Press Releases

Lagos Foodstuff Dealers Meet Fashola, Rule Out Strike
…As Governor charges FG, Sister States to act to stamp out illegal levies

Jul 17, 2010 - Leaders of the Amalgamated Cattle and Foodstuff Dealers Association of Nigeria (Lagos Branch) on Saturday met with the Governor of Lagos, Mr Babatunde Fashola (SAN) with a commitment that its members would not be part of any strike called by its national body.

The foodstuff dealers made the commitment just as the Governor charged concerned Federal Government agencies and sister States to take proactive steps to stamp out collection of illegal levies from the highways while appealing to the Amalgamated Cattle and Foodstuff Dealers Association of Nigeria to rule out strike as a form of protest because it is counter-productive.

Governor Fashola who spoke during a meeting he had with leaders of the Association at Lagos House, Marina added that those benefiting from the illegal levies are few people who cannot override the interest of the majority.

The Governor explained that if the traders remained resolute like the State Government on the issue of eliminating those who extort money on the Lagos- Berger boundary axis, the wish of the majority would prevail.

Governor Fashola said like past strike actions, it is the innocent members of the public who do not get food items to buy and the traders who lose millions in profits due to their inability to sell, that bear the brunt.

The Governor who explained that the State has already taken steps to correct some of the anomalies noted that problems are sometimes not solved in one fell swoop, stressing that the Government would continue to do all necessary until the impediments to the smooth running of the dealers are removed.

He emphasized that no government can afford to remain indifferent to issues concerning food supply because that would mean such a government is not taking food security serious.

Governor Fashola said part of the commitment of the State Government to the traders is to ensure that the different food items get to the members of the public who need them and ensuring that the traders make fair returns on the business, adding that he still expects the traders to fulfill their promise of ensuring a reduction in prices of foodstuffs once the atmosphere is conducive.

He explained that he has already written to the concerned Federal agencies on the complaints of the traders as well as the Ogun State Government to take necessary actions that would eliminate the activities of the profiteers on the road.

The Governor was of the view that as he has taken necessary steps in Lagos, sister States through which the trucks and goods also pass should take similar proactive steps that would ensure food security for the people.

He urged the leaders of the Foodstuff Dealers Association to also prevail on their counterparts in other States through which the food products get transported to meet the Governors in such States to request that concrete actions be taken which would ensure that there is no hiding place for the criminals who operate on the roads and who must be fished out.

In the advent of any challenges to their trading activities, Governor Fashola asked the traders to get across to respective Government agents or officials whose phone contacts are in the public domain, adding that he has been monitoring events at the Lagos end of the road.

While reminding the traders that Berger is a boundary area which the Police Commissioner in Lagos might not have total control over, he asked the Lagos Police Commissioner to work with his Ogun State counterpart to sanitize the area.

Governor Fashola said going by the provisions of the law and as it is the practice in other jurisdictions, only officials of the Ministry of Agriculture are permitted by law to work at the boundary location of any state to ensure that agricultural produce brought in are fit for human consumption.

Also speaking, the Commissioner of Police, Lagos Command, Mr Marvel Akpoyibo expressed surprise at the report of continued Police harassment on the road by the traders.

Mr Akpoyibo said in furtherance of the directive given by the Governor on the issue, he convened a meeting with the leaders in his office and gave them functional phone numbers of his and other officers whom they could contact in times of distress, adding that he has received no such calls from any of the market leaders.

He noted that despite the fact that some of the road blocks in the boundary area did not emanate from Lagos Police Command; all hands are on deck to ensure that unhindered access is granted to traders on the axis.

The Police Commissioner confirmed that Governor Fashola has just provided two patrol vehicles which are being fitted with communication gadgets to ensure that the area is effectively covered and patrolled by the men of the Lagos State Police Command.

In his address at the meeting, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Revenue and Taxation, Mr Ade Ipaiye chronicled how the State Governor responded to the complaints of the traders about incessant harassments of the roads by setting up an inter-ministerial committee which met over the several contentious issues and held a press conference where final decisions reached were communicated to members of the public.

Mr Ipaiye added there have been media reports recently about the renewed threats of the traders to embark on another strike because there are still pending issues which the State Government and other stakeholders have to look into.

Earlier, while stating their case, the General Secretary of the Amalgamated Cattle and Foodstuff Dealers Association of Nigeria (Lagos Branch), Alhaji Kabiru Alhasan commended Governor Fashola for looking into their complaints, confirming that men of the State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) have since desisted from disturbing the traders on the road through indiscriminate towing of their lorries and trucks.

He also commended the State Government for reassuring the traders when the rumours was making the rounds that traders at Mile 12 would be relocated, adding that the move has not only stabilized the traders that Lagos is home to all but has also boosted the rent rates of the stalls in the market.

The Secretary expressed the support of the traders for the on-going road construction in Mile 12 saying the traders cooperated with officials of the Ministry of Works about losing some stalls to the new road because it believed it would enhance development of the area from which they would also benefit.

Alhaji Alhassan lamented that despite the efforts of the inter-ministerial committee, many of those collecting illegal levies are still on the road, adding that a new levy has just been introduced despite the intervention by the State Government, just as the several police checkpoints on the axis are still thriving.

The scribe said despite the calls for another strike by the national body of the association, the Lagos body would not join any strike, because it is the traders who suffer more during such actions through losses.

Prominent among those who attended the meeting were the Commissioner for Agriculture and Cooperatives, Chief Enoch Ajibosho, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Mr Segun Onamuti as well as leaders of the Amalgamated Cattle and Foodstuff Dealers Association of Nigeria (Lagos Branch) like Alhaji Haruna Mohammed, Alhaji Malami Abdullahi, Alhaji Muhammed Dandamma and Alhaji Shehu Usman.