The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Traders

  • Yuletide: Traders decry low patronage

    Yuletide: Traders decry low patronage

    Some traders in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have expressed disappointment over low patronage during the yuletide season, attributing it to cash crunch in the economy.

    A correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) who visited some of the Christmas `sales’ shops on Thursday, reports that the turnout of buyers was unimpressive.

    Miss Faith Kolawole, a sales girl, said that since Dec. 9, when the `sales’ started, patronage from buyers has not been encouraging.

    She said that people would come, price and go without buying, adding that the `bad’ economy was affecting their business.

    Mr. Pius Ezenibe, one of the traders, said that he made more sales last year than this year.

    Ezenibe noted that since many workers had yet to be paid salaries, the situation was also affecting businesses.

    “I do not think I will be here much longer because business is very dull.

    “I had expected that with the slash in prices more customers would buy; but that has not been the case,’’ he said.

    Reacting to the complaints of the traders, Mrs. Obiageli Achi, one of the buyers, said she observed that the sales were not real.

    “I can’t see any sales going on here; the prices they are selling is still the same in the market; some goods here are even more expensive than in the market.

    “For instance, I wanted to buy baby shoe I was told N4,500 while in the market the same kind of shoe goes for N3,500; so, for me I can’t see any sales going on here.’’

    Similarly, Miss Juliet Asemota, another buyer, said that the price variation was not significant.

    According to her, the prices of goods on `sales’ platform need to be slashed to half of the initial price, in order to attract more buyers.

    Mrs. Nancy Davis observed that in Nigeria, the prices of most goods said to be `on sale’ were not attractive, adding that those that were half the original price, either had a defect or were not good enough.

    “At this time of the year in countries like U.S. and UK, massive sales are going on and you get quality things even top designer wears at 50 per cent off or more.

    “In Nigeria when there are sales, you wonder how much was the initial price before the sales because the prices are still on the high side.

    “Those that are relatively cheap may have one defect or the other due to prolonged stay in the shop,’’ Mrs Davis said.

  • Kuje Market: Traders grieve over demolition

    Kuje Market: Traders grieve over demolition

    Six months after the first phase of Kuje Market was demolished and reconstructed, the second phase of the market has been demolished to pave way for the commencement of the construction of the second phase of the market to be completed in six months.

    Speaking to newsmen during the demolition exercise, the chairman of Kuje Area

    Council, Hon. Ishaku Shaban Tete said the council embarked on the exercise in order to improve the standard of the market and boost business activities in the area council.

    He said before the demolition, the state of Kuje Market was awful; adding that after several deliberations between market/shop owners and the area council, a consensus was reached to the effect that there was need for the establishment of a modern market with state-of-the-art infrastructural facilities to boost the economy of the council.

    Hon. Tete further said he was sad that some traders were displaced during the clearing of the site. But he added that measures have been put in place to cushion the effects the demolition would have on the traders; pending when the developer would complete the project.

    The council chief also emphasised that the action of the council was not to witch-hunt anyone; rather aimed at making life better and business more beneficial for all.

    Hon. Tete expressed optimism that when the project is completed, everyone will heave a sigh of relief, as the challenge would have been a thing of the past.

    The council chief informed the traders and stakeholders that some of the benefits that would be derived when the market is completed would include sanity, better organisation; easy accessibility to the market in times of emergency, police station to settle minor disputes and a bank to encourage traders to embrace the savings culture.

    He appealed to traders and residents to co-operate with the council and the developer as the market is being reconstructed. The public private partnership (PPP) committee has already taken stock of shop owners and traders in the first phase of the market, so that they would be considered when the shops are completed in the second phase.

    In a chat with Abuja Review, the Secretary of the PPP committee/quantity surveying, Mr. Sunday Yaro said the committee was working assiduously to ensure that the completion period given by the developer is attainable.

    He urged residents of Kuje to expect good governance and democracy dividends from the present administration.

    Mr. Onah Wilfred and Mrs. Nkechinyere Okafor, some of the traders who spoke with our correspondent said they were happy with the development, even as they said the time given for them to evacuate their goods was very short. They appealed to the council to extend the time to January next year to enable them to sell the goods they purchased for the Christmas season.

    On his part, the Chairman Kuje Traders’ Association Alhaji Yunusa Isa said proper consultations and meetings were held with the genuine traders of the market before the demolition exercise. He appealed to the affected traders to be patient with the council as the project is for the development of all.

    Also speaking, the traditional ruler of the area, the Gomo of Kuje, His Royal Highness (HRH), Alhaji Haruna Tanko Jibrin has appealed to government at all levels to be committed to their constitutional responsibilities of providing infrastructural facilities and services for the people in line with the needs, yearnings and aspirations of the low income earners.

  • Okorocha preaches better interaction between Customs and traders

    Okorocha preaches better interaction between Customs and traders

    To bridge communication gap between the Nigeria Customs Service and Southeast traders, Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha has urged the agency to organise an interactive session where some of the grey areas in its operations in the zone would be addressed.

    Okorocha spoke when the Comptroller-General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali visited him at the Government House in Owerri. He noted that most of the policies and actions of the agency were often misinterpreted as punishment due to poor communication.

    He added that an interactive session between the agency’s leadership and governors, traders and businessmen, has become necessary.

    “Eighty per cent of the trade partners of Customs come from the Southeast. So, I suggest a forum of interaction between the agency, the governors, traders and businessmen, to address certain issues, including the policies and actions of the Nigeria Customs Service, as they affect the traders and businessmen.

    “The International Cargo Airport is good news to the people. I enjoin the Comptroller-General to facilitate the speedy take-off of the project by sending Airport Customs comptroller once the need arises.

    “There is a need for the country to diversify the economy as the era of oil boom seems to be over, especially when most nations of the world have alternatives to oil.”

    Ali agreed that an interactive session has become imperative to build a cordial working relationship. He said a summit will be organised next year where stakeholders will meet and interact on the possible ways to boost trade and commerce in the zone.

    “One of the functions of the Customs is trade facilitation, interacting with the traders, educating them and developing a strong synergy between the Service and its trade partners. And since its major trade partners are from the Southeast, my administration will develop a mechanism where there would be regular interactions to discuss issues of mutual benefits and also educate partners on the various laws of Customs and its modus operandi,” Ali said.

     

  • Traders benefit from Rotary’s micro-finance scheme

    Twenty-five traders, both men and women,  have benefited from a micro-credit scheme of the Rotary Club of Ikeja, District 9110, as part of its Community Development Initiative Programme (CDIP).

    Presenting the cheques of N25, 000 each to the 25 beneficiaries from the Obada market in Isolo, the club’s President, Mr. Tosin Kadiri, said one of the ways to help develop a society was by empowering women.

    The initiative, he explained, followed the challenges faced in raising credit from financial institutions, including the high interest rate, which the petty trader cannot afford.

    Kadiri said the scheme, which is a revolving loan with zero per cent interest, would be repaid after three months.

    “This micro credit is a way of helping these traders, and that the multiplier effect will eventually enhance the value of their family.”

    The programme, which started five years ago, Kadiri said, would be sustained because of its impact on the society, and especially because the traders had shown a high level of cooperation by their prompt repayment of the credit facility.

    The Iyaloja of Obada market, Alhaja Wosilat Yusuf, one of the beneficiaries, thanked the club for the gesture, assuring it that the money would be used judiciously.

  • Sapele: Traders, widows protest against Okowa

    Sapele: Traders, widows protest against Okowa

    Widows and traders in Sapele, Delta State on Friday staged a peaceful protest against the state governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, over the state government order revoking stalls allotted to them by the last administration in the state.

    The women condemned the governor’s decision, stating that they were allotted the stalls after they made full payment for them and completed all formalities.

    Leaders of the placard-wielding protesters, Mrs Cecelia Eregare and Mr. Happy Atsegor, said, “It is wickedness for the governor that was voted into power by the people to turn around and throw us into the cold street after paying for our stalls.”

    They lamented that they had been on the issue since 2006 when fire gutted the market and they were ordered to vacate their shops for the market to be rebuilt.

    Eregare recalled that they were re-allotted the stalls in early 2014 after they completed payment and paper works with the government.

    “We applied for the shops; we bought forms, completed and returned them as well as made the requirement payment before we were given the shop. So it is surprising that the new governor is giving us notice to quit,” Mr Atsegor added.

    Meanwhile, the widows and traders who carried several placards that denounced the government’s action, vowed to resist the quit order.

    Besides, they wondered why the government was in a hurry to qui them despite a pending legal tussle over the issue.

    Although Governor Okowa could not be reached for comment, it was learnt that the state’s Director of Information, Paul Osahor, who signed the order, urged all traders currently occupying shops and stalls in the market to evacuate their wares.

  • Soothing words for wounded traders in Abia

    Soothing words for wounded traders in Abia

    Traders wounded in a fracas with officials of Abia State Urban Renewal (AUR) in Aba, Abia State have heard some soothing words from the lawmaker representing the area at the House of Representatives, Hon. Ossy Prestige.

    The traders at the New Market Annex in the commercial city clashed with AUR men who insisted that they relocate to Good Morning Market, an instruction that was not immediately obeyed.

    Some accounts said the AUR officials set the traders’ articles on fire and wounded some businessmen who attempted to snatch their wares from the fire.

    The Nation could not confirm if any traders were killed as was alleged.

    The traders burnt a tricycle and a Toyota Camry car said to belong to the AUR team.

    The wounded traders were recuperating in various hospitals in the city where Hon. Prestige visited and comforted them.

    One of the traders, Ifeanyi Nwosu said, “Many were injured and were rushed to different hospitals where they are receiving medical attention. We lost cash and other valuables in the process. Some of us who tried going into the market were prevented from doing so by security officials while the Urban Renewal people were led of this place by the Bakassi Boys”.

    Asked if there were any notice by the government asking them to relocate from the market, Nwosu said, “That was during Chief Theodore Ahamefule Orji’s administration and we later resolved the situation and suddenly, the [AUR] team resurfaced from nowhere and started burning our goods. We want to use this opportunity to appeal to the Abia State Governor Okezie Ikpeazu to call Ogunji to order because he is going to cause people to hate the governor.”

    Goodluck Osas said he was shot in the crotch, Chidiebere Ugochukwu that he sustained injuries in his hands. Ifeanyi Okechukwu said he was shot in the thigh while Chinecherem William said he was wounded in his left hand.

    Prestige condemned the use of live ammunition by security agents and  also faulted traders for taking the laws into their own hands.

    According to him, both government and the traders should always seek more civil and legal means of executing their actions and presenting their agitations/grievances and promised to see how he can assist the injured victims.

    In a related development, the Aba North and South representative also visited Horstman Hospital LTD where he paid off the hospital bill of Mr. Uchenna Cletus who was shot during the fracas between traders at Ariaria Shoe Plaza and personnel of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Abia State Command earlier this year.

    He said he was touched by the plight of the trader and to also fulfill his promise of offsetting hospital bills of any trader affected in the clash that was admitted in the hospital.

    Mr. Cletus and wife thanked the lawmaker for his magnanimity and prayed God to bless him.

    The Medical Director of Horstman hospital, Dr. Dennis Oji said Mr. Cletus’s fractured shin was able to be operated upon and healed to the stage it was at press time because arteries supplying blood to his legs were not affected by the gunshot, adding that the case was also handled professionally.

    Oji however called on other legislators in the state to emulate the good steps of the lawmaker and thanked Prestige for being concerned with what affects his constituents.

     

  • Our expectations at Lagos fair, by traders

    Traders at the ongoing Lagos International Trade Fair organised by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), have expressed optimism of bountiful sales at the fair.  Some of the traders who spoke at the Tafawa Balewa Square, (TSB), Lagos, venue of the fair, said they have spent enormous funds to participated at the fair, adding that they are hopeful of recouping their investment.

    The Manager, Dream Cosmetics, Mr. Olamide Awe,  said he has invested about N1.2million as production cost, adding that had also spent N54, 000 to secure a space in the exhibition. He is optimistic that he will be patronised even after the fair must have ended.

    He said: “My expectation can only be achieved by creating more awareness for my products here at the exhibition. I do not just want to make great sales here, but I want to keep making more sales afterwards especially when customers use the products.

    “I paid N54,000 to get a stand here and the investment on my products so far is a cumulative N1.2million. For the 2015 Trade Fair, I expect to make profit of N2.5million.”

    Another trader, Adeniji Adeyinka, who is the Manager of Mona Products Company, explained that his product, Mona oil, is only six month old in the market and relies heavily on the fair to gain consumer acceptance. He further added that he was a part of the last fair but he looked forward to significant improvement this year.

    However, Ezeigwe Chinwe, Manager, Tokyo Boeki, a company that specialises in cooking spices, lamented that the fair is yet to witness enough patronage as in the case of previous years. According to her, rainfall is one of the contributing factors to the low patronage.

    She said: ” The investment made on the products is over N50 million. And I expect a profit that must not be less than N10 million, but the turn-out of customers so far, is low compared to that of last year. I would say the rain also has effect. My main expectation is for the product to be known globally and create more awareness since the product is 10 month old in the market.’’

  • Trade fair: food vendors lament lack of water, electricity

    Some food vendors at the ongoing Lagos international trade fair on Tuesday complained of frequent power outage and lack of water supply at the fair ground.

    They made the complaints to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in separate interviews in Lagos.

    They lamented that the organisers did not provide commensurate facilities at the fair in spite of the huge sums collected from each of them.

    Mrs. Grace Uche said that she paid N120, 000 for her pavilion only to get to the venue to discover that there was no water.

    ” I pay 4,000 to some people who fetch water for me daily.

    ” You can imagine the expenses I have to bear due to the fact that the organisers are not efficient,” Uche said.

    Mrs Chioma Egwim, who took up two pavilions, said she thought that the problems of electricity and water at the last trade fair would have been addressed.

    She expressed her displeasure that she was spending so much to get water to cook.

    ” This kind of business needs a lot of water to keep the environment neat enough for people to come in to eat.

    ” I have to run my generator throughout the day so that my clients do not complain of heat,” Egwim said.

    Mrs Ugochukwu Authre, another restaurateur, complained about illegal food hawkers around the fair who sell in the morning and disappear.

    ” These people don’t allow to make good sales in the morning and they did not pay to the organisers.

    ” We have complained to the organisers, but they have not done anything about it,” Authre said.

  • Traders decry delayed compensation for demolished shops

    Traders of Kuje Area Council have expressed their grief over the delay in being compensated for their shops demolished in the ongoing modernisation of the community’s main market.

    Some who spoke with Abuja Review expressed their dissatisfaction with the area council management for delaying the compensation in the market project.

    Mr. Mohammed Salisu disclosed that no proper information is been made between the council management and the traders in regards to compensation and resettlement.

    “I have spent sixteen years in this town and I have three shops that were demolished with no proper agreement or compensation.

    “They have not been calling for meetings to address us on how to compensate the affected traders or relocate us.

    “I have all the papers that were issued to me by the area council during the first allocation of shops in the market.

    “I have two wives and ten children and I can no longer feed them because I no longer have any source of income.

    Mrs Juliana David told Abuja Review that two of her shops were demolished and is yet to be compensated adding that the price to acquire a new allocation was outrageous.

    “The new shops are too expensive for ordinary people if you don’t have any steady source of income.

    “The luck up shops is going for about N2.5 million while the open shops go for 1.5 million and the plaza goes for N3.5 million.

    “If you are not rich or have a big business doing, it will be difficult to acquire this kind of shops.

    Reacting, the Chairman of Kuje Traders Association, Mr. Yunusa Isa appealed to the affected traders to be patient with the management as compensation was done in badges.

    Isa however disclosed that only traders with genuine allocation papers from the Kuje Area Council land department would be considered.

    He said proper consultations and meetings were held with the genuine traders of the market before the demolition exercise.

    He added that that the project was a public-private partnership (PPP) arrangement between the Kuje Area Council and Green House Ventures Limited.

    He said that, “there is no development without pains in any society and I appeal to the traders to cooperate with the management in the completion of the market project.

    “You will agree with me that the market was constructed more than 25 years ago and is in a dilapidated state with most structures damaged.

    “There is no adequate drainage to control the flow of rainwater as a result of neglect by the successive past administration.

    “I want to specially appeal to some traders who are in court over this project to cooperate with us so that this project can be completed,’’ Isa said

     

  • 30 traders killed in suicide attack

    •55 injured

    Thirty traders were on Sunday evening killed in a suicide attack at a market in Monguno, Borno State, a hospital source and operatives of the civilian JTF have said.

    Monguno is about 130 kilometres from Maiduguri, the capital.

    The sources said 55 persons were injured.

    The suicide bombers were said to have detonated their explosives at the market when traders were preparing to go home.

    A nurse at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH), who preferred anonymity, said on the phone: “They brought 30 bodies from Monguno in military ambulances and two other vehicles to our hospital in the evening yesterday. About 60 persons were injured.”

    A leader of the civilian JTF, Musa Kukalumi, told reporters in Maiduguri that about 28 people were killed and several were injured in the attack.

    A source at the State Specialist Hospital in Maiduguri said victims of the bomb blast were brought to the hospital, but were asked to go to the UMTH or Umoru Shehu Hospital for lack of space.

    Police spokesman Victor Isuku told our correspondent on the phone that he had not heard about the attack.