The plan to relocate the Computer Village in Ikeja to the new ICT Business Park at Katangwa in Agbado-Okeodo area of Lagos has excited traders at the market as many have expressed readiness to support the move.

Some of the traders who spoke with NAN on Saturday in Lagos, however, pleaded with the state government to ensure completion of the first phase of the project within 24 months as scheduled.

The Lagos State Government had initiated the relocation of Ikeja Computer Village to a new site following environmental and physical planning challenges.

Timi-David Famuroti, President, Coalition of Associations in the Computer Village (COCAVIN), comprising 18 associations, said they were excited about the new ICT Business Park project.

Mr Famuroti said that the Katangwa ICT park would enable members the opportunity to work in a dignified environment.

He said that the present Ikeja Computer Village had become choked and taken over by all sorts of negative things, including street trading and lawlessness.

‘’We are excited that businesses could be transacted in a more conducive  environment.

‘’I want to implore all our members to key into the project, the project is made for all even those on the streets.

“I want to encourage everyone to key in because I am sure that after two years, the government will come in to make the present environment what it is supposed to be,’’ he said.

Also speaking with NAN, Ifeanyi Akubue, President of Phone and Allied Products Dealers Association of Nigeria (PAPDAN), said the new ICT Business Park was their dream.

Mr Akubue said that the present Ikeja Computer Village had no room for expansion and that the environment was not befitting for an ICT hub.

“So we need a more befitting  and organised place for our business.

‘’The Lagos State Government has made a confirmation of the movement by providing access roads to the hub as well as a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) terminal; so this confirms the reality of the relocation,” he said.

According  to him, the traders are confident of the reality of the project and are ready to move to the new site.

Mr Akubue said that members had been helped to secure loans from banks, adding that the issue of unidentified individual operators would be a thing of the past at the new hub.

The PAPDAN president said that the government had said that Ikeja Computer Village was not a market and that it would be restored to its former status.

Jerry Mba, Secretary of the Computer Village representatives committee, said the state government’s decision to relocate the hub to a more conducive environment was ideal to uphold its international  image.

He said that the computer village as it is today was no longer good enough for business transactions due to the social vices that has given the hub a negative image.

He also appealed to Bridgeways developers building the new ICT park to ensure its completion within 24 months to enable the traders actualise their dream of a befitting and conducive business environment.

Meanwhile, Head of Project at Bridgeways Developers, Niyi Otegbade, assured the traders that the project would be delivered in 24 months as scheduled.

Mr Otegbade said that the ICT Business Park had been designed to meet the expectations of all to trade in a conducive environment and project its image internationally as the biggest ICT hub in West Africa.

He said that the concerns of various stakeholders had been taken care of and that work had commenced to complete the first phase of the project on schedule. 

(NAN)