The Sun News Online

The Balogun Business Association Market, (BBA), Trade Fair Complex, Lagos, has now grown to an international market. Before the market was relocated from Lagos Island to the Trade fair Complex, the place was a no-go area for responsible people, as armed robbers and thugs use the place as their hideout. But now, the place attracts businessmen from all over Africa and Asian countries.

Okey Ezeibe, a native of Ihiala in Imo State and maiden chairman, Board of Trustees, BBAM, lays claim to the relocation of the new market. According to him, he relocated the market to its present place and built it to its current enviable status in the African sub region.

Occasioning the purported concession of the market to some private people, Okey spoke passionately about the market, vowing that rather than accede to conceding the market to any businessman, he was prepared to fight to the end.
He spoke to Daily Sun in his office at the market recently.

Why we relocated
Actually, the Balogun Business Association Market was formally located on the Lagos Island. In 1996, the menace of street urchins in Lagos, popularly known as “area boys” became so huge a hinderance to commerce and trade that matters ultimately came to an end and we felt we had to move away to avert possible afray, which may prove costly to all concerned. The molestation of the street urchins, who called themselves, ”omo onile” as so unbearable as they impose arbitrary levies on traders and customers at will.

They virtually held us hostage in a city where there are law enforcement agents. Besides the area boys, the issue of housing is another source of trauma to business people in Lagos. Things were so bad that the landlords or landladies literally became gods and goddesses. They increase house or shop rent at will, without recourse to any guiding law or ethic. It was like business people in Lagos were held in choking grips by these people because we were trading on their soil. Things ultimately became tough and I organized some of our boys to resists the areas boys and meet force when their rights was threatened or infringed upon. So, we called their bluff that day.

But rather than learn their lesson and let us be, they regrouped and came back with greater force to attack us with broken bottles, machetes and other cudgels. Well, we are determined to hold our own and so reason flew and temper busted, we confronted ourselves eyeball to eyeball and Lagos virtually came to a standstill as everyone scampered to safety. Suddenly, the law enforcement agency woke up from their strange stupor, and the then Assistant Inspector General of Police, (AIG) in charge of Zone 2, Ali Jos, intervened. He held meetings with us and advised us that to find lasting peace to the perennial harassment of the street boys, we need to relocate our market to a more spacious, conducive or rather, a “virgin place” within Lagos. We put heads together and searched around until we decided that the Trade Fair complex would be ideal.

We built it
Really, we contributed money to build the place. The gigantic structure you see in that place today came about from our self-help efforts. If you know what it means to put up a structure in Lagos, you will agree with me that it is not a tea party. We first of all battled and flushed out armed robbers who were using the place as hideouts. Another huddle is relocating people from the Island to such a far distance. You know what it means for a trader to leave a place where he has been enjoying good business for over 15 years and go to a “virgin,” virtually unknown place.

Moreover, because we pay rents in advance to Shylock landlords in Lagos, some of the traders have already paid lease on their shop up till about 50 years. So, we had to persuade and convince them of the benefit derivable in the move to the Trade fair complex. Some of them agree to move reluctantly because Lagos Island was a gold mine to traders, but for the menace of the street urchins, who sometimes inflict body wounds on people in demonstration of their mindless aggression. So, it was a herculean task, getting many of the traders to move out to the new place.