LAGOS PLANS NEW COMPUTER VILLAGE IN KATANGOWA

Lagos State government invites developers for new Computer village but there are worries

The Lagos State government has made good its plans to build a model computer village in the outskirts of the city on the Lagos – Otta – Abeokuta Highway, around the perennialtraffic gridlock of AbuleEgba junction. The new village, which may take some more years to finalise, will be in Katangowa, a notoriously criminal and traffic-prone area of the state. It is difficult how the state expects the operators to relocate there, let alone drive consumers there as markets in the OkeOdo, Agege zone are poorly patronized because of traffic problems and congestion.

The new market will be sited on 21 hectares of land, much larger than the current choked-up location in Ikeja. It will have 3, 500 shops of different sizes and 3, 750 key klamps for which the government is seeking developers. The new space should have better parking space and green areas when fully developed. It will take the location of the notorious Katangowa market for used clothes, which will be moved to the Amikanle village. It will be built on 15 hectares. The developers are to submit “Request for Proposals” form to cover the two developments “as a package”.

The government has tried for years to move the Computer village, Ikeja, which is reputed as the hub for ICT hardware in Nigeria and one of the biggest on the continent. The government has sought to establish discipline at the market by regulating the building of shops but the demand for trading space has trumped all such efforts. The market leaders have opposed all previous plans to relocate them citing the dearth of infrastructure in most of the proposed areas. It is difficult if the Katangowa deal would please them because the Lagos – Abeokuta Highway is one of the most intractable with traffic stretching for several metres and lasting several hours. A similar attempt to get traders in the busy Lagos Island market to move out has not worked. Also failing is another attempt to relocate truck drivers from the Apapa –Oshodi Highway and to move car dealers from their Berger base on that highway. It is a challenge the government of Governor RajiFashola says it will tackle as it pushes for a more ordered Lagos under the Mega City project.