What would have made Lagos markets empty for two days if not the passing on of an esteemed market leader, the Iyaloja-General of Lagos State, Chief Abibatu Mogaji.
People didn’t find it easy, but they had to comply with the order, road side traders, wheel barrow pushers and others who had one business or the other in the markets, though reacted negatively, said they were paying their last respects.
The markets are always noisy with buying and selling taking place through the week, but for the two days, the reverse was the case. Traders said if they could mourn a colleague and stop buying and selling for a day, two days were not too much for the mother of market men and women in the state.
But for shoppers, it was a different ball game as many of them were found hanging around markets, lamenting not necessary the closure, but that they were caught unawares because there was no prior announcement. According to some of them who patronise the markets daily, they were starved for the two days the markets were shut.
Mrs Ronke Komolafe, a petty trader, doesn’t have enough money to stock her home with food stuffs; rather she buys her consumables daily to feed her children. “The two-day closure has made my children and I go hungry. As much as I wanted to honour our late mother, I wouldn’t want to starve my kids. I buy small quanities because I cannot afford to buy in bulk, but for these days of closure, I was forced to buy expensive items from stores,” she lamented.
However, some traders said the Alhaji Mogaji was a mother to them, describing her death as a shock, despite her ripe age.
The Majekobaje of Oyingbo Market Chief Abimbola Adeyemi described Mogaji as a beautiful woman who once came to their aassistance. “She was a wonderful and pleasant person, a mother to all Lagos market women. She contributed to the development of the market, advising us and putting us through what to do. We will observe a 40-day prayer for her after this.”
Mrs. Ali’s Shoremi, a trader at Mushin Ojuwoye Market, said the late Mogaji was a nice woman, who supported them financially. “She was our true mother, during pilgrimage periods, she assisted us financially and otherwise. We miss and love her, but God loves her most.”
Mrs. Esther Olayinka, a catfish seller at Mile 12 Market said she was sad when she heard the news. “My mother has died; though she died old and accomplished, no one prayed for this now,“ she said.
Some of the traders when counting their losses said they couldn’t compared life with anything else, but what they should have achieved in two days, would have been an advantage to them.
They, however, planned to recover what they lost by inflating the prices of some food items from last Wednesday. A trader at Ketu fruit market Mrs Nkechi Ukomadu said: “It is only natural that we sell a little higher than before to compensate ourselves. Do you realise what we have lost these two days? We are only introducing a marketing strategy.”
But Mrs Remilekun Adeoye refused to count her losses, saying anyone could be a die. “I can’t count my losses because we cannot compare money with life. Whatever I have lost does not move me a bit.”
Mr. Abdul Lahi Adegoye, a rice seller at Daleko Market, Lagos, said he lost about N50, 000 in the closure.
