Tears after bulldozer's rumble

Traders at Ajelogo Market, Mile 12, Lagos count losses following demolition by Task Force
By David Ibemere and Omowunmi Oluwatosin
WHEN Madam Jumai Ajani's telephone rang about 9.00 a.m. on Monday in Ilorin, Kwara State where she had gone to visit her parents, she was delighted when she realized it was her friend, Kehinde, calling from Lagos.

They were not only friends but they had shops in the same Ajelogo Market, Mile 12, in the Lagos Mainland.

But, whatever happiness she felt at first, vanished a few moments later.

"She did not even exchange greetings. She just shouted that my shops were demolished and that I should come back immediately to Lagos to see what was going on.

"I left whatever I had planned to do in Ilorin and came back to Lagos.

"I went straight to the market without reaching our house at Ilupeju, only to discover that, indeed, my three shops had been demolished."

For Madam Ajani and hundreds of other traders at the sprawling Ajelogo Market, the week could not have started on a worse note.

Their dreams of transacting business in the market, which some of them had owned shops and stalls in for over 15 years, had ended abruptly.

To worsen matters, many of them incurred huge losses running into hundreds of thousands.

Another trader, Badmus Ayawale told The Guardian he had two shops in which he sold general household goods and wondered how he was going to manage now that he had lost everything.

"I got my first shop three years ago and late last year, I moved into the second shop."

Though some officials sometimes came and threatened they would demolish the market, we continued to stay on.

"We have an association and they told us not to worry that they had taken care of the matter. We did not believe they would do it. Even last week, the rumour was rife that the market would soon be demolished.

"Some of us believed and began to gradually pack our goods out of the shops, but many did not believe the rumour.

"On Sunday morning, the Task Force accompanied by Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI) officials and armed policemen came with bulldozers and demolished the market."

An unhappy Ayawale said yesterday: "My life savings, all I had laboured for in years had been reduced to rubble."

Though the demolition started on Sunday, the arrival of the Task Force threw the market area into confusion, sending many people scampering for safety.

They were alarmed at the presence of a KAI truck that was brought along in which to take away those who might be arrested in the course of the exercise.

"Many people ran away because anybody the Task Force arrested for any reason would be in big trouble.

On Monday, the Task Force and KAI officials came back and continued from where they stopped.

Ordinary passers-by carefully avoided going near the market", another trader, Madam Moji, who sought told The Guardian yesterday.

But some of the traders were lucky to have been around on Sunday when the demolition started.

According to one of them, " A friend told me to go to the market early on Sunday and remove everything from my shop.

" I was loading the last items into the Pick-up Van when the Task Force arrived.

"To be fair, they waited for sometime to give those traders who heard about it the opportunity to remove whatever they wanted before the demolition.

That saved many from huge losses."

But not all of them were as lucky.

One such unfortunate trader was Lawal Wahid, who was about 25 metres away when the bulldozer tore the doors of one of his shops where he sold soft drinks.

His freezers and crates of bottles were destroyed.

He told The Guardian: "I was at Ibadan on Friday when I was told that the demolition was likely to take place anytime. I returned on Saturday evening and came to the market that Sunday morning only to watch the bulldozer demolish one of the shops

" I am a Federal civil servant and just before I was posted to Ibadan some years ago, I rented a shop in Ajelogo Market for my wife. Then, last year, I rented two others

"So much of our family income is largely from the shops. Now, all of that is gone. How do I feed my family with my meagre salary? How do I pay for the fees of my children, two of whom are in higher institutions?"

According to him, government has long informed them about the plan to demolish the market, " but the way it was carried out without prior notification is unfair.

The government cannot send us into the streets like that. They should please relocate us so that we can continue to carry on our legitimate businesses."

Most of the dislodged traders, yesterday, pleaded with the government to make life easier for them by finding an alternative place for them.

One of them, Mrs. Fumilayo Lawal, amidst tears bemoaned: "My children are back to school and my husband is not alive. How can I carry a family of six when I am not earning anything now? The only means through which I get money to pay for my children's school fees has been destroyed."

For Mallam Salisu Mohammed: "I know it is hard to get a shop to continue our business but we cannot stand in the way of development.

"News reached us that the market had been marked for demolition but when it would happen, we did not know," he said.

Some traders whose shops are located in those areas the bulldozer had not reached were yesterday, busy removing the roofing sheets and their goods.

Another trader, Olaolu Sampson, said: "We are not against the government plans but an alternative should have been provided."

A victim, Martha Oke, who rented a shop in the market a few months ago told The Guardian she never suspected the market was going to be demolished.

She said: "When she came to open for business on Monday morning; her pains could not be measured, as she saw the task force officials breaking down the walls of her shop.

"If only I knew, I would not have rented the shop. Now, who will give me a refund of the money I paid?"

A KAI officer who pleaded anonymity disclosed the market and its environs had become notorious for the recurrent crimes carried out in the area.

" Many times, residents had lodged reports of their bags and mobile telephone handsets being snatched from them by the hoodlums."

He also said the demolition was part of the Lagos State government's efforts to streamline the location of markets in the city.

"You can see the transformation that has taken place in Oshodi. The same will happen here.

"Also, it had come to the knowledge of the government that the traders were not willing to change their dirty habits and the government would have none of that.

"Our government has the interest of the people at heart and so is not interested in hurting Lagosians. But, what needs to be done in the overall interest of the majority of Lagosians must be done," he said.


http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/metro/article01//indexn2_html?pdate=100310&ptitle=Tears%20after%20bulldozer's%20rumble

It is a welcome development, as Nigerian markets are amongst the dirtiest in the world. It now depends whether due process was followed!.

i hope so; however i blame information miss road for this one.

Such an event should be very well publicised tru the radio stations and warn the traders to vacate.

Notices should have been passed to every one as to the time frame for demolition.

This hear say is not working. We must learn to be specific when info is passed.

Lagos Lagos, the shanty town is fast becoming a mega city.

asscend:

i hope so; however i blame information miss road for this one.

Such an event should be very well publicised tru the radio stations and warn the traders to vacate.

Notices should have been passed to every one as to the time frame for demolition.

This hear say is not working. We must learn to be specific when info is passed.

Lagos Lagos, the shanty town is fast becoming a mega city.

Sometimes, these people are given notice to pack and leave those areas, but they will never listen, because government does not take immediate action. Many at times, when a week's notice is given, it could take government 3 months, before action is finally taken. At that point, the traders would have thought government have forgiven them.

Say hello to walmart and other foreign grocery stores!!!

Well unfortunately, we do not have those super around, so we need a new Mile 12 market, because of its whole sale nature.

Oboma1:

Well unfortunately, we do not have those super around, so we need a new Mile 12 market, because of its whole sale nature.

This is not the popular Mile 12 Market where wholesale foodstuffs are sold. This one is to the right side of the overhead bridge and it is notorious for the unwholesome attitudes of social miscreants that abound in the place especially in the night.

people will always complain even when they were fore warned.

desgiezd:

This is not the popular Mile 12 Market where wholesale foodstuffs are sold. This one is to the right side of the overhead bridge and it is notorious for the unwholesome attitudes of social miscreants that abound in the place especially in the night.

Thanks for the correction.

This is long overdue.  Firstly they were given notice period I can confirm that though the time may not be enough but you know the attitude of our pple in situation like this dont always help govt in anyway.  That place for years has served as hideouts for armed robbers and police are aware of the for long.  These people come out in the night and robbed pple of thier belongings.  Anybody who is not in support of that exercise is an enemy of infrastructure development.  As I type this, I am presently in Abuja.  I know how some of the areas here were in the last 5-6 years.  I am telling you if El-Rufai had not taken such steps he took during that time, It will still remain shanties.

pls, anything we intend to do as a govt. pls, let it have human face. this is key because the tend not to see the long run effect especially in this part of the world

desgiezd:

This is not the popular Mile 12 Market where wholesale foodstuffs are sold. This one is to the right side of the overhead bridge and it is notorious for the unwholesome attitudes of social miscreants that abound in the place especially in the night.

Thanks for the timely clarification. Surely, you know the place.

Driving through that area to cut off the Kosofe and Mile 12 bus-stops is always a nightmare with those miscreants lurking around everywhere in those shops turned to living quarters.

jimmysho:

pls, anything we intend to do as a govt. pls, let it have human face. this is key because the tend not to see the long run effect especially in this part of the world

So what are you insinuating? Every individual leaving in akannimodo is an illegal occupant for years. They have perpetuated lots of atrocities over there, rapes, robberies, oil bunkery etc. Overtime, govt has given them notice to vacate but refused. Lets just try to to the right thing at appriopriate time. 100% in support of Lagos State Govt.

under the same market structure they found guns and weapons arm robbers use

Please let Him try and be providing alternative before destruction

The problem with most Nigerians is that we only see things from our own perspectives and support actions that either favour us or not directly affecting us.

One thing we should learn is that societies are built around people and not necessarily structures. Government should be about people and that is why democracy is defined as government of the people for the people by the people. The Lagos state government behaves as if they would not need the peoples vote to retain power in 2011.

Now i am not necessarily against demotions of slums and illegal structures per se, what i am against is carrying out such actions without making alternatives available to cushion the effect of such activities on people. People are still suffering from a similar demolition of Marako some twenty years after. This government had carried out similar demolitions all over lagos and rendered so many people Jobless, especially in the worsening economic climate people are facing today. When the government decides to embark on some palliatives by building shops, the government itself would price the shops beyond the people that were displaced in the first place. Yaba market is a typical example.

I am not making a case for illegal shops and structures, what i am making a case for is some kind of social responsibility from our governments.

Leaders like Awolowo and Jakande built houses, shops and schools for the poor in the society, even though they were poor construction, they were very useful to so many poor people in the society. Our present Governor believes in demolishing facilities for the poor like ramshackle schools and shops without providing alternatives.

To this governor, the poor should simply leave Lagos so he can embark on his Mega city project for the super rich.

wirinet:

The problem with most Nigerians is that we only see things from our own perspectives and support actions that either favour us or not directly affecting us.

One thing we should learn is that societies are built around people and not necessarily structures. Government should be about people and that is why democracy is defined as government of the people for the people by the people. The Lagos state government behaves as if they would not need the peoples vote to retain power in 2011.

Now i am not necessarily against demotions of slums and illegal structures per se, what i am against is carrying out such actions without making alternatives available to cushion the effect of such activities on people. People are still suffering from a similar demolition of Marako some twenty years after. This government had carried out similar demolitions all over lagos and rendered so many people Jobless, especially in the worsening economic climate people are facing today. When the government decides to embark on some palliatives by building shops, the government itself would price the shops beyond the people that were displaced in the first place. Yaba market is a typical example.

I am not making a case for illegal shops and structures, what i am making a case for is some kind of social responsibility from our governments.

Leaders like Awolowo and Jakande built houses, shops and schools for the poor in the society, even though they were poor construction, they were very useful to so many poor people in the society. Our present Governor believes in demolishing facilities for the poor like ramshackle schools and shops without providing alternatives.

To this governor, the poor should simply leave Lagos so he can embark on his Mega city project for the super rich.

Let Fashola worshippers catch you. You go know scores!.

There will be no stability until the government proceeds with a full slum clearance program simultaneously with the construction of millions of units of affordable housing.


Across the nation.

wirinet:

The problem with most Nigerians is that we only see things from our own perspectives and support actions that either favour us or not directly affecting us.

One thing we should learn is that societies are built around people and not necessarily structures. Government should be about people and that is why democracy is defined as government of the people for the people by the people. The Lagos state government behaves as if they would not need the peoples vote to retain power in 2011.

Now i am not necessarily against demotions of slums and illegal structures per se, what i am against is carrying out such actions without making alternatives available to cushion the effect of such activities on people. People are still suffering from a similar demolition of Marako some twenty years after. This government had carried out similar demolitions all over lagos and rendered so many people Jobless, especially in the worsening economic climate people are facing today. When the government decides to embark on some palliatives by building shops, the government itself would price the shops beyond the people that were displaced in the first place. Yaba market is a typical example.

I am not making a case for illegal shops and structures, what i am making a case for is some kind of social responsibility from our governments.

Leaders like Awolowo and Jakande built houses, shops and schools for the poor in the society, even though they were poor construction, they were very useful to so many poor people in the society. Our present Governor believes in demolishing facilities for the poor like ramshackle schools and shops without providing alternatives.

To this governor, the poor should simply leave Lagos so he can embark on his Mega city project for the super rich.

You got it all wrong.Its obvious from your assumptions that you didnt know the area demolished so well.
Ajelogo was a temporary market created to ease the pressure on Mile 12 Market.But it as now turned into armed robbers,assasins and hoodlums hide out.I used to visit a family friend very close to that area and its scary at night.
Most of the shops in the market as been turned into makeshift residence for these hoodlums and prostitutes.
It is a most welcomed development because the market has completely outlived its usefulness.
Making alternative for Ajelogo is like creating another slum-market.
The best thing to do is to demolish the market as it is and construct a befitting international market that will have alll security dtails,

olafolarin:

You got it all wrong.Its obvious from your assumptions that you didnt know the area demolished so well.
Ajelogo was a temporary market created to ease the pressure on Mile 12 Market.But it as now turned into armed robbers,assasins and hoodlums hide out.I used to visit a family friend very close to that area and its scary at night.
Most of the shops in the market as been turned into makeshift residence for these hoodlums and love-peddlers.
It is a most welcomed development because the market has completely outlived its usefulness.
Making alternative for Ajelogo is like creating another slum-market.
The best thing to do is to demolish the market as it is and construct a befitting international market that will have alll security dtails,

Your above post confirm the very first sentence of my last post;

The problem with most Nigerians is that we only see things from our own perspectives and support actions that either favour us or not directly affecting us.

You are looking at the issue from how you were scared at night on going to visit your friend close to the area.

The issues you raised are numerous;

First you stated that it was meant to be a temporary market to ease of the pressure on mile 12 market, so in effect the use of the area as a temporary market had some government backing or at worst the knowledge of the government. So we is the permanent market and how long was the temporary arrangement support to last.

Then you stated that the shops had been turned to make shift residence, so is that not an indictment on the government on the need to provide affordable housing for its people,even if it is one room apartments or even face-me-i-face-you housing. Do you thing any normal human being would be happy sleeping in a 10m² shop with not sanitary facilities and running water? Forget the fact that the people are very poor, they are still humans like you and me and so deserve some measure of consideration. And besides, you will be surprised at the rent being paid for these shops accommodations.

Then you stated that the place had been turned into a hide out for armed robbers,assassin and hoodlums. So you telling me that every body that stayed there was either a robber, an assassin or a hoodlum. That is the overstatement of the century, it is similar to saying that all Nigerians are terrorists because one of us was caught trying to blow up a US bound plane. If you read newspaper reports you will discover that a lot of people actually use the shops to sell and store goods as a lot of people lost their goods to the demolition exercise, while lots of others evacuated their goods in time.

I am sure that a few shops are being used as a hide out, but to label the whole area a hide out is a bit of an exaggeration. If it was so then nobody would be able to pass under the mile 12 bridge or mile 12 area itself, after 9:00pm. I stay in Ikorodu so i pass by mile 12 everyday and sometimes as late as 11:00pm and i had never had any incident.

Now even if i agree with you that the whole area is a hide out, then is demolishing the place and releasing assassins, robbers and hoodlums the most appropriate solution to a socio-economic problem. Will the displacing of the social miscreants make them disappear from the face of the earth or even Lagos. The government would only succeed in distributing the miscreants around the city, because they would look for another hide out. A government that understands its social responsibility would tackle the issues creating the miscreants in the first place, like lack of affordable housing, high levels of unemployment by young able youths, zero levels of social services like cheap medical care, free or cheap education, cheap transportation, etc.

I am sure most of the people staying in the slum are people serving serving the market, like "alabarus" (people who load things on their heads), agberos, petty traders, etc, who cannot afford the high transportation costs of coming from elsewhere.

Yes the best thing is to construct a a befitting international market that will have all security details, but it has to be within the reach of the mile 12 traders. And it should have been built before the demolition exercise.

@Wirinet, you dont know 'nadaaaa' about crime in lagos and environs.im sure u r one of the ikorodu natives who come to lagos once in awhile.i know a couple who had a flat tyre @ the afore mrntioned market;they were not just robbed the hoodlims took two of their tyres away. so shut up and get a life!

My apolologies to wirinet. my intial comment goes to OLAFOLARIN THE IKORODU BOY

since the day Oshodi and Mushin market were leveled,that gave me the mentality that If you receive any notice from this lagos govt then take them seriously.

I live in ketu(tipper garrage axis).
some shops in my area have been given notices os demolition and they been instructed to vacate the illegal roadside structures since last week.yet none of them has flinched.
I just hope they are able to move as soon as possible.
when i enquired from one of them she said she was aware of the notice.but alas she is still staying put as at the time i typed this.

usbcable:

since the day Oshodi and Mushin market were leveled,that gave me the mentality that If you receive any notice from this lagos govt then take them seriously.

I live in ketu(tipper garrage axis).
some shops in my area have been given notices os demolition and they been instructed to vacate the illegal roadside structures since last week.yet none of them has flinched.
I just hope they are able to move as soon as possible.
when i enquired from one of them she said she was aware of the notice.but alas she is still staying put as at the time i typed this.

Then, why are they crying foul? Nigerians will never stop to complain.

These are actions that must be taken for city to be called a city.There must be some kind of controlled sanity,order,responsibilities and decency

Petty trade is the highest employer of labour in a country where the Government has simply refused to create jobs.

I think its time for Government to turn the page on its treatment of traders. Go around the world small businesses get support from Government but in ours are they get nothing but disdain in a country where there is no welfare safety net or second chance if you fail.

You do not fight crime by putting more people out of work.

Did Government try to relocate any of these people? or Find them an alternative?

mikeansy:

Petty trade is the highest employer of labour in a country where the Government has simply refused to create jobs.

I think its time for Government to turn the page on its treatment of traders. Go around the world small businesses get support from Government but in ours are they get nothing but disdain in a country where there is no welfare safety net or second chance if you fail.

You do not fight crime by putting more people out of work.

Did Government try to relocate any of these people? or Find them an alternative?

Even if that was given, they will all ignore it.
I do agree that petty trading is a source of employing oneself, however, there is a need for govt to look into how safe they were, i remember in those days, how people used to run when the train is coming in oshodi at the sound of the honks of the trains, and one second after the train has passed, they are back on the track again . . . . .Imagine a train without a honk, what would have happened, in a nation that nothing works and nothing is being maintained.
I am sure they will still blame the govt if train misharp happens.
It is sad that they have to find a way to make a living, but i think it is necessary

Fhemmmy:

Even if that was given, they will all ignore it.
I do agree that petty trading is a source of employing oneself, however, there is a need for govt to look into how safe they were, i remember in those days, how people used to run when the train is coming in oshodi at the sound of the honks of the trains, and one second after the train has passed, they are back on the track again . . . . .Imagine a train without a honk, what would have happened, in a nation that nothing works and nothing is being maintained.
I am sure they will still blame the govt if train misharp happens.
It is sad that they have to find a way to make a living, but i think it is necessary

Fhemmmy, I think you still do not get it. You have this notion like Nigeria's elite, that poverty is a kind of mental illness and so poor people must be expunged from the society. Every society has its poor and the strength of a society is measured by how it treats its poor and weak (widows orphans and unemployed).

So you think the people selling on rail tracks have some form of mental illness by facing oncoming trains probably without good brakes day in day out, in order to make a living?. You put all the blame on the poor for devising innovative but dangerous means of survival. These people you look at as" them" are people like you and deserves to live like a human being.

Do you think that if government is alive to its social responsibilities by providing cheap lock up shops, that the people will embark on suicidal missions every day?

The primary aim of Government should be to provide for the masses and not for the well to do, who does not need government anyway.

The actions of Fashola might seem pretty harsh but i can put my money down and bet that these people had been given several notices before hand but as typical Nigerians, they refused to comply.Instead, they will go to meet the low lifes in the ministries to bribe them forgetting that the order is from above and when the time comes, it's those same people who they gave bribes that will come with bulldozers to carry out their assignments.For example, i reside in Amuwo Odofin (raji rasaki estate).There are a lot of shops along the road that shouldnt be there in the first place coz this whole area was planned out as an "upper middle class" area and the shops are fast becoming an eyesore.Govt has given these people notice and more notices since October last year but they still stay put.Their kiosks have also been marked but they will not believe until the destruction team comes along and then, they start acting like victims.

I feel sorry for them but they knew it would happen sooner or later.

@all: u all hv said ur says none of u hv bn totally rit/wrong. 4 those who r in support of d demolition ex citing d crime rate in d area, I say:puttn more people in2 d already oversaturated labor market/streets/in2 all sorts of vices due 2 joblessness reduce or increase d crime rate? of wht use is a "Mega City" to a hungry man who cannot afford d barest necessities of life? d "mega city" in question,is it made 4 d people or d people wr made 4 mega city?would u not prefer 2 live in slum n b able 2 afford d basic necessities of life dn 2 stay wretched in a mega city? d truth is dt our governments hv shown how cluelesss dy r about d needs of d people. b4 talkn bout infrastructural dev., basic necessities /amenities hv 2 b in place.and is it a question of servn them a notice ?whr dy given affordable alternatives n they refused 2 move? cuz d point is we as a nation always r d looser when governments r reckless in dr duties.Economically can u quantify wht d nation has lost as a result? Law abiding citizens will hv 2 sleep wt 1 eyse open cuz tnx 2 fashola, we now hv more hoodlums roamn d streets.wt notn lik social security in Nigeria, it is a receipe 4 disaster .of course d very rich can afford 2 hv/or assigned security details 2 guard them.so effectively, dz people r unleashed on still d hapless masses.And I ask;r all dz a worthy price
2 pay 4 "development "??

I support wirinet totally.

The Lagos state govt. has failed lagosians a great deal. They have used our resources against us, to affect us.

If you say they give them notices, to do what?, to leave a place they eat from?, where will they go to, ?, Please answer me?,

Rather the govt. will waste money on flowers that die, rather than develop its people.

If you ever lived in lagos, check your lineage, someone from your family must have sold on the street, and will have gotten you to where you are today. It's etiher your grandmother, or grandfather.

If they didn't get that chance to sustain, will you be here?, This Fashola Govt. needs to leave govt. house in 2011. We need a more compasionate govt., A govt. that understands that even when there's crisis in American banks, they didn't just close the banks, they pumped money to improve it, so that the people that not only work there, but the millions of americans won't be affected. WE NEED SUPPORT. we don't need criticism. We are not animals, we shouldn't be treated as one.