The Commissioner for Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Abiodun Abdu-Raheem, gave the hint at a meeting with royal fathers from Akinyele local government area which was held at the conference center of the local government secretariat on Thursday.

Abdu-Raheem who appealed to the royal fathers to talk to land owners not to scuttle the process of enumeration, stressed that the present administration would adequately compensate those whose lands were affected.

“The present government, led by Engr. Seyi Makinde is ready to enumerate original land owners at Akinyele local government whose land would be used for new Inland dry port as well as the rail line for development of the area.

“Once the government acquires the land, adequate compensation would be made to the original land owners as well as farmers who planted on them.

“This is a massive development for the area as socio-economic activities will be boosted because of the introduction of the Inland Dry port as well as the rail line.”

According to him, three hundred hectares of land would be used for the project, noting that due process would be followed.

Speaking earlier, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Ademola Ajibola, harped on the need for cooperation from those concerned, adding that the dry port would be of immense benefit to people of Akinyele local government.

The Alakinyele of Akinyele, Oba James Odeniran, as well as Baales of the community called on the state government to consider resettlement of those whose villages and farmland would be affected, while appreciating the government for considering Akinyele local government for the developmental project.

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The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, made this known on Thursday when he spoke with journalists after a meeting with the Senate Committee on Diaspora in Abuja.

Onyeama spoke against the background of the report that the South African government said nothing provided for compensation.

The minister said Nigeria would challenge the position of the South African government on that.

He said that no compensation was paid in the past, but this time around the government would insist.

His words:  “This is a very important issue because the South African government has been reported as saying that nothing provides for them really to provide compensation.

“That they will have to resort to insurance companies or that kind of private arrangement. We as a government are going to challenge that. In the past, no compensation was paid to these people. For us, it is something we have to insist upon.”

The minister said the government along with the senators was considering measures to ensure that Nigerians did not suffer a similar fate in the future.

“We are particularly determined that these crises will not recur. It has been happening for far too long and has become almost endemic.

“With the distinguished Senators, we are looking at all the options we have to ensure this will be the last time we will ever meet to talk about Nigerians attacked in South Africa and to take definitive measures. But we will start doing that once we have the facts and we will take the necessary measures,” Onyeama stated.

The minister also spoke on the possibility of severing relationship with South Africa over the current issue.

According to him, the action of the government would depend on the outcome of the meeting of the special envoy sent by the president to South Africa.

Said he:  “There are various options. We will wait for the envoy to come back. There are different measures to be taken at diplomatic level without necessarily cutting off diplomatic ties, but we want Mr President’s decision to be informed after accessing all the facts.

“The way the South African government reacts will also be very important in helping us decide what we need to do.”

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