By Gboyega Akinsanmi
Wife of the Lagos State Governor, Mrs. Bolanle Ambode at the weekend inaugurated N1.876 billion new Alade Market, which jointly developed by the Ikeja Local Government and Master Reality International Concept Limited.
Wife of the Lagos State Governor, Mrs. Bolanle Ambode at the weekend inaugurated N1.876 billion new Alade Market, which jointly developed by the Ikeja Local Government and Master Reality International Concept Limited.
Ambode, also, endorsed a proposed shopping mall christened Alade Shopping Mall to be constructed on the site of old Alade Market at a whopping cost of $50 million and managed under a concession agreement of 30 years after the completion of the project.
The development of the shopping mall was awarded to the Master Reality International Concept Limited on a public private partnership (PPP) arrangement adjudged to be the biggest of such project that any local government would ever embark upon in Nigeria.
As indicated by the Managing Director of Master Reality International Concepts Limited, Mr. Lai Omotola, the new market has 504 shops, 200 K-Clamps, 20 toilets, 350 KVA and 150 KVA generators and three boreholes to provide water for the traders. Traders in the old Alade Market have been relocated to the new market.
But at the inauguration in company of the President-General of Association of Commodity Market Women and Men, Mrs. Folashade Tinubu-Ojo and the Sole Administrator of Ikeja Local Government, Mr. Abiodun Taiwo, Ambode charged the traders to keep the market clean and ensure that squatters were not allowed to take over the market in line with the administration of the state governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode.
The first lady explained that it was very important for all traders to note that this complex “is a market and the shops are allocated to you to keep and sell your goods. They are shops and not residential apartments. Please, do not convert them to living quarters.
“At the end of each trading day, ensure that you lock up your stalls and return home. You must keep your stalls, the surrounding and the entire market clean. Cleanliness is of essence and you should not tolerate a filthy environment.”
Also speaking at the inauguration, the sole administrator said the new Alade Market was a dream come true as the traders from the old market had been relocated to the new market, while the old market would be developed into a mega shopping mall befitting the mega-city status of Lagos.
According to him, it was the late President-General of Association of Commodity Market Women and Men, Abibat Mogaji who developed the template for the new market. Contrary to speculations outside, the new market had all the modern facilities to make life worthwhile for the traders.
Omotola acknowledged that under the leadership of Mogaji, the template to relocate the traders “to a new market was set. We can say the relocation was successful because it was not as a result of fire outbreak or looting of the market.
“The relocation took a peaceful order where traders were allowed to relocate all their belongings before the eventual sealing of the market. Despite the confrontation from few traders, we were careful not to be provoked and the relocation followed due process without disruption of commercial activities.
“There was no single act of violence during this period and the transition from the old Alade Market to the new Alade Market was seamless. Trading started in the new market even before the complete relocation.”
Omotola added that there was already visible evidence that the market would be prosperous as rent for shop had skyrocketed from N300,000 to N450,000 per annum and that all shops had been over-subscribed.
