Peter Anosike
Traders in Ladipo Market have commended the Federal Government for the quality of work that is ongoing on Oshodi-Apapa road.
According to them, by using concrete and iron rods to reconstruct the road, it would stand the test of time.
They noted that the road has become a kind of recurring decimal with regard to road collapse in the country.
They, however, appealed to the Federal Government to put pressure on the construction company to complete the reconstruction in good time.
They said that business at Ladipo market has dropped because of the poor state of the road as their customers are now going to other auto spare markets.
One of the traders, Chibuike Amaechi said that he is happy that the Federal Government is fulfilling its promise of using concrete to reconstruct the road.
He noted that there has never been any time the road was constructed and it did not collapse within six months.
He said that the main reason could be because of lack of standard drainage system on the road.
However, he said that with what he is seeing, it appears the new construction company is getting it right.
“I am very happy with the quality of work on the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway. With the work that has been done so far, there is hope that the road will last longer than the other ones. Oshodi-Apapa road is one of the most important roads in the country and as such should be given serious attention. To the best of my knowledge this is the first time that concrete is being used to construct a road, so let’s wait and see if it would be the way forward for Nigerian roads”.
In his contribution, Nelson Onu said that though he is happy with the quality of the road, he is not comfortable with the speed.
According to him, business in Ladipo market has been seriously affected because of the traffic gridlock on the road.
He said that motorcycles with its attendant consequences has become the major means of accessing the market, pointing out this has made a lot of people who are afraid of motorcycles to be going to Ebute Metta for their auto spare parts.
“I am very happy that the road is now being reconstructed with very high quality materials. However, businesses at Ladipo market have dropped seriously due to bad road and traffic gridlock, caused mostly by tankers and container-carrying trailers. I am appealing that they should hasten the work so that we will return to our businesses.”
Substandard products: Our collaboration with SON yielding results –Alaba traders
Peter Anosike
Traders at the popular Alaba International Market, Ojo, Lagos State have said that their collaboration with Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) is helping to eradicate substandard electronics products from the market.
They said that the collaboration has changed the notion that Alaba is the hub of substandard electronics in the country.
According to them, people now come to Alaba with the confidence that the electronics they are buying are of the highest quality.
Maduabuchi Adiukwu, public relations officer of International Market Association Electronics (IMAE), said that the traders in the market decided to regulate themselves to ensure that their collaboration with Standards Organization of Nigeria would work.
He disclosed that they started by setting up a body that would be going from shop to shop to ensure that the traders are importing standard electronics into the country.
He said that those who refused to do the right thing are reported to SON for sanctions.
The image-maker of the international electronics market said that it was when SON saw that the traders by themselves are reporting those importing and selling substandard products that they were taken seriously.
His words: “As the immediate past task force chairman of International Market Alaba Electronics and now the public relations officer, I can authoritatively tell you that we have zero tolerance for substandard electronics in the market.
“Apart from our collaboration with SON, we have our own committee that goes from shop to shop to make sure that every trader has in stock quality products. We have gone past the era when Alaba was known as the haven for fake and substandard electronics. Whoever is caught trying to take us back to the era is first of all disciplined by us before reporting him to SON.
“Since we started this, most of the traders are complying. That is why people are now coming to Alaba with full confidence that whatever they buy is of high quality.”
In his contribution, the Vice Chairman of IMAE, Chief Camilus Amajuoye said that the main focus of their administration is to clean up the image of Alaba International Market.
He said that it was because of that they sought to collaborate with Standards Organization of Nigeria and the other Federal Government regulatory bodies.
According to him, the idea is for the world to see that the traders have nothing to hide.
He said that even the regulatory bodies have seen the seriousness of the traders to do the right thing and they are happy.
“To be honest with you, what department store owners are doing is nothing, but giving a good dog a bad name in order to hang it. The reason I am saying this is that we at Alaba International market are the source of their supplies. But when we supply to them, they would be castigating us to the ignorant citizens that Alaba market sells substandard electronics products so that people would not be coming to us to buy,”Amajuoye said.
Man slumps, dies as fire razes another Anambra market
Jeff Amechi Agbodo, Onitsha
A trader at the old spare parts market, (Mgbuka), Awada Obosi in Anambra State was said to have slumped and rushed to the hospital as fire engulfed the market.
Over 400 shops were burnt down in the inferno.
It was gathered the trader slumped out of shock when he saw his shop on fire, and later died in the hospital as he could not be revived.
He said the fire started early hours of yesterday and had destroyed many shops worth millions of naira, which the cause was yet to be ascertained at the time of this report.
A trader Mr. Chukwudi Aneke said that he lost all his wares to the fire, saying that the fire started from their section of the market.
But police said the fire was contained following the prompt intervention of state fire service.
The State Police Public Relations Officer Mr. Haruna Mohammed who confirmed the incident said that the fire was put out by fire fighting officials who responded promptly.
According to him, “Today at about 01:30: am, there was a fire outbreak at old Automobiles spare parts Market Awada.
“Following the distress call, Police patrol team led by DPO Awada Division CSP Tony Adeyi rushed to the scene and alerted the fire service department and other emergency units which also responded promptly and put out the fire.
“The area was cordoned off by the Police to prevent hoodlums from taking advantage of the situation to loot. One person whose identity is yet unknown collapsed and was taken to the hospital for medical attention. The cause of the fire and value of property destroyed are yet to be ascertained.
“Consequently, the Commissioner of Police Mr. John Abang has sympathized with the victims of the inferno and ordered for a discreet investigation to ascertain circumstances surrounding the incident, please” Mohammed stated.
Imported products are our concepts, ideas –Agubataofia, Agric/Coker building materials trader
Peter Anosike
One of the leaders of Agric/Coker Building Materials Dealers Association, Lagos, Prince Marcus Agubataofa has said that Nigerian government continued neglect of traders is not helping the economy.
He noted that the days are gone when traders were regarded as bunch of illiterate.
He said today, most of the traders have a minimum of bachelor’s degree, adding that a lot even have masters and doctorate degrees.
Hee said that most of the products on sale in the Nigerian markets are designed by the traders and given to the manufacturers abroad to produce.
He said that the reason they could not be doing all that here was because of lack of enabling environment.
According to him, if the government begins to take traders seriously by providing enabling environment for them to showcase what they know, the economy of the country would change for the better.
He said that there is nobody that has not imported a particular product for upward of 10 years that does not know the nitty-gritty of the product and as such can produce it.
He, however, said that when they consider the lack of infrastructure in the country, which usually leads to high overhead cost, they decide to continue with importation.
His words: “When people say that Chinese, Americans or Europeans are wizards in production, I usually laugh in my mind. The truth is that it is we traders that design what they produce. We, the traders give them the concept because we know what would sell in Nigeria. In short, it is our ideas, our concepts that they package into products and send back to us.
“And the only reason this is happening is because we don’t have enabling environment to do them by ourselves. For instance, I am in the sales of solar products. I have been doing this for the past 10 years. So, there is nothing in it that I don’t know because every day, we loose and couple back. So, if there is conducive environment, producing them here in Nigeria would not be a problem to me because I have got the requisite knowledge.”