A real estate firm, M. I. Okoro & Associates, has announced a partnership with Polaris Bank to relocate 2,000 electrical and building‑materials dealers in Rivers State. Speaking to journalists in Lagos, founding partner Meckson Okoro explained that plans are underway to move traders from Okija, Port Harcourt, to a new market in Iriebe. The relocation will involve more than 2,000 members of the Electrical Materials Dealers Association, who will be transferred to the new Electrical Market and Building City with N5 billion in mortgage funding from Polaris Bank.
Principal partner Dr. Innocent Okoro added that, of the 1,720 shops slated for development, 600 lock‑up shops have already been built. “The newly developed shops will soon be available for business activities, while the developer continues to construct more shops in stages to provide a fully settled business environment at the new site, which the association has named ‘Promised Land,’” he said.
In addition to the lock‑up shops, traders will receive warehouses for storing goods, facilitating easy distribution to customers. Visiting customers will be able to load and off‑load merchandise within these warehouses and transport it to various parts of the country. The complex will also feature restaurants at convenient points, allowing traders and customers to eat without losing time. Multiple toilet facilities will be provided, and electricity will be supplied through a combination of solar power and independent private‑sector arrangements.
Provisions have also been made for banking halls and other offices to support business operations in the Promised Land—amenities that were lacking in Okija. According to Okoro, Polaris Bank’s partnership with M. I. Okoro & Associates aims to ensure that the relocation of the Electrical Dealers Association to its permanent site becomes a reality.
Regarding the economic impact, Okoro noted that the move will unlock latent value in the land and properties both within and around the complex. “There will be an increase in capital and rental values because the traders’ presence at the new location will attract other businesses,” he said.
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