Peter Anosike
The President of Alaba International Amalgamated Association, council of sectional heads, Ichie Fabian Ezeradi Ezeorjika, has called on the traders in the market to be safety conscious during this Christmas season.
Ezeorjika who is also the executive chairman of Electrical Dealers Association of Nigeria (EDAN) said that those who would be travelling to their villages should make sure they obey the traffic rules and also not to over speed.
He said that they should be prudent in their spending as January is usually a very difficult month for everybody.
He noted that it is unfortunate a lot of people struggle from January to November, only to spend the whole money on December in the name of celebrating Christmas.
His words: “2019 is a very hectic year for all the traders in Alaba International Market. We were bedeviled with a lot of challenges, the chief among them being the situation of Lagos-Badagry Expressway. But by the grace of God, it is coming to an end and we are looking for a better 2020.
“I want to advise the traders to be safety conscious as they would be travelling to the places that they would want to spend their Christmas. For those of us who are from the eastern part of the country, Christmas is always like a general mass return. It is the only time we can see our brothers and sisters in different parts of the country. Therefore, as we are celebrating, we should be mindful of January, which is always like the longest month in the year even though it is still the same 31 days. It is in January that our children return to school. It is also the month that a lot of people pay their house and shop rents. So, prudence is very important”.
Ezeorjika said that the market has a lot of projects lined up for the coming year.
According to him, one of them is the completion and commissioning of Electrical Dealers Association of Nigeria ultra-modern secretariat.
He said that Electrical Dealers Association of Nigeria is the hub of electrical parts in West Africa and as such deserves a befitting secretariat.
He said it was because of it that he vowed his administration would build a befitting secretariat as a legacy.
“Trading like others is no more what it used to be many years ago. It is no more a profession of primary school leavers. Right now, we have lawyers, doctors, accountants and other professionals as traders. So, we are now operating as a cooperate body and we need well-equipped secretariat. The project is now at advanced stage and before the middle of next year, it would be completed and we would then begin to talk of the commissioning because we want it to be a very big event”.
Border closure: Nnewi timber dealers lament over drop in business
David Onwuchekwa, Nnewi
Members of Nnewi Timber Dealers Association are concluding the year with the impression that government policies had affected them negatively.
Chairman of the association, Hon. Chukwunonso Paul Nnetu told Sunday Sun that though the traders had relatively done well within the year, that they would have done better to tell individual success stories, if not for the land borders closure.
“We have relatively done well in business from January to December. But any good observer will see that traders are suffering now. First, the closure of land borders has crippled our trading activities. We are really in difficult times.
“We appeal to the Federal Government to review, if possible, the borders closure policy so that they can be reopened. We discover that many people no longer engage in house building projects because of low turnout in business. And we are at the receiving end, “ Nnetu said.
He recalled that by December last year the traders were very busy with their customers who came to patronize them. He said that even though the prices of their goods did not go high within the period under review, that it did not make any difference in terms of trading boom.
He noted that another issue that gave the timber dealers concern was deforestration and bush burning. He appealed to government to come up with a policy to ensure that any tree cut down in the bush was replaced “otherwise in some years to come, we will have a very short supply of timber products.” He said that timber products were already becoming scarce across the country.
One of the nagging problems of the traders, according to him, was a situation where their suppliers and customers on transit were being disturbed on the highway by the police and other law enforcement agents, especially at checkpoints within the Southeast zone, as the operatives extorted money from them.
Christmas: Nnewi traders fete over 300 less privileged
David Onwuchekwa, Nnewi
Agboedo Motor Spare Parts Dealers Association, Nnewi, Anambra State, has put smiles on the faces of over 300 less privileged and physically challenged persons in and around the industrial community to enable them celebrate Christmas together with others.
Chairman of the association, Mr Dennis Ikegwuonu who addressed the traders during the 2019 end of the year get together said that he knew it had not been the practice for the union to attend to the needy collectively, but that he deemed it necessary to be his administration’s style.
To that end, many food items, including hundreds of yam tubers, noodles, bags of rice, toiletries were shared to over 10 homes from which the beneficiaries came.
The association also settled hospital bills for some indigent patients it identified.
The event kicked off with a Mass celebrated by Rev. Fr. Martin Unadike of Holy Spirit Church, Nnewichi a.k.a Ojenamuo (one who moves in the spirit).
The cleric in his sermon entitled: “Where did it go wrong” told the traders that they should always give to the poor and less privileged in society to expect God’s blessings.
Fr. Unadike told them that giving has the potentials to skyrocket someone to riches and God’s protection, adding that they should at the same time live righteous life to make those things work. Traders made cash donations in response to the sermon in order to help the less privileged.
Mr Ikegwuonu at the end of the sermon presented some of the problems of the traders to the member representing Nnewi North in Anambra State House of Assembly, Hon. Nonso Smart Okafor who was physically present at the end of the year programme.
The market leader said that the traders were suffering in the hands of the police in Nnewi who he said never allowed the traders to use their motorcycles as soon as it was 7:00 p.m daily. He said that most of them arrested within that period always pay heavily to free themselves “and our motorcycles are the easiest and fastest means of transportation in Nnewi.”
Ikegwuonu also articulated before the lawmaker some of the infrastructural needs in the market, which they expected the Governor Willie Obiano administration would have sorted out for them before now.
He said his administration had procured sound-proof power generating sets without waiting for the government in order to argument the traders’ public electricity power supply.
Ikegwuonu also announced the completion of a restructured office block for their union which was commissioned by the lawmaker during the event, pointing out that the traders over the years lacked a befitting office which jinx he decided to break.
Yuletide: Anambra traders blame low patronage on economic hardship
David Onwuchekwa, Nnewi
Traders in Nnewi, Onitsha and environs have complained that trading activities this Christmas season are comparatively low due to economic hardship.
The cause, they said, was not unconnected with the closure of Nigeria’s land borders, which had affected the movement of goods from neighbouring countries into Nigeria, “a situation that has increased demand without sufficient supply.”
Most of the traders in some markets visited in Onitsha ironically complained of low sales, which had been unusual, especially during the Christmas and New Year celebrations.
At Ochanja Central Market, Onitsha which experienced a fire-outbreak in October this year, Chairman of the market, Chief Nelson Ojukwu and that of Rubber Shoe Section of the market which was mainly affected by the fire disaster, Mr Emma Ekeigwe, complained of poor sales compared to last year’s Christmas season.
They urged the Federal Government to consider the plight of the suffering Nigerians and promulgate policies that would impact positively on the generality of the people.
At Ogbogwu International Market where thereis a cluster of drug dealers, the Chairman of the market, Mr Anthony Ezioba expressed worry at the economic condition of Nigerians which he said had affected all businesses generally.
The Chairman, Anambra State Task-Force on Fake, Counterfeit Drugs and Adulterated Beverages, Prince Chibuzor on his part urged youths to be conscious of illicit drug consumption during this festive period.
The traders pleaded with the Federal Government to always consider the interest of the people in its policy decisions. They, however, thanked their customers for their patronage throughout the year despite the odds.
Market leaders restrategize for security in Anambra
David Onwuchekwa, Nnewi
Leaders of various markets in Anambra State have drafted a system for an improved security in consolidation of the decision of the Governor Willie Obiano-led administration to tackle insecurity and flush out criminals from various parts of the state.
In a meeting, Chief Rommy Ezeonwuka convened in Onitsha along with the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Market and Industry, Hon. Emma Idemobi, the market leaders unanimously agreed to beef up security in Upper Iweka axis of Onitsha-Owerri Road at this festive period.
According to Idemobi, a former chairman of Idemmili North Local Government Area, the activities of armed robbers and pickpockets in Upper Iweka and environs had influenced business across markets in the area in a very negative manner, noting that it was critically important that the police, the vigilante services and other security outfits in the state to operate in synergy to get rid of the miscreants who he said caused traders and road users restless moments.
The meeting had in attendance the Chairman, Stockfish International Market, Chief Celestine Ezewuru; President General, Ogbaru Main Market, Mr Victor Nwawuzie; a representative from Electrical/Electronics Market Obosi, Chief M. Mojekwu; Mr Buckner Agu (Asst Secretary Ogbaru Main Market) and many other market leaders who expressed their satisfaction, and assented to the improved security strategy in consideration.
Speaking at the meeting, the Special Adviser to Governor Obiano on Vigilante Services, Chief Ezeonwuka noted that the new strategy would further strengthen the tight security structure set up by the Obiano-led administration in the state.
He warned criminals operating in Upper Iweka and other parts of the state to turn a new leaf and desist from making life unbearable for the masses.
Ezeonwuka emphasized the importance of dealing decisively with those who benefit from the nefarious activities of the hoodlums, including those who work for them.