The Coalition of Associations in Computer Village (CACOVI) has expressed concern over the current state of the village in the Ikeja area of Lagos and the prolonged plans to relocate the electronic gadgets market.

The CACOVI president, Timi Davies, said in Lagos that the computer village had spread and enlarged beyond imagination, adding that the market had become congested.

Mr Davies was reacting to declarations by the Lagos government after its recent visit to the computer village to relocate the market to an ICT park at Katangua in Abule-Egba.

He said the traders’ worries were not the relocation but the affordability of the shops at the ICT park and their purchasing power.

The CACOVI president said the current economic situation was not favourable to businesses, adding that the relocation policy would be assisted if the shops at the park were subsidised for traders.

He added that the government could also choose to assist traders with funding support through loans.

“Lagos state has been on the issue of relocation of computer village since 2007, which was initially refused by traders but later embraced by them. The developer has been trying to raise money, which is a challenge. The government can make policies on the relocation, but one thing is sure: not everybody will relocate to the ICT park.

“Beyond the ICT park, there is a need for the government to be proactive in making proper use of the taxpayers’ money in the Ikeja Computer Village. My point is that the present state of the Ikeja Computer Village is not encouraging. The market should be taken care of and enforcement put in place so that the biggest ICT market in West Africa can truly occupy the position of an organised market,’’ he said.

According to Mr Davies, since installing an Iya-Oloja in the computer village, the market has ceased to be organised.

He said there were now so many environmental hazards and street trading, which was not synonymous with the old computer village.

The CACOVI president urged the state government to look at the state of the village to bring about positive changes while the traders waited to be relocated.

The park’s developer at Abule Egba, Bridgewater Global Project Ltd., said the relocation experienced some setbacks due to unresolved issues. Its CEO, Jimmy Onyemanam, said the unresolved issues were, however, being addressed by the present administration.

(NAN)