RENOWNED as the commercial nerve centre of Northern Nigeria, Kano State does not only serve the commercial needs of other states in the northern parts of Nigeria and neighbouring countries like Chad and Niger Republic, business men and women from the southern parts of the country also troop to the ancient city on a daily basis to buy and sell goods and services.
Kano, the state capital, boasts no fewer than 305 markets, the major ones including the famous Abubakar Rimi Market otherwise known as Sabon Gari Market. Others include Singer Market, Kantin Kwari Textiles Market, Kurmi Ancient Market, Kofar Wambai Market, Yan Katako Market, Yankaba Market and Farm Centre GSM Market.
Over the years, virtually all the aforementioned markets have had their original plans distorted by desperate traders via illegal erection of kiosks and make-shift shops on the roadsides and waterways, which often result in avoidable disasters like fire outbreaks, flooding and criminal activities.
Upon assumption of office in 2015, Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje initiated a comprehensive master plan geared towards returning the markets to the path of decency. Only recently, he performed the ground-breaking of 4,182 lock-up shops for medium-scale traders at the popular Kantin Kwari Textiles Market at the cost of N5 billion. The project was aimed at decongesting the market and doing away with the syndrome of clustering of make-shift shops.
Governor Ganduje said the multi-billion naira ultra-modern market project was anchored on a public/private partnership agreement with two indigenous companies. Our reporter, who visited the site, confirmed that the Kantin Kwari multi-billion naira project was nearing completion. Ganduje also promised to replicate the same gesture in other markets across the state.
However, The Nation observed that the markets mostly affected by illegal erection of shops, make-shift shops and kiosks include Abubakar Rimi Market, Kurmi Market, Dawanau Grain Market and Rijiyar Lemo Market, among others. at the popular Kantin Kwari Textiles Market at the cost of N5 billion. The project was aimed at decongesting the market and doing away with the syndrome of clustering of make-shift shops.
Governor Ganduje said the multi-billion naira ultra-modern market project was anchored on a public/private partnership agreement with two indigenous companies. Our reporter, who visited the site, confirmed that the Kantin Kwari multi-billion naira project was nearing completion. Ganduje also promised to replicate the same gesture in other markets across the state.
However, The Nation observed that the markets mostly affected by illegal erection of shops, make-shift shops and kiosks include Abubakar Rimi Market, Kurmi Market, Dawanau Grain Market and Rijiyar Lemo Market, among others. markets too are suffering the same thing.
Lack of proper structure has made activities in the market very hazardous. We most of the time experience traffic-jam, making the environment very chaotic and sometimes causing avoidable accidents.
“In most cases, cart-pushers, customers, motorists, tricycle operators and motorcyclists struggle on the narrow roads for passage. I believe that government and the market authorities should do something about the situation so as to avoid distortion of free-flow of traffic.
“In most cases, criminals bank on the situation to operate—picking pockets and snatching of bags and purses are daily experience in the market.”
Like Kano like Niger
The Kure Ultra-modern market in Minna is one of the largest markets in the state. It was constructed by the administration of the late former governor, Abdullahi Kure, an engineer, and completed by his immediate successor, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu. At the onset of the market, there were clear distortions of the market plan by traders as most of them left the shops that were allocated to them to find their ways to the roadside in a bid to make more sales.
It took the joint efforts of the Niger State Environmental Protection Agency (NISEPA) and the local government authorities to enforce the ‘stay in your shop/stall’ policies. However, immediately after the end of the tenure of the last administration, the traders tried to return to the status quo. There were instances where the traders’ goods were thrown by cyclists because they were blocking the road path.
The Kure Market is divided into two parts, the ultra-modern market and the local market, which opens Wednesdays and Saturdays respectively. The Saturday market is called Kodobe, where traders, especially Gwaris, come to trade their farm produce. Kodobe is also a market for second-hand clothes and items in the state capital.
While order and the market plan have been kept in the modern market, the other part is a cause of headache for the state government. Traders who are unable to get stalls display their wares on the road, making vehicular and human movement difficult.
Even when NISEPA’s enforcement officers try to drive traders away from the road, it is often difficult because even the customers support the move of the traders on the basis that the market is only for a day. The Kodobe market is a continuous source of headache and a hard nut for the government to tackle.
An Official of NISEPA told The Nation that the techniques they used in ensuring that the ‘stay in your stall’ order is effective in other markets cannot be used in Kodobe because the traders do not keep their goods there.
“Most of them come on Saturday mornings and start selling where they find space. We are also short of staff and do not have enough manpower to be at strategic places. The problem is that while we succeed in driving some traders from one spot, we move to another spot and before we returned, some other traders would have occupied the spot we cleared earlier. So it is difficult. But if we have enough staff, I can assure you that Kodobe will be orderly like other markets,” he stated.
The Kasan Gwari market is another market in Minna where the traders can be said to be the stubborn ones who refused to move when the main market was relocated from Mobile Roundabouts to the Kure ultra-modern market. These traders even trade on the rail track and close the roads in the evenings.
While during the day the market may look calm with little or no distortion of traffic, once it gets to 4pm, it becomes difficult for cars to pass through the route.
Mama Brenda, a fish seller, said: “How will they drive us when we come out after they have all gone home? They have tried so many times, but unlike what they did in Tunga Market where they took people’s goods to their office, we do not leave our goods here for them to take. So how will they drive us?”
Asked if she did not know that the place where they were trading was not a market, she retorted: “Where will I go? Getting a shop in Kure Market is too expensive, and they will not allow you to put your table somewhere to sell what you want to sell.
“I have been selling fish for long. I use it to support my husband and all the front shops have been taken. Will people leave the fish sellers at the front and come to where I will be to buy fish from me? It will not be possible.”
Efforts made to speak with the General Manager of NISEPA, Mr. Lucky Barau, yielded no result as he was not in the office when The Nation visited. Efforts made to get him on the phone were also futile as the calls and text messages got no response.
Lagos, the city that won’t stop growing
Lagos is undoubtedly the commercial nerve centre of not just Nigeria but the West Africa region. There are many markets in Lagos, and each of them is unique in the kinds of items available and the services they offer. However, with the sprawling nature of the city and the influx of people on a daily basis, many of the shop spaces in the inner markets have been taken, forcing other traders to take over spaces meant for vehicles.
For places like Ladipo Market, which is famed for auto spare parts, and Balogun Market, known for sales of household items and fabrics, wading through their paths is a nightmare for motorists and commuters alike, as traders have taken over the drive ways with wares. Sanity only returns to these sites on few occasions when men of the Lagos Task Force impound some of their goods.
Oshodi, a major location in Lagos, records lots of vehicular movement and human traffic because it connects the other part of the city. It used to be a chaotic location until the government of Babatunde Fashola demolished some of the illegal stalls blocking passersby and motorists. Only recently, there was another demolition exercise at the Owonifari Market in Oshodi, and the traders were asked to move to Isopakodowo where there are over 600 shops and hundreds of stalls selling goods that range from shoes to household items and fabrics.
Mrs. Gift Adeboye, who sells sachet water and soft drinks along the ever busy Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway, said she decided to move her wares to the road because she could not afford a shop. “If you can manage on the road, you do so till you are able to get money to rent a shop. Your income and my income are not the same. Cut your coat according to your size,” she stated.
Another textile merchant in the market, who spoke to The Nation on condition of anonymity, bemoaned the fact that those who sell on the roadside not only distort market plans but also make more money than those with shops.
She said: “If I have my way, I will sell at the roadside, because the rates for the shops are too exorbitant. For instance, in a month, I pay N36,000 without other statutory fees. That means in a year, I pay almost N400,000 for shop. What am I selling? How much money I’m I making anyway?”
She pleaded with the government and the Iyaloja General to subsidise the rates for shops in the market so that the traders at the roadside can move inside.
Mr Abdulwakim Ashafa, the facility manager at the Isopakodowo Market in Oshodi, believes there would be ease of movement if government makes provision for accommodating those who ply their trades on the road.
He said: “Those people selling on the road are not members of this market. Most of these traders engage in this activity because of the kind of goods they are selling. For instance, a pure water hawker won’t be interested in renting a shop because of affordability.
“The market executives have tried in curtailing their activities. There was a time we went to a prominent radio station to announce that the government should assist us in sending them away so as not to disrupt the original plans of the market”.
“The Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps are trying their best, but we would appreciate more efforts.”
Another prominent market which has distorted the city landscape is the Ladipo Market located in Mushin Local Government Area of Lagos State. The market is the number one hub for mechanics, rewires, car owners and those who want to buy or sell fairly used cars, spare parts and phones.
A young man who identified himself as John told the reporter that he was forced to sell on the road since he was selling phone accessories in an Auto spare parts market.
“How do you expect me to get Customers? I don’t have a choice but to come close to the road where customers passing by can easily see me,” he said.
Mr. Henry Jonathan, an auto spare parts dealer, is of the opinion that the people in the market are bigger than the market, and as such, the crowded pathways cannot be avoided.
“If we do not have economic meltdown there will be different options for other to learn other things. People are forced to learn trade and after that, there is no shop for them to sell but they must survive”.
The Alaba International Market is a well organised electronic market located at Alaba, Ojo, Lagos. The market is also patronised by people from neighbouring countries. It consists of over 5,000 shops, excluding attachments and sub-shops. More than two million people transact business in the market daily. The market can be accessed from Badagry on the Badagry-Oshodi-Apapa Expressway through Iyana Iba or Volks, and can also be reached from any part of Lagos via Mile 2/Festac Town to Volks.
Mr. Lawrence Anaba, the Secretary General of Alaba International Market Association, told The Nation that the market has been distorted in recent times by the activities of desperate traders who go as far as blocking the main roads to the markets.
“Many market men and women left where they were trading at Okakomaiko, Ajangbadi to trade on the road here in Alaba International. It gives us serious concern because there is no movement and it hinders commerce. Most of our customers want to come to the market, but when they remember the traffic, they get discouraged and decide not to come.”
At Eko Idumota where the price of a shop can go as high as 1 million per year with payment of 5 years deposit, it didn’t come as a surprise that the market is burdened by roadside traders clustering streets and corners.
Also, the formerly rowdy and disorganised Tejuosho Market comes close to what can be called an ultra-modern market save for desperate traders, many of them young men, who shove their goods in the faces of passersby and also claim spaces on the railway lines. It is a major reason why the Yaba axis linking Tejuosho is always engulfed in traffic snarl, leading to loss of man hours.
Sad tale of Bola Ige International Market
When The Nation visited Bola Ige International Market in Ibadan, Oyo State, absence of facilities such as convenient parking spaces and clear road paths were observed.
A market leader who declined to give his name said the market would have today remained one of the best on the continent if the various distortions had not been done to its original plans.
Also, a middle aged man who trades in clothes but pleaded anonymity said people scramble for space in the market to have a sense of belonging, but many of them still have makeshift places outside the market.
He added that the market leaders with the knowledge of local government authorities, decide on which part of the market can take an additional structure, mostly containers, and they allocate same to those they wish. Such people, according to the source, now sublet the stores to those who sell their wares there.
According to the man, who had been in the market for more than 30 years, many places and structures that could have made the market of international standard as designed by the initiator, the late Chief Bola Ige, has been removed with some remolded to become a store.
He said the greed of some of the money bags and people who want stores in the market at all cost had made them to lobby the authorities, who upon seeing there was no vacant space decided to convert some facilities that were not originally designed as shops to become shops.
Another female source, who was also not willing to have her name in print, noted that her own store pays the sum of N3,000 into government’s bank account. She, however, said she was not sure if the account belonged to the state or local government.
She added that most times, because of low patronage, most shop owners still station some sales boys at major entrances to the market to woo prospective buyers.
“Having a space in the market is just a sure way of having a sense of belonging and assure the prospective customers of the originality of the products they want to buy,” she said.
A middle aged woman, who sells petty goods at one of the gates to the market, said she was managing the space when she could not afford the means for a bigger shop and space within the market. She stated that many of those who sell beside her at the roadside have also suffered a change in fortunes as many of them used to own big shops and stores within the main market but have to cling to the little they have left for survival.
She, however, added that even the roadside where she trades was allocated to her by the market authorities and that she pays a certain amount to some persons on a daily basis. She refused to disclose the amount she pays and the person(s) she pays to daily.
With the rate at which the market is falling into ruins, driving and moving cars around it in recent times has become a big issue, which is not in line with the template designed by the late Bola Ige who the market was named after.
Efforts to get government’s reaction to the issue was futile. An email sent to the Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism was not replied to at the time of filing the report. Earlier, series of calls and text message were sent to the Commissioner for Environment, Mr Isaac Ishola, and his counterpart at the Ministry of Trade, Industry, Investment and Cooperative, Princess Taibat Adeyemi-Agaba, who later asked that all enquiries be directed to the Commissioner of Information.
Their responses were still being awaited at press time.
