Damiete Braide
Lagos State Government in collaboration with Agbado Oke-Odo Local Council Development Area and Total Value Integrated Services Limited is set to renovate and turn Ile-Epo Market to an ultra modern one in line with the state’s mega city plans.
Chris Samuel Onyekachi said immediately his company was contracted two years ago, he engaged representatives of the traders in dialogue, seeking their cooperation. He lauded the traders for their readiness to make the market better than its present look.
He said the market could not be left behind since Lagos is moving in the direction of a mega city: “We are going to build a modern market with bank facilities, fire service station, a police post, a hospital and parking space for vehicles to offload goods. The duration of the contract is one year and it will cost over N2.6bn naira and after the renovation, shops will be given to traders at affordable prices.”
He expressed worry that having erected a billboard announcing the commencement of the project, some persons went to pull down the billboard: “We are ready to discuss with them. Whatever their fear is, they should feel free to say it. We are not going to take their shops from them, but the traders will be the ones to continue to occupy the market after the renovation.
“We have all the documents on the market, and agreement had been reached after series of meetings with all the market leaders since 2016. If we don’t have the interest of the traders, we wouldn’t have waited all this long.
“It is an injustice for someone to come and lie to the people that some people came with hoodlums and army personnel to destroy the market, this is democracy and things should be done in the right way. These disgruntled people should stop deceiving the people by saying we want to destroy their market.”
“The Lagos State Government is doing things in the right way and due process is being followed. If the market can’t be redeveloped, there is no way the planning committee would have given the approval for the renovation.”