Economic hardship: Lagos Trade Fair Marketers lament closure of market

The Lagos International Trade Fair, Board of Trustees, Tuesday, argued that marketers have loss over N2billion, following the closure of the market by the Lagos Waste Management Authority, LAWMA.

The BoT also described the move by the Lagos Waste agency as “sudden and unjust closure”.

Fielding questions from newsmen on the closure, former Chairman of the Trade Fair and Board of Trustees, BOT, and Chairman of Aspander Chief Daniel Oforkansi said, “I don’t understand if LAWMA does not see us as humans. No information or letter was written to us to that effect; they just came to lock our shops.

“We do not owe them; we have receipts and evidence to prove it. And when you talk of markets in Nigeria and across Africa, the Lagos International Trade Fair is the pride of Africa. So you cannot quantify the amount that has been lost to the miss normal of LAWMA for just a day. The N2 billion cash transaction is too small to quantify the loss for today alone. So I don’t know what LAWMA is thinking about, but I know that in due time, the law will take its course.”

Also speaking, the Trade Fair Stakeholders Forum, the umbrella body for the 62 associations in the Complex, Chief Eric Ilechukwu, said, “I didn’t expect such from LAWMA at this critical time when people are still wailing over fuel subsidy removal.

We are already wounded, and many of our people are seeing it as unjust victimization of Igbos by the Lagos government.

However, efforts to reach the LAWMA’s Director of Head of Public Affairs, Mrs Folashade Kadiri, proved abortive as she was not responding to calls, text messages, or WhatsApp messages from our correspondent.

Meanwhile, Director, Public Affairs, the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources, Kunle Adeshina, who confirmed the enforcement on his X handle (formerly Twitter) on Sunday, said the agencies carried out the directive given by the Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab.

”Following the directives of Honorable Commissioner, Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, HC MOE&WR, LAWMA Sunday 22nd October, 2023, shut ASPAMDA, BBA and other markets within the Lagos International Trade Fair Complex.

“The enforcement was carried out by officials of Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) in partnership with Lagos Task Force on Environmental Sanitation and Special Offenses and Lagos Environmental Sanitation Corps (LAGESC) for poor waste disposal practices, non-payment for waste disposal and general environmental sanitation infractions.”