By the time the fresh push by the Lagos State government to relocate Ikeja Computer Village to Katangowa in Agbado/Oke Odo Local Government of the state is materialised, the Ikeja local government will be losing about N60 million annually from levies.
Thislevies, it was gathered, are collected annually from about six thousand different categories of shops in the market. Successive governments have to relocate the ICT market to the new location without success. Computer Village, Ikeja The government had said that the relocation of the market to Katangowa would curb environmental degradation, housing stock deficit and traffic congestion in the Ikeja axis. But the new development has continued to worry the traders who believe the new location is out of place.
The said amount is under local government levies including trade permit, lock shop, among others. Apart from the amount the government will lose, the landlords are not left out too. The ICT traders in first category of shops, according to findings pay between N1.3m to N1.5m annually to the landlords while ICT traders in the second category of shops, according to findings, pay between N700,000 toN800,000 annually to landlords. Similarly, ICT traders in the third category of shops, pay about N350,000 to N400,000 annually to landlords.
