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 said the plan is to move traders from Okija, Port Harcourt, to a new market in Iriebe. Over 2,000 members of the Electrical Materials Dealers Association will be transferred to the new Electrical Market and Building City, which will be financed 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, providing dealers with 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 nationwide. The complex will also feature restaurants at convenient points, multiple toilet facilities, and a hybrid electricity supply combining solar power with independent private‑sector arrangements.
Provisions have been made for banking halls and other offices to support business operations in Promised Land—amenities that were lacking in Okija. According to Dr. Okoro, Polaris Bank’s partnership with M.I. Okoro & Associates aims to ensure the successful relocation of the Electrical Dealers Association to its permanent site.
Regarding the economic impact, he noted that the move will unlock latent value in the land and properties both within and around the complex. “Capital and rental values will increase because the traders’ presence at the new location will attract other businesses,” he explained.
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