Nigerian Traders Urge Fashola On Sanitation Laws

Some small scale traders in Lagos have appealed to the state government to give them concessions in the implementation of the state environmental laws.

The traders made the appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday. They said that they expected Governor Babatunde Fashola to give them “special treatment“ in the implementation of his policies in 2013.

Mr. Ugochukwu Ekeleme, Chairman of a section of the Central Yaba Market Association, told NAN that policies of Lagos State government did not favour small scale traders in 2012.

“We are begging the Lagos State Government to consider small scale and petty traders in their decisions as regards trading this year.

“Government should find a way of monitoring the law enforcement agents whose jobs are to arrest traders without shops for displaying their wares and obstructing free flow of traffic.

“Much as we respect what they do, many of them seize the opportunity to violate us and extort money from these poor traders, “ he said.

Mr. Thomas Okon, a trader at the Yaba Market, said that the State Government should provide shops at cheap rates to them so that they would not violate sanitation laws. He said that it was necessary for government to make adequate provisions for displaced traders from road sides and unauthorised selling points.

Mr. Ugonna Lucky, a trader in Kotangowa Market, told NAN that many of them were afraid over the rumour that Fashola was going to close down the market.

“We have been sleeping with one eye open since we have been hearing that the government is planning to evacuate us from here. “If it is true, then many of us will groan under hunger and poverty this year. “And it is as if the newly constructed shopping complexes are made for the rich alone,“ he said.

Mr. Charles Eze, a dealer in curtain materials in Yaba Market, said that it was now very exorbitant to rent government’s shops, adding that such a situation was bad. He said that the situation with many traders in Lagos was bad in 2012 due to many of the state’s policies. Eze said that better living standard for average Nigerians ought to be a pivotal agenda of any government and this should not be sacrificed in an attempt to build a mega city. Mrs. Wuraola Anibilowo, a vegetable seller at Oyingbo Market, called on the State Government to provide more tricycles and buses for small scale traders.

“Since motorcycles, popularly called okada, have been banned from the state’s highways, transportation of our goods has become a bit difficult for us. “We urge the government to provide more vehicles this New Year so that we can effectively run our businesses,“ she said. Anibilowo said: “we also desire loans from microfinance banks with low interest rates.”