of their hard-earned money. Therefore, buyers must endavour to
be careful of the type of land agents and the landowners they deal with to avoid
“mmakwara”
had I known in quote.
The
aboriginal people of Umuagwu Nekede in Owerri West Local Government Area are
affected by the menace of these disgruntled agents who indulge in selling and
re-selling of a particular portion of land to more than one or two buyers at a
time. Most of these so-called agents are unregistered and unprofessional in
their practices. They indulge in sharp practices to grasp their agency fee and
run away leaving the buyers aloof amid controversies. This is so unfortunate.
On the
other hand allot tees only secure government
land for speculative objectives counter to government goals and such allotted
land may stand the chance of being sold by these angry agents or may be revoked
by the government after staying undeveloped for a long period of years .
It is agreeable the land use Act vested all
lands within the State territory on the governor and each property or plots
owner is required to pay rent to the governor vis a vis the State. Therefore, the
Ministry of Lands, Survey and Urban Planning Owerri being one of the biggest
and most attractive Ministries in the State must rise up with very critical
responsibility of land and administration to regulate the services of land
agents and Owerri Capital Development Authority (OCDA).
It is
also the duty of the Ministry to control all survey activities in the State as
well as boundary controls, registration of tittles of Land and collection of
statutory fees and levies from lands and buildings and where necessary maintain
the Owerri master plan inclusive of rural communities to checkmate the abrupt
abuse of land use Act.
Just recently,
Nekede – Avu – Obinze farmland, a certain developer had claimed acquiring these
lands for Federal University of Technology Owerri and the Communities objected to
it. Some part of same land was used by
the government for industrialization waiting due compensation until date.
Such
criminals that perpetuate this kind of misdeed in our society should be flushed
out by relevant authorities and agencies saddled with such responsibility to
uphold benefits of land use Act, knowing quiet well that the basics of
development of any society is land.
For
this reason, sale of a particular portion of land to more than one person at a
time is a consensus that crime is a major social problem that usually does
injury or harm to others. Crime is a sort of society’s ability to contain; it
violates sacred customs, law and values. Crime can also interrupt the smooth
operation of socio – economic and political order of a nation, state or
community Just as the sale and re - sale of land in Umuagwu Umuoma Nekede in
Owerri West Local Government Area of Imo State and its environ has affected the
land use Act of Imo State.
Onyenwe Princely is a public
Affairs analyst, a human rights activist and renowned journalist. 08036856526
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