The berthing of the two globally big names in the capital was not unconnected with the initiative of Odu’a conglomerate’s Property Re-development Programme (PRP).
Cocoa Mall, strategically located beside the historic 25-storey Cocoa House (the first tallest building in Africa) on Bank Road, Dugbe, Ibadan’s central business district, was commissioned on Thursday June 27, while Heritage Mall opened for business on Thursday October 31.
The two shopping centres, located in the vast premises of the defunct Sketch newspapers, gulped a total cost of N3 billion, with Heritage Mall taking the lion’s share of N2 billion. Heritage was wholly financed by the Odu’a conglomerate. The entire project was designed by Top Services Partners, with L’Dalberto as the main contractor.
Aside from Shoprite and Mr. Price, other brands like PRP, Cash and Carry, Filmhouse Cinema and Lifemate Furniture have opened shop in the complex across the two malls. More corporate organisations are in the thick of operations to commence business.
In Ibadan now, the two malls are the place to be. Daily, crowds of consumers throng the complex to do their shopping. Civil servants, artisans, business persons, students and even primary school pupils in uniforms make up the crowd, buying assorted items that include household utensils, groceries, wines and beverages, electronics and electrical appliances, notebooks, pens and other school items. As reasonably-priced retail stores go, the Heritage and Cocoa malls are a leveller, bringing together the low, medium and high income earners. To many consumers, a visit there is a status symbol; to others like students and pupils, it is sheer fun.
For the store attendants and cashiers, it is virtually non-stop service, as consumers always populate the stores and the cash points, with shoppers queuing up at the 17 main cash points and the additional two points at the kiosk section.
Speaking at the formal inauguration of the malls, Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State promised to step up efforts at providing a conducive environment that would attract both local and foreign investors to the state. Gov Ajimobi said his administration had already created the environment of peace as against what he met before taking over the mantle of leadership in the state.
Maintaining that the building of the malls by Odu’a conglomerate was in tandem with his ongoing transformation agenda, the governor promised his administration was poised to further make Oyo State business and leisure friendly for the citizens and investors.
He commended Odu’a conglomerate for the giant strides, saying it would boost the economic activities of Ibadan and Oyo State in general. He also said that the state government would complement what Odu’a conglomerate had done by building an international hotel to be owned by the state at the back of Premier Hotel.
The governor remarked that the present regime had embarked on massive infrastructure development and beautification of the environment to win the confidence of investors in the state. He added that his government would continue to partner with the private sector, international and donor agencies to develop the state.
Speaking earlier, the Group Managing Director of Odu’a Investment Company, Mr. Adebayo Jimoh remarked that the business mall initiative by the conglomerate was borne out of the perceived need or demand by high net-worth individuals in the South West who spend time and money travelling to Lagos at weekends to shop. “Of particular interest are the expatriate community here in Ibadan who have been resorting to using police escort for their weekend shopping elsewhere,” he stated.
Jimoh assured the malls’ statistics and standards meet international specifications. “The building of the business malls has led to the empowerment and creation of jobs in Ibadan and its environs for over 2,000 people and more are still coming when the malls are fully operational,” he disclosed.
Chairman, Odu’a conglomerate, Barrister Sharafadeen Abiodun Alli opined that “the commissioning of the business malls would make things happen in turning positively the economic situation of the South West states of Nigeria.”
His words: “I have the belief that there will be a replication of these malls in the remaining states that make up Odu’a in the near future.”
Commenting on the new development, a lecturer from the University of Ibadan, Dr. Johnson Oluwole Ajayi stated with delight that the conception of the malls bring back the memory of the good old days of the Kingsway Stores, Leventis, Chellarams and such others which made the society tick in the seventies.
Another, Miss Folakemi Ibiyode described Shoprite as a one-stop shop and a new feature in Ibadan metropolis. She said that one does not need to go to an open market because you can get virtually everything you need here at a go at competitive prices.
