Vincent Kalu
Following the partial reopening of markets in Lagos, Ndigboamaka, an umbrella body of 58 market associations and professionals in the state, said it has been monitoring strict compliance with the guidelines instituted by the state government to curtail the COVID-19 pandemic.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu had ordered the closure of all markets effective March 26. The markets were reopened on May 4.
Ndigboamaka recently visited the Alaba International Market, Ojo, as part of its monitoring and sensitization programme.
Right now, everyone, whether trader or visitor, coming inside the market must wear a face mask. Each shop has at its entrance hand sanitizers and a bucket of water fitted with tap for customers to wash their hands. Unlike what obtained in the past, it is now one customer at a time per shop. Alaba has 13 sections, and each section has a task force monitoring the observance of the guidelines.
Ndigboamaka’s president, Dr. Jude Ringo Okeke, who met with leaders of various sections of the market, said the market leaders had met with the Lagos State governor before the markets were reopened. They had assured the governor that they would ensure that their members complied with the directives on how to contain the deadly pandemic, he noted.
“We have been moving round to ensure compliance,” he said. “For over 10 days now, on the alternate days that we are allowed to trade, we have been visiting various markets. We have visited many sections in Alaba, including the Electronics Section, and from what we have seen, we can say without equivocation that the traders are complying 100 per cent with the government’s order.
“We have seen that the traders are observing social distancing; we saw that each shop owner provided water and sanitizers for customers. We also saw customers waiting to be attended to, one after the other. We saw both traders and visitors wearing facemasks.”
The national coordinator of the group, Nze Basil Osuokwu, was full of praises for both the market leadership and the traders for adhering to the directives of the government. He said the governor would be satisfied with the level of compliance.
He reminded the traders that COVID-19 was a war, noting that everyone must be involved in the fight.
Chairman of the Electronics Section, Paulius Ugochukwu, explained how the Alaba market leadership was able to ensure a high compliance level, including setting up task forces. According to him, hand washing, use of hand sanitizers and compulsory use of face masks were made mandatory.
“We also made it mandatory that there shouldn’t be more than three persons in a shop at a time. And everybody is obeying,” he added.
But Ugochukwu regretted that many of the members suffered incalculable losses as a result of the lockdown. He said they did not receive any assistance from any government, although he was hopeful that help would still come.
According to him, the Cental Bank of Nigeria had been asking people to come for loans, but no government official had approached the traders and businessmen on how to shoulder the loss they incurred during the period.
“The relaxation of the lockdown has brought a sigh of relief to our members, and our people are happy. In the market, we have so many poor people. For the past two weeks, we have been busy distributing palliatives to the poor and vulnerable among us. Since the day the market was locked, nobody had access to the market, and so those who depended on daily pittance have been the worst it. Even with the alternate days for opening, that is three days in a week, we are still very happy.
“We are law-abiding people, and everybody knows that coronavirus is a deadly disease and they are doing everything possible to make sure that they don’t contract it. The mad rush to enter the market is a thing of the past. Now, everybody is afraid, as you don’t know who is a carrier. So, we are obeying all the government’s directives.
“In all, we thank God that there has never been a reported case of the disease in the market. We believe the disease will go the same way it came. The emergency number to call in case of a suspected case is with us and whenever we notice such, we will call the number,” he said.
He appealed to government to help the businessmen, who he said have been losing a lot of money: “If government can give us soft loans, it is going to help us because many of us have goods at the seaports, but there is no money to clear them. We urgently need help from the government.”
Chairman of electrical section, Fabian Ezeorjika, commended members of Ndigboamaka for their painstaking efforts at traversing the major markets in Lagos to ensure compliance with the state government’s directives on containing COVID-19.
“This high level of compliance will endear Governor Sanwo-Olu to completely remove the lockdown,” he noted.w