Strike: Business Activities Resume In Mararaba

Commercial activities have fully returned to Mararaba, a suburb of Abuja, four day into the nationwide strike by the labour and civil society groups over the removal of petrol subsidy.

A correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that shop owners at the Mararaba Shopping Complex and its environs have started normal businesses.

Also, shop owners at the Mararaba Building Materials market have equally opened their shops for normal business transactions.

Road side sellers of yams, fresh tomatoes, pepper, second hand clothes, popularly known as “Okrika”, shoes and hawkers of soft drinks and sachet water are fully back in business.

Mr. Ifeanyi Eze, a dealer in textile materials at the Mararaba Shopping Complex, told NAN that he was fully back to his business because “the strike cannot solve the problem.”

“Those who called people out on strike cannot feed us and our children,” he said, adding that “schools will soon reopen and if we don’t open our shops and make some sales, how do we pay their fees.”

“We are supposed to give the government a chance of about three months, and if they don’t fulfill their promises over the fuel subsidy removal, then we can talk of strike.

“The strike does not favour the private business people. We lost the whole period they forced us to close our shops on Monday.

“Let labour go and dialogue with the Federal Government which has already spelt out the benefits of the oil subsidy removal,’’ Eze said.

Mr. Emeka Ayogu, the Manager of a cosmetics shop in the shopping complex, told NAN that “I did not close my shops right from the first day of the strike on Monday, but the business is dull”.

Ayogu said that he did not see any reason why labour and its allies should not listen and accept the President’s palliative measures and give peace a chance.

“I am on my own, subsidy or no subsidy, the labour people are not those feeding me and my family”, he stressed, adding, “majority of those protesting don’t even know the meaning of subsidy, they are only being used out of ignorance”.

Malam Isah Kabiru, a dealer in assorted lace and wrapper materials at the Mararaba garage, told NAN that he did not support the strike “because of my business”.

“Some people just came around 9.00 a.m. on Monday and ordered us not to display our wares for sale because there is strike and we did not know them or where they came from”, he stated.

“We just saw them as miscreants who have taken the advantage of the situation to cause mischief, so we just closed our shops and sat back to watch the development.

“The security men were on top of the situation because they patrolled everywhere around Mararaba and its environs and we commend them.

“But today, I have to display my wrappers for my customers and the atmosphere here is calm, strike or no strike.

“This is just the beginning of the year and business is always dull, so it is wrong for anybody to force us to close our business for any reason whatsoever,’’ Kabiru said. (NAN)