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Tag: Traders

  • Alade market: traders, govt trade words

    Alade market: traders, govt trade words

    •‘The place built by the concessionaire is inhabitable’
    •Ministry of the Environment approved it’

    The Executive Secretary of Ikeja Local Government Area Adekunle Dally Adeokun yesterday cleared the air on the controversy surrounding the status of Alade Market traders.

    He said there was no truth in the allegation that the council issued a 60-day ultimatum to the traders to move out of the market. According to him, no date has been fixed for the relocation.

    Describing the ultimatum as a “misrepresentation of facts,” Adeokun said at no time did he address a news conference or issue any statement giving the traders  ultimatum to leave the market.

    Adeokun spoke against the heels of yesterday’s protest by the Concerned Traders of Alade Market Men and Women (CTAMW), who alleged that the proposed relocation site is a flooded and swampy plane that is unsuitable for trading.

    Speaking on behalf of the market women, President of the Concerned Traders, Mrs Sulola Odunsi-Dania said the council authority had initially made the move to displace them and demolish the market in 2003, but the state government denied any knowledge of the planned demolition.

    “The truth is that we were not served any notice by the Lagos State Government. It is sad to note that when the state government wants to repossess a particular place, they come up with sundry excuses. The place built by the concessionaire is inhabitable. It is located beside a canal behind the market. You need to see the place. Reptiles and other animals roam about and it is worse during the rainy season,” she lamented.

    Mrs. Odunsi-Dania said they had gone as a group to the Iyaloja General of Lagos State, Mrs Folasade Tinubu-Ojo, who called a meeting of the market women and the concessionaire, Mr Lai Omotola.

    “At the meeting Mr Omotola blatantly said that he had no business with us, to whom the Iyaloja entreated to have proper dialogue with us because we are the ones directly concerned,” she said.

    Legal counsel for the market women Jiti Ogunye, said there were various abnormalities in the way the concessionaire was going about the relocation.

    “These women are stakeholders who pay tax to the government. They can’t just be treated anyhow,” he said.

    Describing the protests as “a storm in a tea cup,” Adeokun said the issue surrounding the relocation is one that would be resolved amicably between the council, the concessionaire and the traders as it is “a family affair.”

    He said what happened in the council on Sunday was the inaugural meeting of the committee members in charge of the relocation and after the meeting, they all agreed to give the concessionaire 60 days to put some things in place at the new site.

    He said: “The committee of 16, which was made up of six members of the traders and five each from the council and the concessionaire, met and resolved that the concessionaire must open up the area and put interlocking paving stones on the floors, and build 100 locked up shops and additional Kee Clamp, build a perimeter fence and fit same with American wire mesh, all of which, he said, the concessionaire promised could be done within 60 days.”

    He said the true position is that after the 60 days, the committee is expected to inspect the site and review the activity of the concessionaire after which all the stakeholders are expected to meet to now negotiate when the traders would eventually move.

    “It is only after the committee has been convinced that the relocation is feasible that any negotiation on the relocation could be contemplated. The traders at the market are our people and we would not do anything to inconvenient anyone,” he noted.

    Adeokun called the cooperation of the market traders in the redevelopment of the market adding that the council will do everything to protect their interest.

    According to him, there was no truth in the allegation that the site is inhabitable because it was cleared for use by the state’s Ministry of the Environment and they are meant to stay there only for 24 months.

    He said most of the shops are being offered at ridiculously low prices and the council is ready to accommodate all irrespective of their status whether legal or illegal tenants of the market. He alleged that while most of the traders rented the shops from the council at N7,200, they reissued same to tenants at fees ranging from N500,000.

    Adeokun said though the initial projection was for the new site to be temporary, but the concessionaire in accommodating the grievances of the traders have had to invest heavily in constructing solid shops, that would be powered by a 350 KVA electricity generating set.

    He said the lawyers to the traders have agreed to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the council and concessionaire on the mode of relocation.

    The concessionaire, Mr Lai Omotola said the company would do everything possible to meet the demands of the traders to facilitate early relocation to enable it commence the contract.

  • Traders clean market

    Traders clean market

    Cleanliness is next to Godliness, they say. This aphorism played out at the biggest auto spareparts market in Ladipo Lagos State; where the traders have set three days aside every week to clean their market and its environs.

    Though, the Lagos State government has, over the years, earmarked environmental cleaning exercise every Thursday in a week for the cleaning of every market, traders at the Ladipo Central International Market clean up their area thrice every week; on Sundays, Thursdays and one Friday every month.

    When Southwest Report  visited the market during the monthly sanitation held last Friday, all the stalls were shut. Every trader was seen with either a broom, rake or disposable bag. They combed the streets and evacuated the gutters of water bottles that block the water channels.

    President of the traders’ union, who was also involved in the exercise, said it is some of the measures they put in place to ensure a clean environment and complement the efforts of the state government in ensuring a healthy environment and well-being of the residents.

    “We are conscious of our environment and that is why we will leave no stone unturned in making sure we are neat not only in our homes, but also in our business place.

    “This is the rainy season and much drainage system flow through the market.

    Precautions have been put on ground to ensure the debris and rubbish are constantly evacuated,” he said.

    He also lamented that the market is yet to have an apportioned space for it to dispose its refuse on a daily basis.

    He also urged the state and local governments to come to their aid, demanding a car park for its customers so that they don’t constitute nuisance to people in the area.

  • Why traders hold exhibition

    Why traders hold exhibition

    Traders have taken it upon themselves to hold exhibitions quarterly or half yearly in order to enhance and promote sales. Their reasons are based on the believe that when exhibitions are held, there is an opportunity for them to experience more training apart from the fact they would be together under one roof to enhance cordial relationship amongst themselves.

    They also believed that exhibition can be likened to a bridge between the petty traders and the international ones, creating a symbiotic business relationship. Trader’s locations will easily be known to buyers, bringing them closer to traders to create more awareness on product.

    The Nation Shopping met with a mattress retailer, Mr. Rotimi Akinshola in an exhibition in Lagos. He thinks exhibition helps the traders to elevate their businesses. “Exhibitions are held to make more customers, create a buyer and seller relationship as well as bring customers close to the product for further enlightenment.

    He added: “I have been invited to different exhibitions and found the experience profitable and enjoyable. The good thing about exhibition is that some customers come to know your product and through it we meet different people selling other things. We also get new connections and friends. And the reason why some traders don’t see it as being important and necessary is because of the way the organizers present it to them. I think organizers of exhibitions should give orientation to sellers on how important exhibitions are to their products and the market. Most businesses look at the money involved in the process as a reason for not wanting to take part in an exhibition”.

  • Traders groan as Imo pulls down shanties

    Everyone loves a well-planned city, yet when bulldozers started tearing down shanty structures in Owerri, there was a flood of tears, reports OKODILI NDIDI

    Women shop owners broke down as the bulldozer blades went to work in a shanty in Owerri, the Imo State capital. Some shouted and threw themselves at task force officials in a bid to stop the demolition. The men looked gravely at the scene, some trying to salvage as much of their wares as possible before everything was gone.

    It was like a scene in a James Bond movie. The bulldozers rampaged on, and fierce-looking task force officials leaving no one in any doubt that they meant business. The state government has started demolishing illegal structures and shanties in the state capital.

    At the entrance to the city, by the popular Control Junction, traders numbering over 1000 were affected by the demolition exercise, which was supervised by the Speaker of the Imo State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon Acho Ihim.

    Also affected were shops located along the Word Bank Housing Road, which were said to have flouted the capital city master plan.

    The adamant traders, were forewarned a week ago by the State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, who had personal visited the traders and told them the need to clean up the entire city to give it a look befitting of a state capital and to guide against the dangers of flooding, especially as the state has been named among states to witness unusual rainfall this year.

    But the warning fell on deaf ears as the traders who had promised the Governor that they will pull down the illegal structures before the demolition tam arrive, carried on in defiance of the Governor’s directive, apparently because previous directives were not enforced.

    Meanwhile, some of the affected traders claimed that the state government did not provide any alternative place for the traders, nor were they given enough time to relocate.

    Also, the governor had earlier, shortly after being sworn in for his second tenure, said that the state government would no longer tolerate shanties and illegal structures scattered across the state capital.

    One of the affected shop owners, Mr. Paulicap Osuala, while recounting his loss, said that he cannot believe that he could lost everything he has labored for all his life under few minutes.

    He lamented that he had lost over N8 million to the demolition exercise, adding that “as it is now I don’t know what to do or where to start from”.

    Osuala, who said that he was present during the Governor’s visit, last weekend, insisted that the governor never told them that the demolition was going to affect the shops in his area, but was shocked when the bulldozers started pulling down the shop, without giving the traders the opportunity to explain.

    He said, “The governor never directed us to pack our goods and relocate, because if he had told us, I would have packed my goods and left the place to avoid losing them like this now. I was surprised to come out this morning to see all my goods and properties destroyed without even a pin left. So where do they expect me to start from”.

    He further condemned the action of the state government, adding that the punishment being “meted to poor people who fought and even died for the governor during the last election to ensure his victory at the pool is unfortunate”.

    Another affected trader, Mrs. Ulumma Onyechehe expressed total disappoint at the exercise, stating that, “we never expected this kind of treatment from our governor. I still cannot believe that this is happening”.

    She stated herself and the elder brother have been doing business in the place for years and have been paying for the shop at the sum of N170,000.00 per annum.

    She however claimed that they were preparing to relocate their things before the task force team came and destroyed the roof of their shops, crying that, “I don’t intend to do anything other than to pack my things home and wait for what the future has for me.

    Meanwhile, the state government had defended the action, describing it as genuine efforts to clean up the capital city and realize the master plan, which has been abandoned to the detriment of the residents.

    The Chief of Staff to the Government House and Commissioner for Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Uche Nwosu, said that the state government embarked on the exercise to clean up the city by removing all illegal structures built without requisite approval from government.

    The governor had also in a media chat with journalists, appealed to the traders and other residents to cooperate with the state government over its plan to sanitize the state capital.

    In his words, “I am appealing to my people to cooperate with us because if we continue like this we won’t clean up our state capital. It was a painful decision to take, considering my relationship with my people but this has to be done for a better Imo State”.

  • Traders defy orders to open for business

    Traders in Aba, Abia State on Thursday defied the orders of a pro-Biafra group, Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), asking them not to open for business on Tuesday.
    The order The Nation gathered was in solidarity with their Onitsha counterparts who had last week protested the relocation of some members of the Boko Haram sect at the Ekwulobia Prisons, Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State.
    According to Police report, members of the pro-Biafra group had vowed to host a protest in commercial city which they expected traders of Ariaria International Market Aba to participate.
    The Aba Police Area Commander in a television in one of the local cable television stations in the state on Monday night urged Abia and Aba residents to defy the group’s directive and go about their normal businesses.
    Our reporter who monitored the situation in Aba reports that various markets in Aba opened for business as some security personnel on mufti were spotted in some corners around Ariaria International Market.
    A convoy of a combined team of security agencies (police,army among others) numbering 15 were sighted parading major roads in the commercial hub of Abia State, apparently to douse the tension.
    An unconfirmed report has it that there was partial adherence to the order by traders in Ariaria from 7am to at about 8:30am when Toyota Hilux with handful of soldiers came to the area and ordered that the shops should open for business.
    The authorities of the market could not be reached for comments but a trader who gave his name as Chukwuma said there was partial paralysis of commercial activities around the Ariaria market as most people had feared of being attacked.
    He added that they later opened for business after soldiers and other security agencies had left the area with assurance that they were in control of the security situation in Aba and within the market.
  • Ladipo traders: ‘we’re at landlords’ mercy’

    Ladipo traders: ‘we’re at landlords’ mercy’

    Some Ladipo auto parts dealers have alleged that they are at the mercy of multiple landlords, who “are making life difficult for us.”

    The traders in the Odo Aladura Spare Parts section also complained of the menace of ‘area’ boys and the lack of toilets in their shops.

    The unit’s outgoing Chairman, Jude Nwankwo, said his team did all it could to correct their anomalies.

    Nwankwo enjoined the incoming executive to request a space from the landlords to build toilets for the traders.

    Maxwell Uroko Chukwuma polled 235 votes to defeat Ebenobo Michael and others to emerge as chairman.

    Sunday Onyekwe was elected treasurer with 174 votes to Maxwell Okafor’s 115 votes.

    Elected unopposed are Ndubuisi Okonkwo – Assistant Provost, Iloka Ifeanyi – Chief Provost, Chinedu Okoro, Public Relations Officer (PRO) and Ikechukwu Onyema Financial Secretary.

    Nwankwo was appointed Deputy President of Ladipo Central Executive.

    He described the chairman-elect, Chukwuma, as a detribalised man who would work hard to protect the traders.

    Chukwuma waved the olive branch to those who contested against him.

  • Repair Daleko Market road, traders urge govt

    Repair Daleko Market road, traders urge govt

    Traders and other users of the road leading to the popular Daleko Market at Isolo, Mushin, Lagos State, have urged government to fix it.

    They are claiming that the road deteriorates on a daily basis and is badly affecting their business among other activities.

    The repair of the road was said to have been abandoned last November, thereby worsening its condition.

    The pains occasioned by the condition of the road, the users claimed, have bred incessant traffic jam, flooding and accidents on a daily basis.

    Hoodlums, The Nation learnt, have capitalised on the situation of the road to extort money from vehicle owners while filling some of the potholes with sand.

    A trader, Femi Adebayo, said the bad state of the road is negatively affecting traders as customers have stopped coming towards this area.

    “Most of the time, traffic jam hinders customers from coming our way; they get stuck on the road and later go elsewhere to buy what they need, leaving us to stare at our goods all day,’ he said.’

    He added that the repair which began last year was abandoned, adding: “As you can see the road got worse than it was. We hope things gets better very soon so that our customers can come to us with ease to patronise us.”

    A resident, MrsAngela Chukwuma said: “Fuel tanker drivers know this road is bad and they still pass through it. Whenever they pass, they stagger all along and this poses fear in our hearts. A tanker fell across the road recently but we were lucky it had already emptied its contents before getting here. We might not be so lucky next time and we hope something could be done to help.’’

    Mr Diya Akin, another resident, blamed the poor state of the road on trucks and petrol tankers, saying: “They are the major cause to the bad state of this road and the traffic. We want the government to stop them from going through the road by creating another route for them and maybe the traffic and accident would reduce a bit.”

    A motorcyclist, Mr Jacob Oluwafunmilayo, said: “I am very sad about how much this road has affected my business. Normally, I carry rice and flour from this market with my motorcycle to various destinations, but since the condition of this road has worsened, we fall while riding and sometimes throw everything we carry inside the dirty water.

    “This worrisome situation has made our customers to neglect us and go with buses and other means. At the end of the day, I do nothing and take no penny home to my family.”

    Mr Chuks Anko, a commuter said: “I have several cars but coming here with any is impossible because the road has done so much damage to each of them. It took me thousands of naira to repair them. So, I had to buy my goods elsewhere instead of going through this bad road.”

    In a related development, a trailer lost control while struggling to avoid potholes at the bad portion of the Daleko Junction.

  • Traders sue FCT agency over N120m levies

    Traders occupying Commerce Plaza in Durumi District of Abuja have sued an agency of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB), before the High Court of the FCT.

    They are seeking to void the imposition of arbitrary N120million levies on them.

    The traders, in the suit filed by their lawyer, Mohammed Ahmed, want the court to declare the charges illegal on the ground that the AEPB’s newly-introduced levies violated existing regulations guiding their occupation of the plaza.

    They asked the court to order the AEPB to withdraw the charges and set aside the charges, arguing that it (AEPB) provided neither infrastructure nor environmental services in the plaza since they (the traders) have moved into it.

    “Our careful study of the bills/charges and the Law and Regulation made by you and contained in the AEPB Act show that the bills are not only arbitrary but illegal.

    “You cannot assess or collect rates or charges for services not provided,” the traders said.

    They want the court to declare that the harassment, threat of arrest, intimidation and sealing of their business premises is un-warranted and illegal and unconstitutional.

    They also asked the court to restrain the board from further harassing them on account of the charges.

    The traders seek a declaration that the bills and charges imposed on the plaintiffs for solid waste, requiring them to pay individually huge sums of monies are arbitrary, capricious, excessive and illegal.

  • Customs, traders back ECOWAS external tariff

    The ECOWAS Common Ex-ternal Tariff (CET) will cre-ate more jobs, increase capacity utilisation of industries and boost trade among member-countries, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and the National Association of Nigerian Traders (NANTS) have said.

    CET has been adopted by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) member-countries to enhance economic integration in the sub-region.

    Speaking at a workshop organised for maritime reporters in Abuja, Customs’ National Public Relations Officer Mr Wale Adeniyi said CET would create jobs and boost the country’s revenue base.

    “Multilateral commitment to treaties like ECOWAS and  other ones within the WTO (World Trade Organisation) is going to take a lot of tolls on our revenue base but its is good for the country.

    “We are going to be talking on how to support our local industries, and think of how many industries are operating despite the harsh economic environment to create jobs for the youth.

    “We are going to engage our stakeholders on how many graduates we able to employ as a country.

    “We are going to be turning to the ports and say how long does it take to process goods after declarations, how many good declarations do we received in a day?

    “We need to know the amount of time it takes to discharge goods from vessel and the time it takes to move them out of the ports.”

    Adeniyi urged the maritime reporters to assist Customs in enlightening the public on the importance of CET to the economy and job creation.

    NANTS National Secretary Ken Ukaoha called for the implementation of CET to boost regional trade among member countries.

    He said the non-implementation of the common tariff could lead to the disorganisation of the region.

    Ukaoha stressed the need to put necessary measures to ensure its implementation.

    “The Common External Tariff, if implemented, can help the region to grow; it can also help in achieving the distribution and redistribution of wealth across the region.

    ‘’CET can also work towards fast tracking poverty reduction, because you are creating jobs for the people.

    “It can also guarantee and help or assist consumer choice; and most importantly, it will help member countries come together and do things as one; it is an open door to common market operations in the region.

    “However, if you don’t implement very well, it can also lead to disorganisation of the region and disappearance of ECOWAS.

    “There must be some level of carefulness in the implementation of the CET, the enforcement of the laws, because we are porous, so that we do not allow third parties to benefit, while we lose and then become a dumping ground, our industries will stifled and die away.

    “There must be constant monitoring of the impact of the CET on the economy; the future is watching, history is waiting.”

    According to him, before CET, there have been laws and other protocols which have not been able to promote trade in the region.

     

  • Oyo advises traders, artisans

    Traders and artisans who benefited from the N300million interest free loan under the Oyo State Government and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s Micro, Small and Medium Entrepreneur Development Scheme have been urged to not renege on the repayment.

    The Secretary to the State Government, Olalekan Alli, said this while addressing the beneficiaries yesterday at the Secretariat, Ibadan.

    Alli said the government made the loan interest free  so that its re-payment would be convenient.

    He urged them to start re-paying, noting that the government will pay the interest on the loan.