The Lagos State Government has said traders at the Computer Village in Ikeja have an 18-month window to relocate to the new site at Katangowa, Agbado/Oke-Odo Local Council Development Area.
A Tuesday statement noted that the Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, Gbolahan Oki, made this known while speaking at a stakeholders meeting held at the market with the traders and their executives.
‘The government wants your cooperation to ensure the relocation comes to pass. The time is now. We have to make the project a reality. The relocation period is 18 months’, he said.
Oki said the state government had put necessary facilities in place at the new location to make the place conducive for the traders.
He noted that the present location in Ikeja was formerly a residential area, which, over the years, had been converted into a trading centre without the government’s approval.
Oki added that the plan to relocate the traders to Katangowa had been on since 2006, but due to the slow pace of the development work, the relocation suffered setbacks.
He told the traders that the stakeholders’ engagement was to carry them along on the government’s plan, adding that Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu believes in inclusiveness and the welfare of the people.
He said, ‘The governor is passionate about the development of the infrastructure of Lagos State, and he wants all of you to be aware of the relocation. Katangowa is a place chosen for everything relating to this market. It’s 15 hectares of land. It is near all the materials you need for your business.
‘The present location used to be a residential area and so many things are attached to this place. Where the government is taking you is well laid out and we want all of you to know what the relocation is all about. We want to work with you and plan the relocation together. Everyone wants change but there are things that will affect us if we are going to experience that change’.
The Project Coordinator, Olayinka Bello, said the new location had been designed to accommodate some infrastructures such as a police post, hotels, and accessibility to the BRT terminal for easy movement.
The Iyaloja, Computer Village, Chief Abisola Azeez, said the executive of the market, in 2006, reached an agreement with the then governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu, now President, to relocate the market to Katangowa and urged the traders to abide by the government’s decision to relocate them within the period.
