Lagos to relocate Computer Village by March

The Lagos State Government has earmarked N500 million to relocate Computer Village in the centre  of  Ikeja the state capital to Katangowa Market in Agbado Oke-Odo area of the state Lagos this year,  Daily Trust has learnt.

Checks showed that the N500 million to be spent in the relocation is already included in the 2014 budget by the state government and it is expected that the relocation of the  Computer Village may likely take place before the end of March.
The State Commissioner for

Science and Technology, Adebiyi Mabadeje confirmed the plan to move the computer village referred to as Internet City in the first quarter of 2014.
According to him, all major players in the Information Technology, IT, industry would soon be moved to the 15 hectares of land, saying it would generate jobs for hundreds of Lagos residents when it finally kicked off.
“I can’t categorically say when we are moving them to the city, but we are working towards the first quarter of this year. We are discussing with all stakeholders in the market to ensure the success of the project. All the traders at the market now, will be fully carried along in the project.
“The new market will be a modern standard market that will serve as one stop shop for IT industry. This will further enhance business in a friendly and enabling environment that will add value and ensure accessibility,” the commissioner explained.
Meanwhile, the Social Secretary of the Computers And Allied Products Dealers Association of Nigeria (CAPDAN) at Computer village in Ikeja, Mr. Sunday Ogunfolaji, said the movement of Computer Village to Katangowa Market would be in phases.
Last year, Governor Babatunde Fashola informed the traders about the relocation, saying that government wanted to build a digital village that would cost the government billions of naira.
But, traders had appealed to the governor to resettle them at Amikanle within the same council area. They argued that Amikanle community is more spacious than Katangowa market that has been taken over by second-hand clothes dealers and earth-moving vehicle spare parts’ traders.