By Brown Chimezie
The president of Association of Progressive Traders, Trade Fair Complex, Mr. Eric Ifeanyichukwu Ilechukwu, has called on the Federal Government to address the issues of traffic gridlock along Badagry Expressway especially between Alakija and Barracks bus stops and also the opening of alternative routes in and out of the Trade Fair Complex to avoid the collapse of their business.
Ilechukwu who is also the chairman of Trade Fair Stake holders Forum, an umbrella body for all associations in Trade Fair Complex said this after taking the Oat of office recently for his second term as the president of the association.
His words: ‘’Coming into and leaving the Complex from Alakija end is hellish because of the traffic gridlock caused by the Trucks/Articulated vehicles parked along the expressway. A journey of 5-10 minutes now takes about 3-6hours. Moreover, the original plan of the Complex has about four alternative routes into and out of the complex. Not one of the routes has been accomplished and functional. Even the one we used our money to build has not been opened/commissioned by federal government.
‘’We are like caged/entrapped people which if not addressed immediately might lead to collapse of the entire business going on in the Complex. You can imagine the negative impact on the economy of Lagos and Nigeria in general in terms of loss of tax revenue and loss of jobs and other collateral issues’’, Mr. Ilechukwu lamented.
He further gave an insight into the danger posed by these challenges thus: ‘’Last time there was bomb blast around the complex we thanked God that it happened during the weekend and in the evening period otherwise the stampede alone would have caused huge loss of lives because of absence of alternative routes.
‘’At the moment, coming into the complex for business and leaving the complex after business takes you about 6hours because of the twin evil of gridlock outside the complex deplorable network of roads within the complex.
When we close business around 5p.m in the evening. It takes about 70minutes to drive to the main gate of the complex and enter the Badagry Expressway.
This should be happening to us because we pay our taxes to government. We pay tax when our goods are cleared at the ports. We pay tax also by way of ground rents here and other taxes. ‘’The Minister of Trade and Commerce was here some time ago and promised that Federal Government would look into our complaints but we are yet to witness any concrete steps towards addressing the traffic challenges here,’’ He revealed.
Speaking further about his re-election, Mr. Ilechukwu said he fulfilled all the promises he made while campaigning for the job four years ago hence his people voted overwhelmingly for him for the second term. Mr. Ilechukwu got 2036 votes while his opponent, Mr. Chris Okosa got 273 votes out of 2322 voters that participated in the election. He promised to do more because he has a plan to make the place the business hub of Africa. Other members of the executive who were also re-elected included: Mr. Ibedu Franklin, 1st vice president, Mr. Umeama Ozoemena, 2nd vice president, Mr. Peter Oraeki, Secretary, Mr. Chuka Mekaowulu, Public Relations Officer, etc.