Abia State Governor, Dr Alex Otti on Thursday flagged off the reconstruction of the Ekeoha Shopping Centre Aba, the oldest textile market in the Old Eastern Region of Nigeria.
According to Otti, the remodeling project shall be driven by a Public-Private Partnership anchored on a robust stakeholder engagement and consultation framework.
He explained that the Government’s role in the venture is to protect the interests of the State, and the business community within the market, and guarantee that the project is executed in the long-term interest of Abia people who own shops or do their business there.
The Governor added that the developers on their part will be responsible for the holistic execution of the general and specific elements of the project, interfacing with the Government and other stakeholders to ensure that execution is in tandem with approved structural designs.
Otti said Aba is known across the world as an important business destination, a strategic trading hub in the West African region and a fertile ground for traditional enterprises.
He, however, lamented that not much has been done to reposition the city and its trading spaces to meet the dynamic aspirations of the new generation of business people who troop in daily to find the best deals on a litany of products where Aba will beat every other market in West Africa on price, quality and timely delivery.
Otti said that now is time to take the bull by the horns as he will not delay in doing what must be done to expand Aba’s advantage as a city of very resourceful traders, artisans and entrepreneurs.
“The truth is that we are building a modern trading ecosystem that shall offer everything you can ever ask for in a 21st-century urban market including steady electricity supply, CCTV cameras to support security activities, a mini-clinic and general emergency response centre, fibre optic connectivity for reliable internet access and a digital market hub where wares can be displayed on virtual platforms for customers across the world. The plan is to build a market without borders.
“The decision to go ahead with this remodeling project is an eloquent testimony to our readiness to make the markets in Aba, 24-hour business hubs with state-of-the-art facilities to ensure the safety and security of the traders and their customers, enable interactions with customers from different parts of the world in real-time, and entrench an enterprise culture of borderless transactions on the strength of the infrastructure that shall be put in place at the completion of the remodeling projects,” he said.
Otti said that the Government has taken very proactive steps to secure temporary accommodation for the traders who do their day-to-day businesses at Ekeoha through relevant authorities that will collaborate with the leadership of the market to manage the relocation process so that the traders can still attend to their customers from the temporary location.
The Governor said that although the process will come with some inconveniences, there are, however, certain sacrifices that must be made for the greater, long-term good.
He equally assured the traders that the Government will do everything within its power to keep things stable while it works very closely with the developers to ensure timely delivery of the project which he said will be in phases to ensure order and minimum difficulty to traders and customers.
Otti explained that demolition will not happen soon after this flag-off, stressing that the flag-off only reinforces the firm resolve of the Abia State Government to remodel Ekeoha Market to a first-class facility to meet the dynamic needs of Abia traders and their expanding customer base.
“To guarantee that this place is not shut down completely at any time over the lifecycle of this project, we have reached an understanding with the developers that the exercise shall be done in phases.
“When one section of the market is being remodeled, trading activities shall be allowed to continue on other sections. Necessary safety measures shall be put in place to reduce risks of injuries to anyone.
“While we shall keep our eyes on timely completion of the exercise across the entire spectrum, extra care shall be taken to make sure that the process happens in an orderly and measured fashion.”
