Oguun State government has commenced discussion with First Bank of Nigeria and HFP Engineering, developers of the Victoria Garden City, to secure funding and technical support for infrastructure development in River View Estate, Isheri.
In the first of a series of meetings scheduled with the development Partners, Surveyor Gbenga Ogunnoiki, director-general of Ogun State’s Bureau ofLands and Survey, briefed First Bank and HFP Engineering on the progress of work in the estate. Ogunnoiki told First Bank that the stat needs infrastructure financing to speed up physical development such as drainage system, internal roads, and electrification in the estate. He explained that HFP, developers of the VGC, which plans to build VGC-type settlement on 58 hectares of land in the estate, is a key development partner to the state on the River View Estate project.
Mr. Kehinde Lawanson, executive director of First Bank, who led his company’s team to the meeting, said the bank was ready to work with Ogun State to develop the estate. Lawanson noted that HFP has so much goodwill in the market that its presence in River View would have a huge impact on both the rate of development and property prices in the estate. He described River View Estate as “a place waiting to happen.”
Mr. Dele Martins, group managing director of HFP Engineering, said once the question of access roads and drainage in the estate have been addressed, work on his company’s 58-hectare property would kick into develop the VGC-type settlement in area three of River View Estate, which occupies the central section of the estate.
The infrastructure development meeting took place in the Isheri zonal office of the Bureau of Lands and Survey. Ogunnoiki, director-general, Bureau of Lands, said the inauguration of the zonal office market a new era in the attempt to mobilize resources for a speedier development of River View and other estates in the state.
He explained that the Isheri zonal office, located within the River View Estate, is a deliberate effort of the Bureau of Lands to decentralise service delivery and beef up the capacity to promptly meet the needs of stakeholders in the estate.
Ogunnoiki said in the next two to three weeks will go into high velocity. He explained that access roads have been provided in 100 per cent of areas 1 and 2 along with provision for drainage, adding that similar infrastructure is being taken now to area 3 where HFP is located.
 Apart from HFP, other development partners to Ogun State on the River View Estate include owners of the Palms on Victoria Island, GAEI investment Limited, Nigeria-Turkish International School and Caleb Schools.
Ogun State government, through the Bureau of Lands, has also developed other schemes like GRA Extension Ijebu-Ode, Asero Scheme Phase II and flowergate Mixed Scheme, among others. The Bureau of Lands has the mandate to ensure orderly and efficient development of the land the few years the Bureau has focused development in the northern section of the state bordering the coastal part of Lagos. In a recent press conference, Ogunnoikom director-general of the agency said attention would this year be equally given to the development of the hinterland. Besides estate development, government is driving to turn “the state into an investment destination in the South West” To achieve the dream of an investment haven, the state is developing free trade zones where investors would enjoy tax holidays, enhanced amenities, high-skill but cheap labour and international competitiveness in trade zones being developed are Ogun Guandung Free Trade Zone, near Agbara; and the Kajola Free Trade Zone, off the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. The state is also developing the Gateway Industrial Park along Sagamu; a deep seaport at Olokola near Lekki-Ogun waterside; and the Ogun International Airport.