Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State has begun the construction of an innovative and scientifically driven smart city with at least 22,000 structures.

The Enugu State Commissioner for Science and Technology, Lawrence Eze, disclosed this in a chat with journalists on Friday in Enugu.

He said the smart city would be driven by innovation and technology, adding that the state Ministry of Science and Technology would oversee everything related to the city.

“Everything that needs to make life better technology-wise is going to be found in that city, and this ministry will manage that,” he said.

Mr Eze said the ministry would also get people to train those managing the city.

“We are also going to put people to work to train our people; the people who are developing the place have been obliged to train our people to take over the management of the smart city,” said Mr Eze.

The commissioner added that the smart city would have a filling pipe gas network, Wi-Fi, monorail, compressed natural gas (CNG) buses, and electric cars that would operate only within the city.

He added that the city would be filled with vegetation and all the things that make up a great city, noting that there would be artificial lakes and rivers.

Mr Eze said that funds had already been made available for the city’s construction, as it would be the first smart city in Sub-Saharan Africa.

He added that the governor gave the Chinese company two years to deliver the project’s first phase.

“We took the city from China, and we brought this city and gave it to the Chinese who built the one in China to replicate what they did in China here in Nigeria.

“Once that city is in place, a whole lot of people in the diaspora might decide to start relocating some of their children here because some of them have the intention to bring their children to learn our culture or learn a few things that are going on and even learn our language.

“But they don’t have a beautiful city to compare to where they live, and there is also the issue of security.

“The governor is deploying both kinetic and non-kinetic approaches in confronting the issues of insecurity,” he said. 

Mr Eze said funds had already been made available for the city’s construction, as it would be the first smart city in Sub-Saharan Africa.

(NAN)