The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has expressed satisfaction with the progress so far recorded with the development of Coral City, noting that the new city project is one of the projects embarked on by his government to reposition Edo as one of the best places to live and work in the Country.
The governor said this when he met with top government officials alongside partners and other stakeholders to discuss progress on the project, at the EXCO Chambers, Government House, Benin City.
Hailing partners and other stakeholders for the progress so far recorded with the project’s development, Obaseki said, “The mandate for this project was given a year ago. I commend all our partners for the speed and professionalism put in so far to bring us to the level that we are today.”
He continued: “The focus for my administration is to make Edo State to be the place of choice to live and work in Nigeria, fulfilling life’s desires and aspirations.
“The motivating factor for this project is to develop the State and discourage our young population from traveling out of this State and Country. We have the capacity to renew and position our environment like anywhere in the world. We need to define the space to support our young generation.
“We have taken our land from land grabbers, secured it, and done all that we need to do like survey and other necessary things. We now have valuable data and have planned the land. Everything needed to live in a sane community and society has been put there.
“Planning is key in achieving this project and regulations to guide the City will also be made ready as we are putting the governance in place. We have key infrastructure in place like the Ossiomo Power, fiber optic connection, and more; this City will be a place to live.”
According to the governor, “Financing is key, but marketing is important as we need to sell the City to all including those in the Diaspora. I believe the estate is sold out, whether residential or commercial because we have off-takers.
“We are not selling plots of lands and houses but we are selling developments as we have something for everybody, to accommodate a whole spectrum of people. It’s more about providing modern infrastructure and accommodation as well as living standards for our people.
“Our financing partners will make this possible as we estimate about N20 billion to cover the first phase of infrastructure which is about 13.3km and other things we are expecting to be ready within six to nine months.
“It will be a huge financing cycle and possibility for our financing partners as we select those that believe in our vision. We are talking to five of you and some terms are not acceptable to us as we have shown today that it’s a long-term relationship. We would go to the market to raise the funding for contractors to go to the site this month and lay the foundation officially for the City on November 16th, which is exactly one year when we gave the mandate for this project to start.”
He added, “I am glad that we have made so much progress, as this is one of our flagship projects and it’s world-class with quality design, infrastructure, and price of what we are delivering to the people. We are urging partners to come in and show seriousness. We would be on site on the first of August 2023.”
Welcoming partners of the Coral City Project, the Commissioner for Physical Planning, Urban and Regional Development, Isoken Omo, said the project under the Edo State New Town Development Agency sits on over 1,200 hectares of land.
She noted that the plan of the state government with the project is to develop a smart city with all the modern infrastructural facilities required of a city in modern times.
