THE CLOSURE OF AJEGUNLE MARKETS: ANOTHER ATTACK ON THE POOR MASSES.

Because of the economic crisis and contradictions that is confronting the poor masses and the collapse of the industrial nations of Nigeria, and the massive hike of unemployment, millions of youths, fathers, mothers, relation and families have to begin to scratch a living in the petty trading to keep life going as an alternative to resolve some immediate needs. But this attempt made by the poor masses have been threaten by draconian laws and policies, forcing a lot of these people under these laws like sanitation, traffic law etc introduce by ACN government, as a means of making the masses pay for what they don’t really used.

The closure of Ajegunle boundary market amongst others like
Alaba, Ijora-Badia, and Orile etc is one of the biggest that housed a lot of poor working families who come on daily basis to survive, have been shut-down by the alliance of Ajeromi Ifelodun LGA and Lagos State government. The excuses and claims put forward by the government was that the market is dirty and, it is the primary duty of the rank and file of the poor market men and women who strive to survive the draconian laws and policies of the Lagos State government, should be the one to clean, sanitize the environment especially the markets square.

From the objective reasons why the government in their cunny way said they shut-down trading activities in the various markets under AJIF (Ajegunle) was; 1. That it is the market men and women are been responsible for the dirtiness in the market place. 2. The market complex have become a residential place for those people like the commuters, touts and foods items suppliers who usually come from distance. 3. The trading activities around the fence of the market complex in boundary especially those who sell by the road side are prohibited, of which the government was indicting the market authority to be allowing the former.

In order to indict the market authority and make them feel guilty of this government failed social responsibility to the masses, the market authority at boundary market were made to sign letter of undertaking that if they fail to addressed or meet up to their responsibility, drastic actions will be taken, which means the market will be hand over to their business profiteers, which at the end is the original intentions of the ACN led government to do.

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It is alarming as the ACN government begins to shift social welfare responsibility to the masses to provide. For example, providing an affordable shopping trading market complex, building cheap residential houses for the mass and sanitization of the market places, but these things remain intricate task for the bourgeois government of corrupt politicians to do because of their capitalist agenda. From the 1999 civilian stratify  bourgeois constitution of Nigeria, it was well stipulated on fourth schedule section one that, it is the primary duty of the local government to clean, sanitize and keep the environment conducive for the people to live like the boundary market. But what have been happening for the past years shows that, because of privatization policies, these corrupt politicians in corrupt parties have decided to begin to shift more social welfare provision to the masses by making life extremely difficult, whereas; there is abundance of resources to solve this economic crisis.

In the boundary market precisely a lot of the traders sell under terrible conditions. The tents are dilapidated. The roads inside the markets are an eyesore. Everywhere is dirty and seriously smelling and, not conducive for people. When is wet season, every of the passage roads becomes mold ground. The structures are collapsing. In fact, the government especially AJIF have long abandoned the market without any appropriate maintenance of the market. No new structures have been put in place before now to accommodate the poor traders selling and hawking on the motorable roads. Even though, these devourers in government should build any modern structures, they will auction it out or sell it to their foreign and local crook investors because of their privatize agenda policies.

For the government to be using this means to give excuses of sanitation is a blunt lie.  The agenda behind this move is to hand over this market to themselves and cohort in crime, so they will begin to charge more after a structure have been built, of which the poor working class families can’t and won’t be able to afford a space, will have to go parking or died of more starvation. This is one of the agenda behind why the boundary market was closed for more than seven days.

Because of this closure since Wednesday, a lot of traders have to move the inner streets closed to the boundary market especially those who sell on stall in order to resolve their immediate economic contradictions. Those who have tents and shops have been denied asses to enter the market. Anyone caught entering the market to sell will be arrested by KAI and TASK force officers.

 The traders because of the fear of not been arrested were perambulating around the premises, waiting helplessly when the market will be reopened. Majority of these traders survival depends on this petty trading they are engage on. And for this few days the market was closed because of one silly excuse put forward by the Fashola and Bayewu ACN led government, a lot of poor families have been stranded, confused of what to do and where to go.

Using this biased excuse by the government saying that is the unsanitization of the markets in Ajegunle prompted the closure of the market or shifting of social responsibility to these poor wretched traders, is a graphical lie of these corrupt politicians. Every of the Thursday of the sanitation and environmental day, the poor market men and women on their own effort try to clean the surrounding and spaces in the market places.

 They even pay for the dirt thrown to the Private Sector Participation (PSP) that supposed to be taking care of anything that has to do sanitation with the public environment. But because of privatization of this sector, a lot of poor traders have to pay for these services even when they sanitize the market every Thursday. Levies and tolls are also collected by the AJIF government from the market men and women to addressed most of the sanitation problems, but the government on their part have been dubious and corrupt to cater for the welfare of these traders in the markets in terms of Health because of the dilapidated nature of the terrible condition of the market.

For instance, these levies and tolls collected everyday from this market men and women is very huge and also multiple. Most of the time, per head selling on the road, street closed to the market and hawkers pay #500.00, #200.00, #100.00in different range to different task collectors everyday they showcase their items in their stall. Most times, if the market traders failed to pay their items will be seize or they will be charge to the kangaroo court for breaking the law of the ACN government that has to do with the taxes, levies and tolls. From this, it shows that the ACN government is anti-masses and, not ready to improve the standard of the ordinary mass.

This also means that with the all the resources of the state the level of poverty is highly increasing juxtapose with the high rate of unemployment, which, again has to do with the collapse of the Nigeria economy because of privatization the bourgeois parties have been embarking for years.

Now, it is no longer the traders at fault, is the government that have failed woefully to address the unending crisis confronting the poor traders at the public market at boundary (Ajegunle), that the ACN government want to hand over to their private lion in the name of Public and Private Partnership profit orientation, using the apology of sanitation as an excuse to steal public property of the mass. The 300million collected every month by Ajeromi Ifelodun LGA (local council) does not have any real effect on the working poor mass of Ajegunle. Instead, what the poor masses get is more attack from the government like the closure of the boundary, alaba, orile etc markets.