The traders doing business in the Sabo Ayangbure market, Ikorodu, recently took their protests to the Ayangbure Palace against over inflated new Sabo market rent, whereby each shop owner has to cough out between N600,000 to N1.5million while also accusing the Iyaloja of the market, Alhaja Allison and the developers of connivance.
Oriwu Sun, on Tuesday February 23, 2016, went to the market to ascertain the true situation of things after Oba Shotobi’s intervention. It was gathered that, though some parts of the market had been completed and ready for occupation, most of the newly re-constructed shops were still under lock and key. According to some traders, the situation was as a result of unaffordability of the shops by most of the traders, while the developers have refused to be considerate.
While some traders appealed to Governor Akinwunmi Ambode and Oba Kabir Adewale Shotobi, the Ayangbure of Ikorodu, to ensure that the reconstruction of the whole market takes place, they also stated that they should make sure that the shops are allocated to the initial owners at affordable prices.
Others were of the view that the reconstruction should not get to the other parts that are yet to be demolished for redevelopment since that they were the ones that built the shops at a lesser cost than what the developers are asking for now.
A particular trader told Oriwu Sun that they had taken a developer to Ayangbure palace and introduced him to the Ikorodu local government Executive Secretary as a developer, who is ready to reconstruct the remaining part of the market and give the shops to traders at a lesser rent of three hundred thousand naira (N300,000).
He said the Executive Secretary told the contractor that he could only get the contract if he could afford to pay the necessary dues to both the local government and the state government. Based on this, the trader said that he doubted the possibility of awarding the contract to the traders preferred contractor or developer.
He, therefore, called on the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, to intervene and save the traders from exploitation.
Another trader, a woman who sells tubers of yam and other food stuffs, claimed to be the daughter of the first Iyaloja of the market. She was seen in front of a shop, she said was her own but had been sold out to an unknown person by the developer.
That was at an amount higher than the N600,000, she was asked to pay after the reconstruction. She said she had even paid N500,000 out of the N600,000 charged for the shop.
With all the views expressed by traders during the investigation, most of them agreed that the country is in the era of change for more laudable development, but this change should be all embracing. They said this change should not be too costly to bear as some of them don’t even have goods worth N600,000 in their shops. They appealed to the developers to be considerate.
However, the Iyaloja General of Ikorodu Division, who is in charge of Sabo Ayangbure market, Alhaja Taofikat Allison, has denied all the allegations levelled against her. She said all she has done in the market was in the interest of all the traders, especially those who are already shop owners in the markets before its redevelopment.
In her words, “The market belongs to the government and they also own the land. Nobody can bring someone from nowhere and sign for that person. All the rumours spreading all over the place that Iyaloja collected one hundred thousand Naira (N100,000) per shop and that they have built two filling stations for her including having four or five ships are false.
None of them is true and what I am after is how everything would be put right and for the betterment of everyone,” she stated.
On the inflated rent being paid for the shops, she stated: “I am not a developer; so I don’t know anything about the money. I am not the one they pay the money to. It is the government because it owns the land and the market.
The government are the one, who brought the developers into the market. But I pray that God should assist the traders financially so that they would be able to pay for their shops because development is a good thing.
While reacting to allegations from some quarters in the market that she does not carry the traders along in the activities of the market, she stressed that one cannot satisfy everybody in this world. She revealed that she operates open door policy and always get her followers informed about every step being taken or about to be taken in the market. She later urged HRM, Oba Shotobi and government to do the needful in the market in this era of change.
Earlier on, the traders, through their representatives from each section of the market, presented a petition written against the Iyaloja of colluding with the developers to cheat them by inflating the rent N600,000 to N1.5million on each shop in the market.
They also talked about the unfair dealing of the developers, saying that most shops are not given to the original or real occupants but to new persons, who can afford to pay higher money than the original shop owners. They pointed out that before the reconstruction started, the agreement between them and the developer was to return the original shop owner to his or her shop after redevelopment and allow such shops to be paid for instalmentally.
In the petition, it was pointed out by the traders thus: “The Iyaloja has never hidden the fact that she places her interest before our interests and this could be seen in her activities over time. She has been colluding with the local government officials and the developers to take over our shops from us.”
They also claimed: “We have had several meetings with the local government executives and the developers, where they insisted on collecting exorbitant rent for the shops; the Iyaloja has never for once solicited on our behalf for downward review of the rent.
Rather she went about the market boasting that whether we like it or not, we are going to pay the over-inflated rent and whoever could not afford it should go somewhere else. We suspect that she has one hundred thousand naira on every money paid by each trader and would be given five shops after the reconstruction.
The traders concluded by pleading to Oba Shotobi to come to their rescue and save them from slavery. In their words, “We know that you are passionate about this market because it is named after your majesty; hence, we kindly pray you wade into this serious matter before it degenerates to crisis and gets out of hand”.
“We do not want to take laws into our own hands and we believe in our royal father. We know that you always stand for truth, justice, equity and fair play. We crave your indulgence to act on our behalf and prevent the Iyaloja from taking over our shops from us and allocating same to the greedy developers.”