Traders in Alaba International Market have commended the governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu on his promise to complete the currently abandoned Lagos-Badagry Expressway before the end of the year.

Recall that Sanwo-Olu had said while inspecting the 10-lane road project that his administration would complete the road from Maza-Maza to Okokomaiko before the end of the year.

Reacting to this developmemt, the Vice Chairman, International Market Association Electronics (IMAE), Chief Camilus  Amajuoyi described Governor Sanwo-Olu as the one God has sent to ameliorate the suffering of the traders making use of the road.

According to him, for the governor to inspect the road barely two days after  his swearing-in showed that he is truly a listening leader.

He said that Sanwo-Olu has shown that he is not a man of rhetoric, but man of action.

Chief Amajuoyi pointed out that the Lagos-Badagry expressway has become a stumbling block to Igbo importers whose containers fall on a daily basis  on the road.

He, therefore, said that with Sanwo-Olu as the new governor of Lagos State, there appears to be  light at the end of the tunnel.

“I want to say that the man who would rescue Igbo businessmen and women from bondage has come. My people say that it is from morning that we would have an idea of what the day would be like. By coming to inspect the Lagos-Badagry Expressway barely 48 hours after taking oath of office  shows a man who is ready to address the plight of the masses living or doing business in the area  because there is no type of appeal that we did not make to the immediate past administration, but our pleas fell on deaf ears.

“Millions of naira are being wasted on the road on a daily basis because our containers usually fall on the road. Even trailer drivers hardly agree to ply the road and for them to go, they would triple the cost. I am, therefore, using this medium to appeal to all Lagosians to give maximum support to the Sanwo-Olu led administration. He is going to make Lagos State a better place for us all. He had started well and I know that he is going to end on a flying note,” Amajuoyi said.

Also contributing, the Public Relations Officer of the association, Maduabuchi Adiukwu, said that the inspection by the governor has given them new hope.

He disclosed  that the mood of the traders in the market have changed for the better.

His words: “To be honest with you. Alaba traders are already celebrating. The state of hopelessness which we found ourselves varnished immediately after we received the news of the governor`s promise to complete the road before the end of the year. We have lost a lot as a result of the deplorable state of Lagos-Badagry Expressway. Even a lot of our customers are now going to other markets. We are hoping that the governor should make good his promise and relieve us from this bondage”.

 

Anambra Int’l Market: Aluminum dealers make first move to take over 6,000 shops 

From David Onwuchekwa, Nnewi

 The members of the Onitsha Aluminum Profile, Glass and Ancillary Dealers Association led by Chief Emmex Obiakor has beaten other market groups in being the first to take effective possession of land for relocation to the popular Anambra International Market arena at Oba in Idemili South Council of the state.

Performing the groundbreaking ceremony and the customary handover of the site to the Obiakor-led executive, Chief Ben Chibueze, (Ochudo Oba) received the business executives to the palace of Igwe of Oba and later also performed the foundation-stone laying of the market.

He expressed happiness that after a long lull in the actual take-off of activities at the International Market site, a group has eventually broken the ice by setting the pace in being the first to arrive to commence construction of the approved prototype shops.

Chief Chibueze noted that Oba community is keen and committed to see the project kick-off with a view to commencing business transactions there in no distant time.

According to him, it had been the prayer and hope of all Oba people that the Anambra International Market in the community would open its doors for actual commercial activities in their lifetime.

He said that the Oba community told the Minister of Health, Prof Adewole the same thing when he visited the site alongside the pharmaceutical dealers association on August 12, 2017.

He described the foundation-stone laying event of the Onitsha Aluminum Profile, Glass and Ancillary Products Dealers Association of Nigeria Section as very significant and historic.

He noted that the peaceful event showed that Oba people collectively accepted them and awaited anxiously to receive more of such groups especially from even out of the state, and overseas groups who wished to set up shops, malls and mega-stalls in the designated area.

Chibueze said that he was confident that the kick-off would initiate chains of positive development activities in Oba and prayed for abundant blessings for all participants in the struggle for the actualization of the Anambra International Market in Oba efforts which he said began since 2000.

He encouraged some business groups with intention of coming over, but had been having challenges to take solace in the face that such relocation never come easy, adding,  “change, a constant reality in life is always desirous, but often an uphill task to effect.”

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The pharmaceutical marketers, he noted were the first to initiate efforts to come over, but that despite a fillip given to their intentions by the Federal Government, the Pharmaceutical Council of Nigeria, the Federal Ministry of Health, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, the police and other agencies of government, it is yet to materialize.

Investigation reveals that not even the December 31,2018 deadline set for the final relocation and closure of the present site near Onitsha Bridgehead has made any much impact.

The traders, according to our investigation, were being delayed by other internal  and local issues, though it was learnt that the Anambra State Commissioner for Trade, Commerce, Market and Wealth Creation, Dr Mike Madubuko, was already tackling it decisively.

The Vice President General of Oba Youths, Matt Anyagbo who also witnessed and participated in the turning of the sod at the site noted that the youths of the community were very happy with the positive development.

“We thank God that we are alive to witness it. No one rejects development. Oba community, including her youth, feel honoured to be chosen for this lifetime giant project. Anyone else including the leadership of the various market associations who are coming here could have manipulated things and move the project to any of their own villages. We, therefore, warmly welcome everyone of them with joy,” he said.

 

2nd term: BBA/International Center for Commerce traders set agenda for Buhari

Peter Anosike 

Traders in Balogun Business Association, owners of International Center for Commerce (BBA/ICC), Lagos International Trade Fair Complex, have appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to be firm on the economy during his second term in office. The traders noted that the president needs a vibrant economic team to drive his economic policies in his second and final term of office.

They observed that the world is in economic contraction, making them to reason that only technocrats with the capacity to think out of the box and not professional politicians should be invited to form the presidential economic team. Austin Sokwue, principal partner, Sokwue and Sokwue and Co and Legal Adviser, Arbitration Committee, Balogun Business Association, said that if President Buhari wants history to be kind to him he should try and fix the economy before he bows out of public service.

He said that the economy is the pivot on which every other sector revolves, adding that the insecurity in the country today has its root in the poor economy that the country is going through, pointing out that the devil would always find jobs for idle hands.

Sokwue noted that if the Nigerian economy is operating optimally and youths are being meaningfully engaged, the insecurity challenge would reduce drastically.

His words: “I want to say that President Muhammadu Buhari should face the economy squarely in this his second and final term of office. The fear on everybody`s mind in the country today is insecurity. Everybody is saying that the president should stop the challenge of insecurity.

But the truth is that there is no way the insecurity can stop in the midst of hunger  and unemployment .

The National Bureau on Statistics recently released a data on employment which put the unemployment figure in the country at almost 21 million. This is a danger. So, government cannot tackle insecurity without first of all tackling the cause of insecurity which is poor economy because as we say in the legal profession, you cannot build something on nothing. So, the surest way of addressing the insecurity challenge is to keep our idle hands busy. Get the economy working and insecurity would be reduced to the barest minimum”. Contributing, the Financial Secretary of Benue Plaza, BBA, Madam Nkechi Nwaeze said that President Buhari and the Central Bank of Nigeria should do something about the high exchange rate because it is the cause of high cost of goods in the market.

According to her, President Buhari should constitute a vibrant economic team that would be made of experts from different professions  so that they would come together to salvage the country from the current economic quagmire .

“They said that Nigeria has exited from recession, but as a trader and a woman I have not seen any difference between when we were in recession and now that they said that we are out of it. Prices of foodstuffs and other items in the market have not changed. The exchange rate is still high. Even the GDP that they said is growing, we in the market are not feeling it.

So, I am appealing to President Buhari to set up an economic team of young men with up-to-date knowledge of the global economy to take us out of this Egypt that we are today in Nigeria,” Mrs Nwaeze said.

 

Irukka Online Ltd brings latest Wharfedale speaker to Nigeria

Peter Anosike

In accordance with its vision of being the pace-setter in speakers and other musical equipment in Nigeria, Irukka Online Limited, owners of Irukka Music Mall, has brought the latest Wharfedale Line Array 210X (WLA-210X) speaker  to Nigeria.

According to the Chairman of Irukka Online Limited, Ifeanyi Onwubiko, the new WLA-210X  is an improved version of WLA-25 and WLA-28.

He, however, said that WLA-210X still maintains the same design philosophy of WLA-25 and WLA-28, which are power, portability and versatility, which are ideal for both touring and fixed installation application.

He disclosed that the wave grade exit extends nearly to the top and bottom of the enclosure to create a continuous acoustic source, resulting in greatly reduced destructive interaction within the array.