Hello everybody, I have been reading lots of write up here, taking about the possible merge og middle bet with south. I stand to be corrected, coz I don't see any possibility. Which states makes up the middle belt? It Nassarawa, Niger, Kwara, Kogi, Plateau and Benue. Going by this Nassarawa and Niger will never be against the Core North. Kogi to me is inclined to Core North coz the state is predominantly a Muslim populated state. Of all the state here it only Benue and Plateau can align themselves with us. Kwara is a Muslim state, which have a strong bond connection with the core north. So, people just wake up and see in the middle it only in Plateau and Benue that christians have strong presence. It hurt me to say Nigerian muslims are more united than us the christians. Let's hear ur view pls

Under cover aboki, I've been searching for you for a while now. please i need to know how far with this project you once mentioned cos there's someone i mentioned it to who's really interested in business. He said he's been asking about it and searched the Web but nothing. Please we need to know if the project has commenced yet so we can table something.

Kano, the ancient Northern city popular for its groundnut pyramids in the First Republic, is about to offer its landscape to a N252 billion international trade centre. OKWY IROEGBU reports.

CONSTRUCTION has begun on a $2 billion (about N252 billion) project, touted as Africa’s biggest trade city.

The project, to be built on a 121.2-hectare plot in Dangauro Village, on the outskirts of the city, is the brainchild of Integrated Development and Investment Services Limited (IDIS) and the Kano State Government.

Its aim is to create a trade hub capable of redefining the business environment in Northern Nigeria, by providing an attractive environment for investors, tourists and traders, and subsequently transforming the domestic, regional and international economic landscape.

It straddles the intersection of the dual interstate highways running north-south from Kaduna, and east-west towards Maiduguri.

The architectural design, handled by A. T. Onajide Architects Limited, speaks volumes about values. The site is relatively uneven and provides an added advantage in playing with levels with a seasonal stream running across the lower end of the site (east-west). The complex, including its materials selection, symbolises dynamism, innovation and future.

Contract for the first phase was awarded a fortnight ago to Dys Trocca Valsesia & Company Limited, popularly known as DTV, a company with extensive track record of high profile and customised construction.

Sleek, sophisticated and visually-commanding, yet incredibly warm and exotic, Kano Economic City was thoughtfully designed with expansive outdoor entertainment areas to optimise the use of its vast space.

The land use distribution is based on acceptable international and local standards for such facilities, including multi-use (ancillary) buildings, retail and informal buildings, warehouses, roads, parking facilities, landscaping/footpaths, drainage and other infrastructure.

The facility, on completion, would provide ease of circulation and maneuverability for vehicular and human traffic, adequate parking facilities, maximum possibility for interaction among market users, provision and full utilisation of support facilities, efficient goods handling, energy efficiency and ease of maintenance and minimum development standards for health, safety and environmental standards.

Essentially, the city, being financed by a consortium of local and foreign banks led by Oceanic Bank International Plc, will accommodate a five-star hotel, residential and industrial estates, an all-encompassing shopping mall, a World Trade Centre, a retail market, warehouses of several sizes, two large cinema halls, social and recreational facilities, conference facilities, rail terminus, fuel and fire stations, banks, clinics, post offices and a maintenance building.

Some of its major landmarks include a superstructure which will house a five-star hotel with escalators and modern facilities designed to redefine hospitality in the West African sub-region.

The promoters said style, class and panache would be lavishly displayed for businessmen and leisure seekers who go for nothing but the best.

In developing the layout of the recreational facility, three distinct blocks, linked by a semi-basement car park and landscaped courtyard, are created with a parking space for 400 cars, the minimum number required for a facility of such magnitude.

A World Trade Centre is also incorporated in the design. It will house big corporations’ offices in a business-like environment. In developing the office layout, the designers set out to create three distinct blocks linked by a gallery with atriums to let in.

The phases two and three of the project will encompass residential and industrial estates expected to radically transform the real estate and economic landscape of Kano.

Other infrastructural provisions include two huge cinema halls, conference halls and theatres for performing artistes.

The Economic City will also have the biggest shopping mall in Africa. The promoters said the mall will make shopping a very exciting experience. According to them, the facility will be fitted with the latest technology in shopping comparable with that obtained in Mall of Emirates in Dubai. It is expected that when completed, there would be no need for Nigerians and West Africans to travel abroad for shopping as the world’s best designers would be adequately represented.

To adequately cater for the storage of goods and equipment, the Economic City has provision for large, medium and small warehouses where goods and equipment can be stored in perfect conditions, irrespective of the nature of the products.

On the maintenance of the edifice, the promoters said generous provisions have been made for a maintenance building which would house generators, workshops for electrical, plumbing and other support services.

Besides, a reputable international consultancy firm is said to be working on advertising windows with sophisticated and latest technology in advertising delivery for brand promotion and exposure at the city.

The windows include scrolling board, ultra waves, LCD screens, creative wall drapes, high resolution multi advert display board, street flags.

The advert windows have reportedly been pre-designed to accommodate the aesthetic architectural designs to forestall defacing and unprofessi