Mr. President, time to call the saboteurs to order – Dr. Muiz Banire

At the recent commissioning of the 30 km Lagos–Calabar coastal road on May 31st, 2025, the President of Nigeria, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, under the compelling need to preserve the coastal lands abutting the ongoing road infrastructure, directed that no land should be allocated within 50 meters of the road. This was to preserve the setback not only for probable future expansion but also to safeguard the land for deserving and appropriate development.The President further directed the Lagos State Government to liaise with the Office of the Surveyor-General of the Federation before making any allocation of such lands.

That was all the President pronounced and nothing more. Yet, it appears that was all the hawks at the federal level needed to invade the sovereignty of the states and begin feasting on their assets and people.The first salvo came from the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, who published an advertorial in The Nation newspaper on Thursday, February 20, 2025. In it, the Minister asserted that ownership of all landed properties abutting the waterfront, shoreline areas, and waterways setbacks resided in the federal government, relying allegedly on a Supreme Court judgment of January 2024 in the case between the National Inland Waterways Authority v. Lagos State Waterways Authority.

The advertorial went further to request all waterfront property owners, including the President of Nigeria, to “regularize” their title documents by approaching the Ministry for “proper documentation and titling of properties, licenses, permits, and statutory charges….”

As if under hallucination, the publication also challenged the competence of the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LABSCA) to enforce physical planning laws in the state. Clearly, there is either a serious disconnect or sheer mischief in this. It does not appear to me that the officials are that ignorant of the law. Certainly, greed must be beclouding their reasoning and objectivity. In a further display of predation, the publication, purportedly relying on the Land Use Act, claimed ownership and control of all lands along the shorelines, naming Banana Island, Osborne Phase I and II, Lekki Waterfront, among others. In a similar manner, the Office of the Surveyor-General of the Federation issued a publication on July 2nd, 2025, Punch Newspapers, directing all owners and stakeholders of lands within the “setbacks” of all shorelines, coastal roads, and lagoons to present their documents for recertification. It even purported to revoke all approvals already granted.

Arrogantly, it further commanded the state government not to issue planning permits without recourse to the office. Wonders shall never end. The Surveyor-General asserted: “It is also pertinent to state unequivocally that the indiscriminate creation of islands will no longer be tolerated, and all existing unauthorized sand filling should stop forthwith, as efforts are being put in place by the Government for proper maintenance and control of the infrastructural master plan along the shorelines nationwide.”

Consequently, holders of “existing approvals already granted on or before the date of publication” were expected to submit them to the Surveyor-General for “verification, harmonization, and compilation,” while all new approvals were implicitly barred. As if insolence was insufficient, the Surveyor-General followed up with another advertorial in Daily Trust of Friday, August 22, 2025, threatening demolition of properties “conceived without proper survey coordination,” whatever that means.

Again, the advert reiterated that: “All approved, pending, and intended requests for issuance of allocations and Certificates of Occupancy on island and lagoon developments are hereby suspended, and must be submitted for proper survey coordination to the Presidency, Office of the Surveyor-General of the Federation.” One Abdulganiyu A. Adebomehin signed this advertorial. Ironically, I understand he is an indigene of Lagos from a riverine area. Where, one wonders, did he or the federal government derive such powers to suspend allocations and Certificates of Occupancy? This is the confusion Lagos State has been thrown into. Let us examine the publications one after another.

The Ministry’s advertorial was premised on a purported Supreme Court judgment of July 2024 in National Inland Waterways Authority & 3 Ors v. Lagos State Waterways Authority & 5 Ors. That judgment never conferred ownership of all lands within the setbacks of coastal areas, lagoons, or waterways on the federal government. It was simply a case of interpleader summons concerning who had the right to collect levies and charges from ferry and boat operators. The issue of land title never arose, nor was it decided. It is either that proper legal advice from the Attorney-General of the Federation was not sought, or whichever lawyer counseled them failed to distinguish between the ratio decidendi of a court decision and an obiter dictum, the latter being non-binding. Neither the Land Use Act nor the constitutional provisions cited by the officials support their claims. Section 49 of the Land Use Act is clear: only lands in the possession of the federal government and being used by its agencies and parastatals belong to the federal government. Any other claim is baseless.

Both on the strength of the statute and case law, the content of the advert is indefensible. None of the powers arrogated to itself by the Federal Ministry of Housing exists. Hence, what the Ministry of Housing sought to do via its advertorial is illegal. No citizen is under any obligation to observe illegality. Indeed, even the directives referred to in the Surveyor-General’s publication do not exist. I have already captured the President’s pronouncement aptly in my introduction.
Certainly, he could not have directed the usurpation of state powers, powers which, as Governor of Lagos State, he arduously and successfully fought to secure. It is either that the directive is being misconstrued or executed maliciously and mischievously.

I have had the privilege of engaging Mr. President on this, and he categorically denounced such atrocious directives. The implications are clear: the advertorials are ultra vires and must be ignored. The laws and regulations cited are totally inapplicable. Where did the Surveyor-General derive the power to revoke allocations or regulate islands? What business does his office have with lagoons? Is he aware of the decision in H.R.H. Oba Yekini Adeniyi Elegushi & 5 Ors v. AG Federation & 2 Ors (2000), which nullified a Decree that sought to compulsorily acquire lands within 100 meters of lagoons and waterways? That judgment remains extant and unappealed and could no more be appealed. Where did the office of the surveyor General derive the power to impair the competence of the state governments to exclusively deal with the issues of development approvals? This much, in AG Lagos State v. AG Federation & 36 Ors (2003), the Supreme Court settled the matter: states have exclusive competence to deal with planning approvals. It is contemptuous for any official to tamper with that position. In the light of the above, the Surveyor General’s act can only be self-induced. The surveyor General seems to forget that the consultation the President meant was just for coordination and nothing more.

In case these officials are ignorant, let me remind them that the President himself, as Governor, fought and won these battles at the Supreme Court. Since then, the position remains sacrosanct. Unfortunately, due to these unguarded publications, confusion has engulfed the real estate market and disrupted the livelihoods of Lagosians. I have been inundated with agitations about this federal onslaught. This madness must stop. These actions are being undertaken for selfish purposes, not the common good. Nigeria is neither a jungle nor a banana republic; it is a country governed by law. The rule of law must prevail. The essence of leadership and institutions birthed by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) is to obey and observe the dictates of the law at all times.

Any attempt to do otherwise is an invitation to anarchy which must be resisted. Officials who act otherwise must be called to order urgently. Their intention is clearly to dent the President’s reputation in Lagos and sabotage his electoral fortunes in 2027. These are saboteurs who must be dealt with decisively. Even assuming without conceding that the President gave such directives, are Ministers and Permanent Secretaries not duty-bound to advise and guide him properly? Instead, their actions portray incompetence. Even where they lack knowledge, one would have expected them to consult further before actioning such directives capable of portraying the President as a lawless person. One of the trophies President Tinubu earned as Governor was reclaiming state rights from federal encroachment.

That legacy cannot now be wished away by self-serving officials. These latter-day disciples that constitute themselves into evil public and civil servants need to be tamed urgently. The most embarrassing of all is the Surveyor-General of the Federation, who, I understand, hails from a riverine part of Lagos. As the Yoruba proverb says: “Ti won ba ran omo ni’se eru, afi ti omo je” if a child is sent on a slave’s errand, he should execute it in the dignifying manner of a freeborn. The concept of omoluabi, which the Yoruba people are known for, does not allow a person whose faculties are intact to desecrate law and order. He must remember: “Ile ni abo isimi oko” (home is the refuge after the farm work). Office is transient. “Ile”, it is said, “ni abo isimi oko”. This is pregnant with meanings and the literal rendition above does not do justice to this aphorism of the Yoruba which has a lot in store for the returnee after his many years of sojourn in a foreign land or a protracted stay in public service. In due course, he will return to the very community he seeks to undermine. For some of us, we will resist every attempt to destroy the President’s legacy, particularly one that protects Lagos communities and preserves the state’s developmental gains. Enough is enough.