Published 12/21/2008 2:21:00 AM
Sunday Punch
Ladipo Market: The dirt, closure and contending interests
Sam Awoyinfa
The Ladipo auto spare parts market, situated in the Mushin Local Government Area of Lagos, is quite popular. It is popular because most motorists and auto mechanics within Lagos and beyond have found the market a veritable source for spares for their ailing vehicles and other accessories.
As early as 7am on a normal day, the traders would have started arriving for the day’s business. Both human and vehicular traffic on that axis form an uncommon alliance, which accentuates the rowdiness of an uncharted terrain. Different sights of people clutching one form of spare part or the other greet you as you meander your way through the crowd to whichever shop you are headed.
That routine was halted on Monday December 15, 2008, when the market was shut by the Lagos State Government, through the Ministry of the Environment. Reason? The dirty environment of the market has been causing problems on the road linking the market to Mushin and the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway.
This was not the first time the market would be shut this year. Sometime early this year, the Ladipo Market was shut by the state over the same complaints. It took the intervention of three South-Eastern governors before it was reopened.
The SUNDAY PUNCH correspondent had visited the shut market on Wednesday and the traders expressed their frustrations and helplessness at what they described “as the most critical period of the year, when we have a lot of financial obligations to take care of.” Even as the combined team of men from the Ministry of the Environment, Rapid Response Squad, Operation MESA, and Kick Against Indiscipline were keeping vigil at the market, the traders also gathered in groups, discussing their plight.
Some of them, who spoke under condition of anonymity, said their ordeal was caused by the Mushin Local Government. While some of them agreed that the allegations of dirty environment and the traffic gridlock on that axis were indeed true, they explained that they could not be blamed wholesale.
One of the traders, Simon Udenze, told SUNDAY PUNCH that there were so many interest groups in the market, which made central control a Herculean task. He stated that in the Memorandum of Understanding signed with the state government in February 2004, it clearly stated among others that only one side of the pedestrian walk way shall be used for parking of cars and vehicles. But this has been breached.
To this, Udenze stressed that there were some people and Area Boys, who allegedly enjoy, some political patronage and they claimed authority over some sections in the market. “Some of them make spurious claims that they are from the local government, some say they are from the state government, some even claim they are from the Federal Government. Some of these people will say vehicles should park anywhere, creating confusion in the market. And if we challenge them, they begin to threaten us that they will create a crisis, which will lead to the closure of the market. They will tell us that they have nothing to lose.”
With this helpless situation, Udenze told SUNDAY PUNCH that they wrote a letter to the Lagos State Ministry of the Environment on this unwholesome development, sometime in July 2008, but no action was taken.
While he agrees that the market needs to improve in the area of sanitation, Udenze explains that the traders are not solely responsible for the waste being deposited in the market. He points out that the people living in the environment contribute a substantial part of the waste. “We are not the only people generating the waste here, those living in this environment also contribute,” he said. He however reveals that they pay LAWMA a certain monthly fee to come and evacuate the waste, but he alleges that they do not come as and when due.
The traders are however counting their losses in millions of naira for the days the market has been shut. One of them, who simply gave his name as Nnamdi, informs SUNDAY PUNCH that the business transactions in the market on a daily basis run into billions of naira. “Many containers enter here almost on daily basis, bringing goods from overseas. A small boy here can be in control of 10 containers, and the closure has affected all that,” Nnamdi said.
Frederick Okocha, who deals in handsets and digital cameras and other accessories, is still counting his losses over the closure. “Within the days the market has been shut, I have lost close to N150,000. Though I did not have a shop, but I have small kiosk where I display my wares and I thank God, I have been able to make money to feed my family members,” he said.
Another trader who claims to be one of the heads of the sections in the market, Femi, also agrees that the road is always congested, but he asks for the help of the state to send in law enforcement agents, who will tow any vehicle that flouts traffic law in the market.
He is not too happy that the market was closed at this time of the year, when people are trying to make money and be able to take care of their families during the Yuletide season. He believes it is a wrong timing.
Again, Udenze aligns with Femi on this. “We need the state government’s assistance. We need them to help us identify all these people who are claiming to be from the local, state and Federal Government. Something must also be done about these Alaye Boys (miscreants).”
An official of the Ladipo Auto Central Executive Committee says it has reached an understanding with the Mushin LG in ensuring that the market is clean always and the road is free of traffic congestion, as soon as the market is reopened.
An attempt to get the chairman of the Mushin LG, Mr. Babatunde Adepitan, for his reaction on the allegations against the LG was not successful, as he was said to have gone for a meeting at the Governor’s Office when our correspondent visited his office.
His personal assistant promised that the chairman would call our correspondent as soon as he returned from the meeting, but he never called.
Meanwhile, all the kiosks and shanties in and around the market have been destroyed and burnt by the KAI agents. Several points where they were burnt were still noticeable on Wednesday.
It is not yet certain if Ladipo Market will retain its present state of cleanliness after it was reopened on Thursday.
