Ahead of the proposed transformation of the Tafawa Balewa Square into a mega trade centre in Lagos State, the square’s concessionaire, BHS International limited, has said no fewer than 300,000 Nigerian youths will be employed.
The Chief Executive Officer of BHS International, Otunba Olu Adenodi, while speaking with The Point, noted that the mega project, which would aid the growth of the Nigerian economy, would commence soon, adding that the company had finally secured the Federal Government’s approval to take off. Adenodi, who also spoke on a rumour making the rounds that BHS International was considering selling selling TBS, a national monument, owing to its inability to manage it, refuted the claim, saying his management team was capable of seeing the national monument to an enviable height.
Speaking through his spokesperson, Mrs. Josephine Abraham, Adenodi said, “Such information must have been cooked by our competitors. We are very capable of managing the monument because we were thoroughly scrutinised by the Federal Government.
She said, “We have finally concluded plans to start the multi-billion naira project, which we have long proposed. Our company, being an estate developer, will soon start building a 30-storey tower because we now have Federal Government’s permit to commence the project as soon as possible.
“We are supposed to have put up some structures and returned this place to a mega city, which was one of the terms we put on the table during the negotiation. And immediately we moved in, in 2008, we set everything in motion with our team of consultants from all over the world.”
She added, “Disappointingly, however, barely a month to moving into this place and commencing the project, the Lagos State Government sent people to seal off the place and throw us out, saying that we had no right to execute the project.
“After a lot of tussle in and out of court, they were advised not to trouble us; instead, they should face the Federal Government.”
He, however, noted with delight that after series of consultations, the BHS and the Lagos State Government had resolved the issue, thus signalling the beginning of the project.
