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By Dickson Okafor
For the first time in 15 years, Nigeria is set to host an international trade fair, following the restoration of standards at the Lagos International Trade Fair Complex under the leadership of Dr. Veronica Safiya Ndanusa, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Lagos International Trade Fair Management Board.
Ndanusa, an entrepreneur and legal practitioner, said her administration has worked tirelessly to reposition the complex, ensuring it meets international standards worthy of hosting global exhibitions once again.
She explained that the management team faced numerous hurdles in sanitising the complex, tackling issues ranging from illegal constructions to poor infrastructure. According to her, these interventions have restored confidence among stakeholders and paved the way for Nigeria to reclaim its place on the international trade fair circuit.
In this interview, Dr. Ndanusa speaks about the challenges, reforms and measures taken to reposition the Lagos International Trade Fair Complex, while highlighting wider issues affecting the market and its stakeholders.
How are you tackling illegal shop constructions at the Lagos Trade Fair Complex?
There have been a lot of changes since the inception of this regime. We have tried to bring back the former and glorious days of Lagos International Trade Fair Complex. When I took over, I restored the Stakeholders Interaction, having meetings and interfacing with one another. We have tried to carry interventions, especially in the area of building outside the plan. If you look at it, it is not only the ongoing illegal construction at Abia Gate.
A petition was brought to us and even before looking into the petition, we put a stop and the work stopped. I don’t know when those against the building construction got a court order before they came to us. They said they went to court, but the leaders of Balogun Business Association (BBA) jettisoned the court order and continued work before we came into the matter. And we told them that you don’t rush to get a court order without speaking to the management of the complex because we are to manage the complex. So, having seen everything that is happening, we began investigating the matter. What I want you to know is that we have never condoned the construction of the structure in question in Abia Plaza and we will not condone it. But it is very rampant in the complex, hence it is not only in Abia Gate, virtually all the traders are involved in the illegal act.
As of yesterday, I received calls that work has resumed at the construction site of the structure in question and we have ordered them to stop work so that we can look at files and the masterplan to enlighten them on what to do and what not to do. First and foremost, all the shanties constructed around the shops and plaza that fall into the masterplan must be removed because they are not supposed to build those shanties there. This is an International Trade Fair Complex. And the market in intent and purposes must meet international standard of a market. Because they trade with people from other African countries, so why not make the place look like an international market? The truth, as you know, is that our people, without strict enforcement, any little space they see, they want to build on it. So, on coming on board, we knew this was part of what we were going to do to bring back the glory of the complex and I immediately set up a taskforce. And the taskforce is led by one of us who is in the Real Estate Department and they have been working assiduously day and night to maintain the standard of Lagos International Trade Fair Complex. Some of the traders are very rude, they can assault and insult government officials because there is a lot of ignorance. They think because they have the market which the government has leased out to them, they now think that the management has no right to talk or guide them, which is not welcomed by us. We are telling them that it is not right because we are here to ensure the right things are done and we must do it whether they like it or not.
Work on illegal construction of structures has already stopped and those already built are being removed. After the court order, they refused to stop work until we came on board and ordered them to stop work, which they obeyed. And in some cases, investigation is still ongoing with regards to those behind the ongoing illegal structures in the market. Unfortunately, surveyors and estate managers have not been around and that is why I said pending when a full investigation is carried out. However, why we are carrying out a full investigation is because there was a time we brought a bulldozer to remove every illegal structure in BBA, but we could not gain access because it was on Sunday. There are other serious issues such as illegal structures they put up under high tension which we intend to remove. And there are some they built on old buildings which must go.
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We communicated with the President of BBA and other stakeholders in a meeting we held recently. I called them severally and when this issue started I also invited them and told them that I will not sit down here and allow any illegality to take place in the complex. So, what we are planning to do is carry out holistic clean-up. All the attachments will be removed because they were not in the masterplan of the buildings. The buildings under high tension will all be demolished. Some of the traders are very selfish because they build in front of other shops because they have the power or the means, but we must maintain law and order. They designed this complex to live up to the name and expectation.
Despite your efforts, are you aware illegal construction still goes on at Abia Plaza, even at night and on weekends?
Reports reached me yesterday that they have continued building the structure and I put a call to their officials to stop work. So, do your investigation and I’m sure they did not continue work on that building in Abia Gate yesterday night. That is what they do, they build at night like ants and when you come by Monday morning, buildings are standing. But in this case, it won’t stand because I took action immediately I heard about it and called the officials and work stopped.
Has there been any financial inducement by the Association, market leaders or stakeholders to earn your support in the illegal construction of shops?
There have been allegations and accusations by some disgruntled elements that they gave money to my management and I challenged those who claimed that they gave money to my staff to come and prove it with evidence. I always tell my management that if you are caught, you are on your own. There is no point in collecting money from some people and doing the wrong thing. Because it is for their own good to remain transparent.
For instance, we have been on the issue of the stakeholders and associations to comply with our regulations. We have directed them to make provision for a fire service station, which they are kicking against, and before you know it, within that period they have lost four buildings to fire. If your place is very fine with accessible roads and you have parking and loading bays, even car parks, it will attract more customers. Because they know that it is convenient for parking and loading their goods. Because of these regulations and requirements which the traders could not meet, that is why you hear them laying allegations against the management which they cannot substantiate.
When the allegation came to my knowledge that they said they gave money to my management, I called them openly and asked, can you tell me who you gave money to? And they said nobody, instead they started changing their words. And it is making the whole thing look suspicious. If you are truly fighting for the good of all, do it in the right manner. Come to the management and table whatever challenge you are facing and we will discuss it because my door is open. But when you claim that somebody in the management wants to take money from you without proof, that is bad. If they had bribed me and the management, they wouldn’t have stopped work when we gave the order. Even those in the association sponsoring the construction would go on with the work because they will say after all we have given money to the management.
As for me, nobody can even buy me, they don’t have the money to buy me. I’m here to work and I will continue to work transparently. The Renewed Hope Agenda of the Federal Government is in force here to renew the hope of Nigerians and I’m proud of it and I will make sure their hopes are renewed. I will make sure that Lagos International Trade Fair Complex is better than the way I met it. And I will also make sure things are done the way they ought to be done. They cannot rubbish my name because I have a name to protect. And I doubt if my management will demand money from anyone because they don’t have the final say. If you want to hang a dog, you give it a bad name. I invited all the leaders of the association and I asked them, who did you say you gave money to among my management staff? The next thing they said was that they gave money to the Executives. You see that they mistake the executive for management which is different. We were in a meeting when they said they gave money to their executive and their Chief Security Officer (CSO) and leaders of the association to enable them start illegal constructions in the market. But we did not collect a dime from anybody, hence we were able to do what we are doing. What they have done is a violation of our rules.
What efforts is the management making to restore the lost glory of Lagos International Trade Fair Complex to meet international standards?
A lot is going on to restore the lost glory of Lagos International Trade Fair Complex. You can see a lot of changes going on your way into the complex. When I came on board, the first thing I did was dissect the problems here, look for solutions and I came out with a working document. In fact, I took a view of the whole complex. Like you can see over there, that is the original map which was never in this office before I came, but I brought it out. The management does not have its own surveyor, but we got that in place and we have started to follow things the way they should be because years have gone by and things have changed, hence there are some little changes. These are some of the things we are doing or tackling to restore the standard of Lagos International Trade Fair Complex. The environment was abysmal when I came and the first case I met was the Lagos State Environmental Agency because the environment was dirty. So, we tackled that to the extent you can see that the environment to a large extent is clean. We set up an Environmental Taskforce to see that everywhere is always clean and standard. Then we also went on, despite being short of funds, to make sure we stopped trailers or lorries from falling down the road every week because of bad roads. Because then we had roads that were not properly maintained due to scarcity of funds. So, we went ahead to open the drainages and they never knew that there were drainages in those places we opened and they were very happy. No matter how much it rains, in a few hours the water will disappear. Since two years I came on board, we have carried out palliative measures on the roads and we will continue to do so by continuing to pursue them in Abuja to see how they can give us more money to do more. We are glad the very day the House of Representatives Committee on Commerce visited us to see things for themselves and also promised they are going to carry out a palliative. It cannot be done all at once because there is no money to fix the roads and if done, that will increase the revenue. When we came on board, there was no electricity, but we worked on it and we are back to the National Grid. In the area of infrastructure, we discovered that the traders were building plazas and shops anyhow without aligning to the masterplan. There were no setbacks and we said it won’t be business as usual. So, those who are constructing, we told them there must be setbacks because if there is no setback we will touch your building. So, those are things we are doing to bring back the international standard of the complex. However, most importantly, the place is where the Federal Government made the exhibition and hosting of the International Trade Fair. For over 14 years there was no trade fair and so the Federal Government is losing revenue and even synergy with other countries. This is the agency that is serving as a trade fair. So, we have been planning for the trade fair to take place this year and we are calling on the media to partner with us. This year will be the first after 15 years we will be hosting the International Trade Fair in the country, which is going to be a melting point of ideas and exhibitions.
