Some concerned residents and stakeholders of Ikorodu Local Government have called on the chairman, Hon. Wasiu Adeshina and his team to tackle the issue of street trading at the Ikorodu Garage Round About, which has assumed worrisome dimension as traders, commuters and motorists now struggle for right of way.
Speaking recently at Ikorodu on a message entitled, “The Ship of Community Road Heading Towards a Rock”, a stakeholder and founder of Ikorodu Ambassadors Group, a leading youth organization in the community, Mr. Rasheed Fatuga stated, “Goods are displayed on the sideways while passersby walk on the main road with fear.
“Because, as much as they don’t want to collide with the displayed products, they also don’t want to be hit by moving truck; and so they become victims of pety thieves.
According to Mr. Fatuga,mong other things that are normally displayed on the road include, Wheel Barrows, Gas Cookers, Stoves, Pepper Grinding Machine and Generators. On the same road, motorcycles. tricycles and taxi cabs also compee with commuters and passersby.
He also decried the fact that some people have moved their canteens to the road and other traders that have shops have abandoned them for easy trading on the high way.
A resident, Mohammed Olatunji, who had been observing the illicit street/highway trading activities going on at the Garage round about, urged both the State and Ikorodu Local Government to engage in critical thinking and come up with a strategy to checkmate the menace.
Olatunji also flayed the KAI officials, who collect money from the traders and allow them to continue with their illicit trading activities. According to him, the confidence and effrontery displayed by these traders show that they carry out the unlawful act in connivance with some errant KAI officials.
Mohammed was also not happy with the State Government’s decision to use the small piece of land opposite the BRT Terminal to build an unserviceable garden, which add no economic or meaningful purpose to the growth and development of Ikorodu while also, limiting the space which could have been available for the traders to use.
He opined that as long as the traders have no cheaper or affordable options to display their wares, the current chaotic situation at the Ikorodu Garage Roundabout will persist.
Mr. Tosin Odumosu, who also bared his mind to Oriwu Sun, said, “The brazen display of goods on the walkways and main road by traders was made worse when the State Government converted the only visible space to an unused garden.” He urged the government to find a permanent solution to the problem.
Another trader, Mrs. Basirat Olorunjedalo, said the menace could have been curbed easily if the law enforcement personnel, including KAI officials, Police and others, had executed their task diligently with high moral standard and integrity. She said that once the traders collectively bribe them they would ignore whatever is going on and pretend that all is well.
Meanwhile, Hon. Princess Folashade Olabanji Oba, Vice-Chairman, Ikorodu Local Government, in her brief reaction, assured residents that the council administration was not unaware of the chaotic situation and was working on a strategy to restore normalcy at the roundabout.