Fresh Hope Rises.......As Nigerian Army, Post Service House Development Limited Plans New ultramodern market to help decongest the Alaba and the sorrounding market

The CEO and Director of Marketing, Acada Arcade Project, Col. Kingsley Umoh (rtd.) has said that an ultramodern market was being developed in Ojo area to decongest the Alaba and the sorrounding markets to give residence a pleasurable shopping experience.

Umoh who disclosed this at a recent property development event at Radisson Blu Hotel Ikeja Lagos revealed  that the project is a joint venture with Post Service Housing Development Limited and the Nigerian Army.

He said that the army wanted to bring some organisation to Ojo markets which incidentally was in line with what the Lagos State Government was doing with infrastructure along that corridor.

"It is an attempt to provide a shoping complex for the Ojo environments to help to offload the stress of the pressure of markets like Alaba and others along that axis.

"It has all the facilities that should make going to the market comfortable and pleasant experience.

"It's a public-ptivate sector project with the army as the owners of the  property but has given the opportunity to investors to mobilise the funds and develop it in a profit sharing arrangement," he said.

However, the Colonel said that the challenge with the project was the speed at which funds from the private sectors were coming which he said was steady but very slow.

"This arrangement is done in order to sensitise would-be-funders about the project and to display the merits of the project to our would be funders.

"The expectation of the project is to deliver a decent market in that environment of chaos," he said.

Umoh said that it was not his first experience developing modern market projects on behalf of the Nigerian Army.

He said that his first project was the Arena Modern Market which is located  behind Nigerian Army Cantonment, Bolade, Oshodi.

"The luck we had at that time is that we got funds from Oceanic Bank who took over the project and sponsored it to the end.

"But we need to source for funding for the Ojo project and responses has been slow.

"The money that we are getting from individuals are not many at a time and comes in bits which is not very healthy for birthing projects like this," he said.

Umoh said that funders return on investment was assured because the project was a secured one in which the Nigerian Army was involved.

"The army as an institution will not get involved in frivolous activities. The project belongs to the army and we are just developers developing on behalf of the army.

"The biggest selling point for this project is the integrity that goes with it," the Colonel said.

Mr Folarin Aluko-Olokun, Director of Finance said that the Ojo project would consist of 1,500 shops and 28 bays of warehouses as well as a creche, green area for relaxation, hotel and other facilities for the comfort of the shoppers.

"It is a one stop shop for everything stemming from retail household materials to electronics to industrial goods among others.

"We have made it flexible for people to adopt ownership and we have mortgage bankers that are ready to finance shops or warehouse owners.

"The market is meant to decongest the Alaba market, and other markets along that axis for those who do not like the rowdiness encountered in Alaba and the sorrounding markets," Aluko-Olokun said.

Mr Lanre Adeleke, the architect that designed the Acada Arcade project said that the advantage the market would have over other market was that it would also be an organic market.

"Organic in the sense that what was represented on the site originally was a vegetable farm which will not be displaced with the introduction of concrete and other structure.

"We are not displacing the vegetable patch that is native to that location but instead, integrating it, which means that all that green areas that has been designated on the market remain as vegetable patches. 

"So, you can be buying your electronics on one side but still have your vegetables on the other side," he said.

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