Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State yesterday raised the alarm over what he called illegal sale of Tafawa Balewa Square in the state.

The governor made this claim at the launch of two books entitled ‘Contemporary State land matters in Nigeria: A case study of Lagos State (second edition)’ and ‘In her own right: Abimbola Fashola’, authored by the former Federal commissioner for Works and Housing, Mr. Femi Okunnu and wife of the former attorney-general and commissioner for justice in Lagos, Mrs. Gbemi Shasore.

Fashola slammed the federal government over its continued sell of the land to individuals who purchase them for commercial purposes.

According to him, “I think that we have received the short end of the stick as a people. Lagos is one of the many few states bounded by lagoon and ocean on the side. Yet, that is the place that I think has been treated most unfairly by the central government.

“The central government took over Tafawa Balewa Square, in Lagos Island axis of the state, of which it is a manager and not landlord. The land where the edifice was built belongs to Lagos. It was originally crown land. It was given to the central government to manage. And it is alarming that the manager has started selling land left in its care.

“And I have told all those that they sold them to that they bought nothing. The seller has no document to offer. And I have told those who bought it to go and collect their money back from the seller.

“And as long as I live, I will fight the battle to collect the land from the central government.

“It is a national monument named after Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, the first Prime minister of Nigeria and that is what some people in the country want to own. And I have said to them that if you want something like this, go and build your own”.