Recently, Nigerian shoppers have complained about their experiences at Nigerian malls. Sited as a place for bespoke commercial activities, some people have turned certain areas in the malls, especially car parks into venues for unwholesome activities. Rotimi Ige, who witnessed some of these scenarios recently chronicles his experience, among other narratives.

Before the concept of shopping malls became physical in Nigeria, most shoppers had sourced their daily needs from supermarkets, shopping complexes and neighbourhood markets. There weren’t many outlets where you could buy almost every need, except public markets. However, with exposure to worldly trends higher earning and buying power among the ever growing Nigerian population, forward thinking business owners put forward the idea of building a one-stop shopping experience venue and in 2004, the first shopping mall was unveiled in Lagos.

Its instant acceptance and consequent success would spur other investors to build more malls across Nigeria, thus introducing Nigerians to a variety of much-needed goods and services, all in one spot. Not only did businesses thrive owing to the heavy footfall of patrons who thronged the malls, it became common to see families throng the malls, especially on Sundays to bond, while shopping or eating at the various food courts.

While the malls enjoyed patronage and huge turnout of people on its various locations for years, various factors are now contributing to lower patronage and even shop ownership. Friday Treat had, last weekend, visited a mall along Ring Road, Ibadan to attend an event at the cinemas and was shocked at some discoveries witnessed there.

Being a Sunday, the mall in Ibadan, like most malls around Nigeria, was filled. The children’s play area at the expansive car park was a beehive of activities and parents were seen at various stands trying to get their children spots on the rides and swings. Moving away from the play area and trying to navigate around the car park was tedious, as a huge crowd of youths were milling around, taking pictures, playing music from portable devices etc. After successfully finding a parking spot, immediately I alighted from my car, I was accosted by a young man who asked if I was interested in buying anything. Surprised by his question, I enquired what the young man was marketing and to my shock and dismay, he opened a small bag to reveal some items, later discovered to be called ‘Molly’ and ‘colos’. I quickly dismissed him and made my way into the mall, but not without observing various groups of young men and women smoking, taking energy drinks and generally having a good time leaning on various parked cars.

Inside the mall, the foyers were also filled people mostly between the ages of 15 and 25, walking around, taking pictures and videos and not necessarily shopping. Such noise alone, for Chuka Okwudile, who spoke to Friday Treat, is one of the reasons he avoids some malls, especially on weekends.

“I always dread going to the mall now in Ibadan. One of the most popular ones in Ibadan is now something else. You see hundreds of young people, with no particular interest in buying anything from the shops, moving around and creating chaos everywhere. They will bump into you without apology, take pictures at random without consent and even beg you for money at times. One girl approached me about a month ago asking for money. She looked so rough and disheveled with heavy make up so early in the morning that I wondered where she was coming from. She kept pestering me until I called out to one of the security guys at the entrance before she scampered. If I don’t need anything urgently now at the mall, I avoid going there”, he said.

Olasina Ajanaku said he has stopped visiting the mall frequently with his family because of what he labeled as ‘obscenities’. Speaking to Friday Treat, he said, “It is sad the rate at which morality is going to the gutters with our younger generation. Visiting the mall with my family used to be a favourite pastime but that is no longer so. The last time I visited the mall with my wife and children, we left abruptly owing to the obscene manner most of the youth dressed and acted in broad daylight. I was shocked to see young boys in torn jeans, sagging so low that their bottoms were in full display, smoking, drinking and frolicking with ladies openly in the car park, the young ladies were in some form of unannounced nudity contest, with most wearing very daring clothing. My wife insisted that we leave immediately. Since then, I haven’t visited the mall with family. It’s appalling that many of our youths prefer to be seen ‘enjoying’ and having fun all the time on social media, generally living the ‘fake’ life when they should be focused on getting good education or acquiring skills for the future. I have seen same carefree attitudes in malls across Lagos, Ibadan and Abuja. I am afraid for the future generations,” he said.

Due to the large numbers of people in the mall daily, it is natural that there is pressure on adequate security. For Nonso Chukwuemeka, security concerns have made him stay away from the mall at night following a nasty experience he had last year.

“I have stopped going to the mall at night especially in Ibadan. I experienced a nasty episode one a particular night after leaving one of the lounges. As I walked to my car, a fight broke out among some boys at the parking lot and in the frenzy, a young man approached me with a piece of broken bottle and asked for my phone. I initially thought he was joking but when he asked a second time and moved menacingly towards me, I realised he was serious. Knowing that there was a police container stationed at a section of the car park, I ran towards it shouting and the boy fled. That was how I escaped being robbed that day. Since then, I have minimised my night visits to the mall in certain cities” he said.

Speaking on the issue of security, a policeman attached to Palms mall, Ibadan who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that there were no lapses in keeping the premises safe. He said, “Since we were drafted here, we have ensured that we provide 24-hour security. We stay on the premises and take shifts to keep the peace. It is true that many people come to the mall to kill time and may constitute a nuisance at times but the mall authorities have put in place adequate measures to tackle such. Once we are alerted, we quickly nip any untoward occurrence in the bud”.

When asked about the situation where narcotics were openly sold in car parks and around the toilet areas, he declined comment.

Another respondent, Aminat Shuaibu, expressed dissatisfaction with the way young ladies freely sell their bodies at the mall, especially at night.

She said, “I know that the economy is hard, but the way some ladies openly solicit men and sell their bodies at the mall nowadays is disheartening. My brother has been solicited numerous times by young ladies that should ordinarily still be under the supervision of their parents. It is now commonplace to see young girls skimpily clad, hanging around the car parks at malls preying on any man walking alone. I have even seen people having casual sex in cars at the mall.

My brother was ‘accosted’ many times by young girls not more than 22 years for ‘assistance’ or ‘quickies’ for money. I remember a day he was waiting for me in the car one evening earlier this year at a mall in Ibadan. He said that some ladies stood by our car and because it was tinted, they didn’t see that anyone was inside. They proceeded to change their clothes right there, using the car as a block. When one of the three girls noticed that the engine was running, she walked to the driver’s side window and knocked. When he rolled the window down, she asked if he liked what he saw and would want a taste. He declined and rolled back up. She waited for a few minutes before rejoining her friends and they walked towards the main mall entrance, laughing. My brother has told me that he has been solicited by such ladies more than four times at different areas at the mall. I feel ashamed for these young guys who would rather sell their bodies cheaply than eke a living legitimately”, she said.

One would think that, with the large number of footfall at the malls, the shop owners would be making a healthy profit daily. However, investigations revealed that each month, many of them were becoming discouraged because of low patronage, especially in Ibadan. A few who spoke to Friday Treat said that though the mall experienced heavy presence of people daily, it didn’t reflect in sales, save a few outlets like the supermarket chains or fast food courts.

“We are not making any profits based on the huge number of people at the mall especially on weekends”, Mary Akinbowale, a mall store attendant told Friday Treat. “Many just come here to take pictures and waste time. They hardly buy much, mostly alcohol and energy drinks and move around the fancy stores, taking pictures and videos for social media. We end up cleaning our floors after them regularly without making sales. However, we cannot stop anyone from coming in. It is just discouraging seeing how many people just come to the mall to constitute a nuisance to legitimate shoppers”, she said.

While many may be discouraged from visiting the malls for their daily needs, online vendors have witnessed an increase in patronage over the years, gaining investor confidence. Many respondents also stressed that they had turned to online shopping for their needs. According to them, once they tried an online vendor and he/she delivered accordingly, they had stuck to online shopping instead of going to the mall.

Olasina Ajanaku said, “Since I cannot take my family to the mall anymore, I have resorted to shopping online. Funny enough, I get better deals online and my goods are delivered swiftly. My children even prefer to shop from the convenience of our home because they like the variety of options they can pick from online. We are happy with shopping from Instagram now”, he said.

When Friday Treat reached out to some of the mall management in Ibadan and Lagos, the most complained-about cities, most declined comments. One of the managers, who spoke on condition of anonymity said, “We have heard your complaints and are working on it”. (Nigerian Tribune)

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