Okpebholo promises traders initial free access to shops at Oba Market
By Jethro Ibileke/Benin
Edo State Governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo, has assured traders at the Oba Market in Benin City that they will not pay for shops when they first return to the rehabilitated market.
Okpebholo gave the assurance on Tuesday while inspecting ongoing projects in the state with a group of editors.
He said the free allocation was a promise made to the traders at the start of the rebuilding, to enable them to settle back into business without immediate financial burden.
“Just as we came in to start building, we promised them that it was going to be free. The initial access has to be free,” the governor said.
He, however, explained that the free period would not be permanent, as traders would be expected to commence payment after the initial phase.
The governor said the gesture was part of his administration’s support for traders displaced by the rehabilitation and remodelling of the market, which was gutted by a major fire in June 2020 and hit by another outbreak in October 2025.
Giving an update on the project, Okpebholo disclosed that the market is made up of two sections — one abandoned for about 11 to 12 years, and another in better shape requiring only remodelling.
He said traders in the section under rehabilitation would be moved first into the completed section to allow work to progress and would return to their original spots when the second section is completed.
According to him, the first phase has delivered about 900 shops — about 500 lock-up shops and 400 open stalls — alongside a crèche, clinic, water supply, fire service facilities and other amenities for the comfort of traders and customers.
He noted that the rehabilitation, which began last year, is designed to provide a more conducive and functional trading environment.
The inspection tour also took the editors to the New Edo Line, Oredo Girls Secondary School and Army Day Senior Secondary School.
At Oredo Girls Secondary School, the Principal, Mrs Adesuwa Uwaifo, recounted the hardship previously faced by teachers and students and commended the governor for upgrading the school to modern standards.
At Army Day Secondary School, Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area, the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Kassim Afegbua, said the government completed key infrastructure in the school within 21 days.
The facilities, he said, included a perimeter fence, water supply and toilets, solar-powered electricity, modern marker boards replacing chalkboards, as well as tables and chairs for classrooms.
Afegbua said pupils who went home for the Easter holiday came back to meet a completely changed school.