By Zika Bobby
The International Convention Centre (ICC), Awka, the Anambra Capital would be completed before the end of Governor Willie Obiano’s administration. These the words of Michael Okonkwo, Commissioner for Housing in Anambra. He said yesterday that the edifice, which had 10,000 sitting capacity, would be one of the biggest and most sophisticated convention centres in Nigeria when completed. He said Anambra ICC was approved by Gov. Willie Obiano under the Project Fund and would be the destination to national and international conferences and conventions of any magnitude.
“This edifice has high local content; the contractor, the engineers, skilled workers and artisans totalling about 800 workers who have worked here since the project started are all Nigerians. The Anambra ICC was designed in Nigeria and modelled in China where all the steel inputs were fabricated and imported from, but all other input were sourced locally,” he said
Okonkwo, an architect said the ICC sitting on nine hectare of land had a capacity of 10, 000 seats in the convention hall alone with inbuilt sound system and three event halls of different sizes, shops and banking hall. He said the place was designed to accommodate a football pitc- sized lawn for games, monument fountain, 1, 500 car parking spaces, drive-in boulevard and a five-star hotel facility.
The commissioner said the project would be viable with high return on investment as Awka would become a hub of national and international conferences.