Brief of National Legal Adviser on the Legal Status of Mamman Vatsa Writers’ Village, Mpape

BRIEFOF NATIONAL LEGAL ADVISER ON THELEGAL STATUS OF MAMMAN VATSA WRITERS’ VILLAGE, MPAPE

1. INTRODUCTION:

On 3rdDecember, 1985 (though the Certificate of Occupancy was later signed to read 27thday of October, 1998), the Registered Trustees of the Association of Nigerian Authors (hereinafter referred to as ‘ANA’) was allocated Plot No. 23 (now Plot No.: 3158) by the Ministry of Federal Capital Territory with Certificate of Occupancy No.: FCT/ABU/MISC: 3989 with the Area size of 60.9 hectares, designated as ‘Writers’ Village.’ Since then spirited efforts were made by ANA to develop the land to no avail. Perhaps what appeared like a more visible major breakthrough was the involvement of Home Securities Limited which later did not work as was expected, resulting in serious differences that culminated in litigation before the High Court of Federal Capital Territory, Maitama, Abuja. ANA was able to secure victory at the court, albeit with Ten Million Naira(N10, 000, 000.00) awarded in favour of Home Securities Limited. Consequent upon this, ANA engaged Korlie Mobs Ventures Limited (KMVL for short), the current developer of the land.

As will be discussed in more details, ANA and KMVL had to contend with many storms in the aftermath of the judgment against Home Securities Limited to take possession of the land, what with several encroachments by land speculators, fraudsters and intruders. It was so serious that signposts affixed on the land by ANA were removed and carted away by unknown persons suspected to have illegally sold parts of the land in question or illegally bought same. While some were desperate individuals­ duped by organized land rings that dot the landscape of Abuja, many where unsuspecting buyers who fell into the dubious deals of fraudsters. ANA had to formally write to the Commissioner of Police, Abuja Command Office, Abuja, to request for police presence on the land in order to prevent breaches of peace or violent steps taken against its personnel or corporate partners such as KMVL on the premises. Besides the court action by Home Securities Limited, there were two other suits instituted by Eyrie Investment Limited and Gandu Properties Nig. Limited &1 Or V Miyosam Ventures Limited & 11 Ors (Suit No.: CV/1205/2012) (where ANA is the 4th and 4th co-defendants in the second action).

2. MAJOR EVENTS:

i. Grant of Certificate of Occupancy No.: FCT/ABU/MISC: 3989, Plot 23 to ANA on 3rd day of December, 1985 by the Federal Government(through the Ministry of Federal Capital Territory but issued on 27thday of October, 1998) with the Original Area of 60.9 hectares. The new File Number is MISC: 51508. The benefactor from the very beginning of the quest to have land in Abuja is late General Mamman Jiya Vatsa which the land is named after now.

ii. However, via a Letter of Revocation with Ref. No.: MFCT/LA/MISC. 3989 dated 7th February, 2001, the Ministry of Federal Capital Territory revoked the grant to ANA for non-development after a long period of time (over fifteen years).

iii. ANA wrote to the Ministry of Federal Capital Territory dated 8th September, 2003 during the Prof. Olu Obafemi administration for the reinstatement of Plot 23, Mpape District of FCT, Certificate of Occupancy No.: FCT/ABU/MISC: 3989, which was approved via a letter dated 14th October, 2003, a reinstatement of about 53.7hectares was made by the Ministry of Federal Capital Territory with 7.2hectares excised from the 60.9 hectares earlier revoked and communicated to ANA. 

However, the surveyors of ANA’s developers ( Home Securities Limited)established through the beacons shown the size of 45.55 hectares with the difference of 8.15 hectares excised by the Ministry as part of an area being planned as a new layout. ANA wrote through the then developers (Home Securities Limited) dated 27th April, 2004 to Mallam Nasir El-Rufia, the then Minister of the Federal Capital Territory.

iv. Ironically, instead of the earlier 53.7hectares (of which 8.15 hectares were excised by the Ministry of Federal Capital Territory) being restored, the offer of Statutory Right of Occupancy released to ANA dated 2nd day of November, 2010 of Plot No. 23 (now Plot No.: 3158) with new File No.: MISC 51508, was a much reduced area size, to wit: 36.95 hectares. Since then, that is the current recognised size of the land till date pending any future action for the reinstatement of the balance.

v. The relationship between ANA and Home Securities Limited was severed which resulted in a court action which was decided in favour of ANA. The former developers filed a Motion on Notice for extension of time within which to appeal which was granted on 26thday of October, 2016 for it to file its Notice of Appeal within 21 days from the date of the extension granted by the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division. Another case decided in ANA’s favour is Eyrie Investment Limited while Gandu Properties Nig. Limited & 1 Or Vs. Miyosam Ventures Limited & 11 Ors(Suit No.: CV/1205/2012) is still pending before the High Court of Federal Capital Territory, Court 4, Maitama and was adjourned to 20th day of November, 2019 for a ruling on an interlocutory application for a restraint order.

vi. Consequent upon the severance of relationship with Home Securities Limited and the concomitant court action which was decided in favour of ANA, the latter engaged Korlie Mobs Ventures Limited (KMVL) as the new developers via a Memorandum of Understanding dated 15thday of November, 2012 with ANA’s Letter of Consent dated 11th day of December, 2012 with additional Memorandum of Understanding dated 28thNovember, 2013 (Stamp Duties on last Memorandum of Understanding dated 8thday of December, 2013). KMVL faced several challenges such as Certificate of Occupancy collection (which is still uncollected) and disturbance from Home Securities Limited, Eyrie Investment Limited, Gandu Properties Limited as well as other intruders.

3. ANA AND ITS LEGAL STATUS VIS-À-VIS THE LAND:

Despite the challenging topography of the land, there is no gainsaying the fact that itis located at a choice part of the Federal Capital Territory, a picturesque setting with two gullies that run through north-eastern and north-western parts of the land to form a confluence at the south-western end and extends beyond, symbolic of the two major rivers in the country converge into a delta which flows to the Atlantic Ocean. During the rainy season, streamlets of water normally course through these gullies, which are checked by proper culvert formations. Little wonder that this land has attracted both genuine and nefarious  interest from inhabitants of the capital city. So far three High Court actions have been instituted against ANA, with KMVL joined as co-defendants in two of them. A concise review of these cases is as follows:

A) HOME SECURITIES LIMITED VS. INCORPORATEDTRUSTEES­ OF ANA (SUIT NO.: FCT/HC/CV/874/08):

In this action, Home Securities Limited (a property developer) was appointed by the Prof. Olu Obafemi administration to develop the land. After ANA had revoked the agreement on the ground of non-performance, Home Securities Limited instituted a court action against it, claiming among other reliefs, a declaration of ownership of 60% of the 60.9 hectares (the original area size)of the land granted to ANA by the late General Mamman Jiya Vatsa, one-time Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. As stated above, the judgment was in favour of ANA, albeit the sum of Ten Million Naira only (N10, 000,000.00) was awarded to Home Securities Limited. On 26th day of October, 2016, the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, granted the application for Home Securities Limited to file its Notice of Appeal out of time. Nothing has been heard from the said property developer since then.

EYRIE INVESTMENT LIMITED VS KMVL ANDINCORPORATED TRUSTEES OF ANA (SUIT NO.: FCT/HC/CV/382/2014):

This is an action on a breach of contract entered between Eyrie Investment Limited and KMVL and ANA. Upon the revocation of the contract for breach of the terms, Eyrie Investment Limited sued KMVL and ANA. In line with the doctrine in equity which says: ‘He who comes to equity must come with clean hands,’ Eyrie Investment Limited approached the court for redress with soiled hands and lost as the judgment was in favour of ANA and KMVL. This is over four years now and nothing has also been heard from Eyrie Investment Limited. Initially, it threatened to appeal the decision of the lower court, but up till date, nothing of sort has been done.

C) GANDU PROPERTIES NIG. LIMITED & 1 OR VMIYOSAM VENTURES LIMITED & 11 ORS (SUIT NO.: CV/1205/2012):

The less that is said about this case, the better as the matter is still pending before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Maitama, Abuja(specifically Court 4) and is well covered by the doctrine of subjudice. The brief facts of this caseare that Gandu Properties Nig. Limited and Alh. Mohammed Bello Siadu purportedly bought the entire ANA’s land from Miyosam Ventures Limited, who in turn claims it acquired the entirety of ANA’s land from Home Securities Limited(ANA’s erstwhile developer). The amazing and rather preposterous thing about this case is that ANA has never given Home Securities Limited any legal instrument that empowered it to alienate the entire ANA’s land as allocated to it by the Ministry of the Federal Capital Territory. In any case, the matter was adjourned as at the last court sitting to 20th day of November,2019 for a ruling on an application praying for a restraint order.

Aside the foregoing cases, ANA had had invitations from Independent Corrupt Practices & Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) last year where a party who must have gotten a portion of the land from a wrong or fraudulent source, lodged a complaint against ANA. Unfortunately for this individual, there was no trace whatsoever that ANA had ever had any dealing with him nor alienated any part of the land to him. This appeared to have stalled further action on this complaint before the ICPC (after ANA had made its submission to the Commission) as it is obvious that ANA has got no case to answer for anybody’s nonchalant or care-free involvement­ with wrong persons to purportedly acquire any portion of ANA’s land without due investigation being carried out or due process being followed to the letter on his part.

4. CONCLUSION:

With two judgments in its favour thus far (and a third still awaited), ANA’s success story over this land is hinged on noting but truth and justice, astuteness of its legal team and, of course, the altruistic vision to promote literature via the establishment of international writers’ residencies as well as nurturing young writers in Nigeria and beyond. As can be testified by the ongoing development on the land, ANA is completely in possession of the land, fortified by requisite documents of ownership and judicial decisions.

With two judgments in its favour thus far (and a third still awaited), ANA’s success story over this land is hinged on noting but truth and justice, astuteness of its legal team and, of course, the altruistic vision to promote literature via the establishment of international writers’ residencies as well as nurturing young writers in Nigeria and beyond. As can be testified by the ongoing development on the land, ANA is completely in possession of the land, fortified by requisite documents of ownership and judicial decisions.

Thank you.

____________________­__
Isaac Attah Ogezi Esq.
National Legal Adviser

Address by the President of the Association of Nigerian Authors(ANA),Mallam Denja Abdullahi,on the Occasion of the Project Media Tour/Press Conference on the Mamman Vatsa Writers’ Village ,Mpape, Abuja on Saturday 5th October,2019.

ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIAN AUTHORS(ANA),MALLAM DENJA ABDULLAHI,ON THE OCCASION OF THE PROJECT MEDIA TOUR/PRESS CONFERENCE ON THE MAMMAN VATSA WRITERS’ VILLAGE ,MPAPE, ABUJA ON SATURDAY 5^TH OCTOBER,2019.

Protocol.

Sometime in 1985, the then Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Major General Mamman Jiya Vatsa, himself a passionate poet and nationalist, led the founding fathers and members of the Association to this same precinct to engage in what was tagged “the commissioning of the writers village in Abuja.”  Vatsa was a great visionary of the Federal Capital Territory and wanted a pride of place for writers in what he envisioned Abuja would eventually become. Therefore, he donated or awarded 60.9 hectares of prime land close to the center of the City to a community of writers to which he was a proud member. We all knew what happened to Vatsa barely a week after he led writers here.

Since that period of Vatsa’s leap of faith till now, a lot has happened to the writers’ body and the land on which we are standing on today. It has been a tale of flight away from here, hotly pursued by maximum rulers; it has been a story of lack of capacity, failed promises, betrayals, revocation, re-allocation, long-drawn litigations and brazen trespasses. It will interest you to know that what we have left today from the original 60.9 hectares is about 36.9 hectares. The story between the first and the second figures is also a well- known one in our Association, and if you had look around very well, you may have caught some glimpses of it.

On the 24^th of January,2013, after surviving a long-drawn  four years court battle over this same land with an erstwhile developer(Home Securities Limited), the Association did a ground breaking ceremony and a turning of the sod, under the auspices of the Remi Raji –led ANA and the current developer, KMVL, to signify our determination to get things going. That was the state of affair until my Executive Council came on stream in November 2015. My Executive Council implemented the mandate given by the congress of the Association at the 2015 convention to constitute a land development committee. This was done at our inaugural meeting in January 2016 in Abuja where we also asked the present developer to present a brief on the prevailing status of developments on the land. 

The ANA Land committee also met later that year with the developer and initiated a monitoring system to fast track developments on the land. All these initial activities of the Executive Council and the land development committee culminated in a Foundation Laying Ceremony that was held ON FRIDAY 26^TH MAY, 2017 to announce to the world that the period of actual development on the land towards realizing the dream of Vatsa and that of all Nigerian writers had come.

 Actual development eventually took off around August 2017 with a view to realize the projects as laid out in the MOU between ANA and KMVL entered into in 2013 to give ANA on a 5 hectare land a national headquarters complex, a 50 Room Hotel, residency chalets,500-Seater auditorium, conference centre , E-libraries, ANA State offices complex, archives and depositories and many other facilities befitting a writers’ resort. Our strategic plan for 2017-2022, which this administration developed in 2016 with buying- in from ANA stakeholders  has the development of this land as a priority project and appropriately phased. This administration also produced a documentary film “Dancing Mask: The ANA Story” in which the ANA land and its development was given a prominent feature. Also, another 15 minutes film focusing mainly on the land and its initial developments of 2017 was shot and with the main documentary were hosted on ANA website www.ana-nigeria .com for public viewing. In order to keep an eye on progress made on the land and fast track possible developments, the National Executive Council from the donations of N1.5m received at the foundation laying ceremony in May, 2017  from some friends of ANA who attended the event, gave out the sum to the developer for the building  of a temporary national secretariat for the Association to enable us move the national headquarter from Lagos to Abuja. The National Secretariat of ANA was effectively moved in March, 2018 from the National Theatre Complex Iganmu, Lagos to the building in which we are having this press conference today. In the course of all these and in the last four years, the ANA Land committee has met at various times  with the developer, alongside the monitoring system regularly and  religiously carried out and have copiously reported with the national executive council about developments on the land to the congress of the Association at ANA Conventions AGM. These reports have been made with a view at all time in keeping the congress up to date on the developments on the land and getting further necessary mandates for the pushing of the way forward on the land. 

It was the dream of this present National Executive Council of ANA initially to complete this project in its entirety, at least the first phase or commission some structures into full functionality. It was a commissioning ceremony we had thought we would do before we quit office in November,2019. Based on this and in agreement with the developer, we set out well thought-out developmental timelines in black and white, which the vagaries of climate, Abuja land development bureaucracy, engineering hitches and general harsh economic environment have made impossible to meet. However, our unwavering commitment to see this development to its end has taken us this far which we have deemed  necessary to showcase to the ANA public and to our friends in the media.  

This ANA land matter since the inception of its being given in 1985 up till this moment has been a subject of myth-making, mindless and unfounded accusations, mostly against its minders in the successive national executive councils over the years. This wild tale in broad daylight has been taken to the dizzying height of arrant falsehood in the devil-may-care political maneuvering of some persons as they battle others in the build –up to attain power in ANA at the forthcoming elections in the Association in November,2019. May I reiterate here that the Denja Abdullahi-led National Executive Council of ANA has kept a verifiable trail of all its activities on this land since the first day it took office and has executed its mandate as given by the ANA congress to the best interest of this Association in this ANA land matter and all other matters.

I will at this juncture salute and appreciate the efforts of successive leaderships of this Association who have kept this dream alive in the peculiar ways that the extenuating circumstances have allowed them. I salute our members for their unending vigilance on this matter of ‘ANA LAND IN ABUJA,” an ever fixed item in our agenda at our annual convention since 1985. I particularly single out for commendation the successive team of ANA Legal Advisers over the years and other professionals within the Association who have rendered valuable services pro-bono, just to ensure we do not lose the land. However, no one, not even this National Executive Council, during whose time , one block was actually laid over the other, can arrogate to itself the success that may have been made on the land today. The struggle since 1985 has been a collective one and so should it remain if we are to one day gather here soon to commission in a grand manner this on-going project and move into the next phase of an Association with properties that will generate the much needed income to power literary developments in our land.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have stepped into the fringes of the promised  land but we are not on sure footing yet. The incoming executive after us needs a lot of work to do to see this project to the end and will need every support and encouragement from the generality of ANA members. The Association still needs the Federal and the States governments, corporate institutions, national and international donor agencies, individuals and groups to join hands with ANA as it builds a place for literature and culture in Abuja. The period of being romantic about a land bequeathed to us by a benevolent poet-soldier is long over; we are in an age where a hard -nosed business option has to be continually taken to fully build the land and realize the vision behind the giving.

Thank you for listening.                                                                                                             

Writers’ Resort set to redefine Abuja tourism landscape

Writers’ Resort set to redefine Abuja tourism landscape

by Online Editor October 10, 2019 in Travel & Hospitality

 

By VICTOR NZE 

Nestled in-between two scenic hills, the Mamman Vatsa Writers’ Resort in Mpape could well redefine the tourism landscape of Abuja before the end of the year.

Spanning over 30 hectares of pure nature, the resort has all it takes to corner the leisure and adventure tourism market in not just the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) but also the country, as it offers much more to meetings, incentives, conferences and events (MICE) aspect of tourism as a destination.

Sitting on a location barely 40 minute-drive from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, and less than 25 metres from a Nigerian mobile police (Mopol) major facility, the resort is ideally a one-stop centre for not only literary enthusiasts and scholars who may come to hibernate, but as well as tourists, extreme sport seekers, for whom every part of the landscape represents a thrill.

Owned by the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), the resort excites members in terms of the huge savings on accommodation and conferencing running costs incurred annually on account of the group’s national programmes, this is also the private sector is taking sneak previews on the project’s untapped goldmine.

This is so because it was not up until two years ago in 2017 that active construction commenced on the site as a broadened vision by members informed the need to mine the location’s many opportunities, which included self-sustainability, among others.

Positioned to house the association’s national headquarters complex, the resort has designs for residency chalets, a 500-Seater auditorium, e-libraries, ANA state offices, archives, depositories and many other facilities in the direction.

However, as a tourist resort, the multi-purpose facility boasts of a 50-room key hotel, a three-storey coliseum and amphi-theatre, shopping malls, banking halls, its own dedicated power supply substation complete with green areas, as well as hiking ranges situated in the surrounding hills.

The steam in members to actualize this dream of a befitting resort for writers is also strengthened by the drive to prominently play a major role in filling the vacuum created by the void in adventure tourism in the country.

Speaking when the group hosted a project media tour/press conference, last Saturday, in Mpape, President of ANA, Mallam Abdullahi Denja, who first pointed out that before 2017 there was no meaningful activity on the site, said the expedited action by his executive council towards realizing the facility was to give members a ‘resort to be proud of, after many years of battling activities of land grabbers at the courts.’

For Denja, who also doubles as a senior director at the National Council for Arts and Craft (NCAC),the resort is purely and essentially a business venture which will be operated by a third party to ensure professionalism and guarantee investors of good returns on investment (ROIs).

“It was the dream of this present National Executive Council of ANA initially to complete this project in its entirety, at least the first phase or commission some structures into full functionality. It was a commissioning ceremony we had thought we would do before we quit office in November, 2019.

the conference centre work in progress

“Based on this and in agreement with the developer, we set out well thought-out developmental timelines in black and white, which the vagaries of climate, Abuja land development bureaucracy, engineering hitches and general harsh economic environment have made impossible to meet,” Denja said.

Continuing, Denja said: “We have a renewable MoU with the developer under a build, operate and transfer (BOT) arrangement. So after construction, the developer is in-charge of negotiations with investors and other private interests to run the facility. ANA is not the operator. It’s a business arrangement which will be run as such.”

Secured back in 1985 through the support of the then Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Major General Mamman Jiya Vatsa (now late), actual development of the site took off around August 2017 with a signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between ANA and an indigenous firm, the Korlie Mobs Ventures Limited (KMVL) in 2013 to develop a 5-hectare space for a national headquarters and other structures for the association.

Speaking exclusively, boss of KMVL, Col. K. K Shaw (rtd) confirmed the deal saying the entire project should have been delivered by now as agreed under the MoU, but explained that climate issues have necessitated adjustments in the delivery date for the project.

inspection of the project site during the tour by top ANA members and the media

According to him, logistics drawbacks occasioned by inclement weather conditions which forced construction work to halt for weeks on the site, was largely responsible, this is as he assured that all the challenges had now been sorted out, as he fixed a December date for the delivery of the major conference centre, while other projects on the site ‘will come on stream in 12 months’ time.’

Shaw, a former Managing Director of the Nigeria Army Housing Scheme, who said his company has been in operation since 1995 having acquired vast experiences in handling similar projects across the country, admitted that the writers’ resort project was his most challenging on account of the terrain.

“We have prosecuted a lot of difficult projects but this writers’ resort will amount as the most difficult in handling not in terms of funding, but rather topography,” Shaw said.

The project commissioning, it would be recalled, has once been postponed.

Indeed, a difficult topography and terrain may pose challenges to builders, it however brings a smile to the faces of adventure tourists and extreme sport seekers, who expect to exploit the thrill and challenge of hiking and trekking at the resort to the maximum, which is why the writers’ resort is expected to be boom to tourism.

“I think this place is going to be the pride of all literalists in Nigeria. I’m not physically strong as that but I have personally taken it upon myself to do this tour to see for myself this expansive structure. There was nothing here before now but I’m really proud of this. We sincerely have to finish this, and leave something behind for future generations,” said United States-based writer, Dr Adewunmi Oluwadiya, who was part of the tour.

The story of the ANA land, according to Denja, ‘has been a tale of flight away from here, hotly pursued by maximum rulers; it has been a story of lack of capacity, failed promises, betrayals, revocation, re-allocation, long-drawn litigations and brazen trespasses.’

the temporary entrance

“It will interest you to know that what we have left today from the original 61.20 hectares is about 36.9 hectares. The story between the first and the second figures is also a well- known one in our association, and if you had look around very well, you may have caught some glimpses of it,” Denja explained the shrinking of the project site.

However, tourism experts in the country have remained upbeat that even on its present 36 hectares, the resort should comfortably corner the tourism industry leveraging on its well-documented pluses, even as they also express optimism that a 50-room key added to the Abuja hotel rooms will still positively make an impact, against the backdrop of the fact that the facility is expandable from the 5-hectre space occupied.

Furthermore, adding more rooms to the Abuja and by extension the Nigerian hospitality market appears to be profitable now against the backdrop of the sustained growth in revenues declared by hotels in the continent.

For the experts, now is the best time to invest in hospitality and tourism in Africa.

A recent report by the STR Group showed that revenue per available room (RevPAR), the key hotel industry performance metric in Nigeria, as well as other top tourism destination in Africa, has grown for 87 consecutive months amid a period of low supply growth and strong demand.

According to STR director Thomas Emanuel, in his presentation at the recently-concluded Africa Hotel Investment Forum in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Monday, using a 12-month moving average and U.S. dollar constant currency to remove the impact of currency fluctuations, Africa’s RevPAR was up 6.4 per cent to US$67.10 as of August 2019. Average daily rate (ADR), up 3.3 per cent, has had more of an impact on that growth than occupancy (+2.9).

“Africa has shown one of the better supply and demand balances on a global level. The continent’s industry continues to expand alongside rapidly developing economies and infrastructure, so there is definite investment opportunity even though finding the right opportunity is challenging. The prospects of greater supply growth as well as political and economic instability can also create difficult situations for the region’s hotel industry moving forward,” Emanuel said.

Other highlights from Emanuel’s presentation include that: Despite its massive geographical area, Africa has just roughly 5,000 hotels with only four countries in Africa offering more than 50,000 rooms, which include; Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia and South Africa.

Denja, therefore, used the opportunity of the media tour to woo investors into the project, explaining that good ROI is awaits them.

https://oraclenews.ng/writers-resort-set-to-redefine-abuja-tourism-landscape/?fbclid=IwAR1uCuDRhmJmPs9V9zF-DD36XridC8WOOF1CLXx8VIx1Vz8zRblDpSzumuI