The President-General of Alaba International Amalgamated Council of Sectional heads and the International Market Association Electronics (IMAE), Camilus Amajuoyi, has revealed how some owners of shops demolished by the Lagos State government died due to the trauma caused by the loss of their livelihood and how others have developed terminal illnesses after the shock they suffered from the devastation.

Speaking to the Daily Sun, Amajuoyi claimed that the demolition was done because of vested interests and that the Lagos State agency in charge of buildings have admitted that the actions were carried out in error. He urged the government to compensate the victims of the demolition.

He also spoke on how his administration has been able to rid the market of louts that had been terrorising traders and steps they have taken to provide stable power supply.

Flushing out louts, providing stable power supply, fooding

Since I assumed office as the president of IMAE in October 2022, it has been challenging, but it is the passion that I have for the market that is seeing me through. I see Alaba market as a sick child that must not die but survive and flourish. So, no matter the obstacles, we keep on pushing.

My vision when I was elected was to complete a lot of projects and by the grace of God and help from my team, within one year and seven months of our coming on board, we have solved a lot of the problems that were confronting us. One of them was the issue of louts that were terrorising us here in the market. But through concerted efforts, we have driven the them out of the market that now Alaba has become very conducive for everybody to come and do his or her business without any fear of extortion, harassment and intimidation.

The other one was the issue of electricity. We have now introduced what is known as load shedding, which means that by 5pm every day, all the traders in the market would remove their fuses and change over to solar energy. This has helped to guard against fire outbreak and ensure uninterrupted power supply in the market. There is also another issue that has existed in the market for decades now, which is flooding. We have decided to deal permanently with it and we are now constructing a drainage that would be taking all the floods in the market away. The drainage is of the Julius Berger standard and we are building it with the specification of Lagos government, and it has cost the market over N50million.

Security

Since I became the president, I have worked on beefing up the security and we are collaborating with the police, the army and the Department of State Security(DSS) to achieve this, which is why we no longer have cases of breaking of shops, warehouses and so on.

My vision is to reposition the Alaba market. Before we came on board, people were using umbrellas as shops, and that was defacing the market, but we have ordered them to remove them so that the architectural design of the market will be seen. We are also digitalising the market to conform with international standards, so our one and half year in office is a success and I am sure that no administration before us has achieved what we achieved within a short time.

Demolition of shops

I want to say without mincing words that the demolition was done because of vested interests and not because the shops were near the canal. Even the Lagos State agency in charge of buildings has admitted that the demolitions were carried out in error. As I speak, some of the owners of the demolished shops have died heart- broken because they lost their only means of livelihood. Some are bedridden because of hypertension induced stroke. Some of them, their children have stopped schooling because they can no longer afford tuition fees. So, I am pleading with the Lagos government to compensate the victims of the demolitions because they are going through hell. Their shops were demolished simply because some people want a road into their business premises and never because the shops were built near the canal. So, they deserve to be compensated so that they would return back to their businesses.

Access road

I want to thank Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu for doing a wonderful job in the state. When he was campaigning for his second term of office, he came to Alaba and we assured him of support, which we fulfilled. So, I want to use this medium to let him know that the main access road to Alaba has become a death trap. Cars are getting stuck in potholes on the road and even trailers conveying containers to the market swing from one side to the other, which is very risky. We are begging him to come and help us to fix the road. Alaba is generating billions of naira in revenue for the state government and as such, should not be left in a deplorable state. We have gone to the chairman of Ojo Local government and he told us that the road is a state and he cannot do anything about it. I want to plead that if they dont have the resources to reconstruct the road, they should at least rehabilitate it by filling the potholes it in order to make it motorable. The rainy season is almost here and if nothing is done pretty soon, the road would become impassable.

We are also appealing to the member representing Ojo in the Lagos State House of Assembly to help us in this regard.

Leadership tussle

Some faceless individuals who have no stake in the market took my administration to court. One of them doesnt even have a shop in the market. Another thing is that none of them participated in the election that brought the present executive to the office, so what is the purpose of their going to court? But we understand that they are being used by some people to foment trouble in the market and to cause disaffection. (Daily Sun)