Ajimobi: Cocoa, Heritage malls’ll create 2,000 jobs

Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi yesterday
said the Cocoa and Heritage malls in Ibadan,
built by the Odu’a Investment Company
Limited, will create over 2,000 jobs.
He spoke while inaugurating the N3 billion
malls.
Representatives of the governors of Osun,
Ondo, Ekiti and Ogun states were at the event.
The Odu’a Investment Company Limited is
owned by Oyo, Osun, Ondo, Ekiti and Ogun
states.
The twin malls stand on 12,000 square metres
land mass in the heart of Dugbe, the city’s
central business district.
Heritage Mall, which was solely financed by the
conglomerate costs N2 billion. Cocoa Mall,
which cost N1 billion, was built in partnership
with a private developer, Top Services Limited.
Ajimobi hailed the Odu’a Investment Company
Limited’s Group Managing Director (GMD), Mr.
Adebayo Jimoh, and his team for making the
dream a reality.
He said: “From the eye of commerce, the vision
of the board was to redirect the footsteps and
foreign currencies of high net-worth individuals,
who spend time and money travelling to Europe
and America to shop. Today, that vision has
become a reality. It has given birth to one of
the most attractive shopping malls in this part
of the country and a place that anyone with an
eye for shopping would want to be.
“The vision of the Odu’a Investment Company
Limited in constructing these malls rhymes with
my administration’s transformation agenda.
Indeed, the zeal behind the vision is a replica of
the can-do spirit, with which we have broken
the barriers of developmental impossibilities in
Oyo State.
“You will recall that during my inauguration on
May 29, 2011, I promised the people that our
administration would vigorously pursue the
vision of peace and order, as against the chaos
that we inherited. We also promised to run an
efficient and result-oriented government that
would make Oyo business-friendly, leisure-
friendly and an attraction to investors.
“Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, I am
happy to report to you that after successfully
maintaining peace and order in the last two
years or thereabout, after embarking on an
aggressive environmental clean-up and
provision of infrastructure, investors are now
making Oyo State their Mecca.”
The governor urged the company to replicate
the mall in other owner states.
Jimoh hailed the governors of the five owner
states for their support and thanked Ajimobi for
creating an enabling environment for the
project’s success.
He said the malls have replaced the Kingsway
and UTC stores, which folded up during the
military era.