By Peter Anosike
As the 2027 general election draws near, traders in Alaba International market, the biggest electronics and electrical market in Africa, have declared support for the second term ambition of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and all the All Progressives Congress candidates for the election.
Speaking in an interview with some select group of journalists, the President General of Alaba International Amalgamated Council of Sectional Heads, the umbrella body of all the associations in the market, High Chief Camilus Amajuoyi, said that the founding fathers and the entire traders of the market have resolved to change their voting pattern.
According to him, over the years, the political parties they have been voting for have not been of any help to them in their time of need.
He said that they are living in Lagos, doing their businesses in Lagos, their children are living in Lagos and their property are also in Lagos, adding that common sense demands that they should align with the party in power in Lagos State.
He also spoke on other national issues. Excerpts:
What informed the decision of Alaba lnternational traders to change their voting pattern?
My name is High Chief Camilus Nnamdi Amajuoyi. I am the president general of Alaba International Amalgamated Council of Sectional Heads ,which is the umbrella body of all the sections in the market. Alaba has 17 different sections like electronics, electrical, fancy and furniture and so on. I am also the president of International Market Association Electronics (IMAE).There is a saying that when a chicken wakes up, it will become an eagle. Alaba International traders have decided to wake up politically. For more than 12 years now, traders in Alaba International market have been voting differently from the party in power in Lagos State. Because of that we are being seen as people in the opposition. With our huge population, mind you we have more than one million registered members and politics as you know is a game of number. So, we have voted in house of Representatives and State House of Assembly members in Ojo federal constituency. But at the end of the voting season, these candidates would not come back to say thank you or show any kind of appreciation. Even the dividends of democracy from the people that we voted into office which is what they campaigned, we don’t see. So, we are victims of use and dump by the political parties and candidates that we have been voting for. That is the reason I said at the beginning that Alaba International traders have woken up.
But what is the effect of you people not voting for the party in power in Lagos State?
The effect is natural. By not voting for the party in power in Lagos State, we are being denied a lot of things. All the things that we are supposed to get from the government of Lagos State, we are not getting them. For example, all the trunk C roads in Ojo Local Government has been tarred or interlocked and every street has been reconstructed or rehabilitated, but the road that links to Alaba from Ojo-Igede to Ajangbadi has been left out, despite all our pleas to the governor, deputy governor and Commissioner for Works. The revenue that Lagos State government, Ojo Local government and even the Federal Government are making from Alaba International market is more than enough to tar or interlock the road that leads to the market for it to befit an international market, but the reverse is the case because we are being seen as people in the opposition or even enemies of government. On the part of the traders, we are losing hundreds of millions of naira because of the dilapidated state of the road. When they clear our containers at the ports, when they get to Alaba road, the containers would fall and the goods would waste. Mind you most of us borrow money from banks to import. When that happen, whatever was used for collateral would be confiscated by the banks and before you know it, traders that were controlling hundreds of millions of naira would become bankrupt. Some even become sick and die because of the pressure and frustration. We have continually appealed to the Lagos State government to link the Alaba road to the Alabarago road because that would ease up the traffic, but after series of promises, that has not been done.
But was that the reason some structures were demolished in the market?
Well, when you are in the opposition, a lot of things that are not too palatable would be happening to you. If you are not for, you would be seen as being against. So, that is the situation that we have found ourselves by voting for other political parties. We have suffered series of demolition in Alaba, ranging from shops to plazas in the name of the property being defective or distressed. But when you look very well, you would see that the plazas and shops were built not more than two years ago ,which means they are solid and strong. Then you begin to wonder what is happening. We have also succeeded in building a clinic in Alaba and have pleaded with the government of Lagos State to help us equip it, but up till now nothing has been done. We have written several letters to the government on that, but to no avail.
Those people that you have voted into political offices, what have they done to help?
That is the reason we decided that we must change our voting pattern. With all that we are going through, none of those people that we have voted into power either in the past or in the present has come to our aid. The same thing with the political parties that they used as platforms to win the elections. The only party that has started showing concern is the All Progressives Congress (APC).They have started fixing the road that lead from Masafejo, Ilufe to Chemist bus stop. Also they have come to survey Ojo-Igede road (Olojo Drive), and they have also assured us that if we vote for them, all that we are requesting from them would be met. The APC local government candidate for the forthcoming local government election, Hon. Muhabat Titilola Rufai has assured us that if we vote her into office ,she will personally take us to Alausa for our demands to be met.
Is it because of all that the traders are declaring support for the APC?
The world is, you rub my back, I rub your back. There is also what we say in our parlance, dey for who dey for you. We have lost a lot by voting candidates in the opposition political parties. So, the founding fathers of Alaba International market, the presidents of sections, the leaders and stakeholders of Alaba International have resolved from now henceforth that we will be voting for the party in power in Lagos State, which is the APC. So, we have realized our mistakes. We all are joining the APC. The reason is not far-fetched. We are living in Lagos; we are doing our businesses in Lagos; our children are going to school in Lagos; our property are in Lagos. So, common sense demands that we should work with the party in power in Lagos State, so that they would be looking into our plight and solving our problems. As the council election is drawing near, we are pleading with the party to continue with the tradition of using an Igbo person as a vice chairman in Ojo. We have absolute confidence in the leadership of the chairman of APC in Lagos State, Pastor Cornelius Ojelabi. We also want to use this opportunity to appreciate the amiable and resourceful governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu and his deputy, Dr Obafemi Hamzat for the way they are transforming the state into a smart city. We are assuring them of our unalloyed support and loyalty.