Reputed as the biggest electronics market in West Africa, Alaba International Market is still basking in the excitement of its 40th anniversary celebration. Our reporter tells a revealing story of the market’s history.
The establishment of the Alaba International Market, Ojo, Lagos, is a rich history of the metamorphosis of a greenfield site to vast commerce, with patronage now coming from far beyond Nigeria. It’s story has been growth from few naira sales to transactions of billions of naira.
Sadly, the famous market 40th anniversary celebration was marred by dilapidating infrastructure in and around the market, especially the access roads, which the traders lamented was affecting their businesses.
This correspondent got a dose of the road agony: it took him two days efforts to get to Ojo, in Ojo Local Government, that part of Lagos State where Alaba International Market is located. The Mile 2-Okokomaiko Expressway, which takes one to the market, has virtually collapsed. The road has been under reconstruction by Lagos State for more than five years and is so broken down that driving through it is a nightmare. In this rainy season, gullies dot the road, with petroleum and container trucks stuck here and there.
An initial effort by the correspondent to drive to the market was agonisingly unsuccessful. After being stuck in a gridlock for many hours, sandwiched by commercial buses and trucks, and as the day wore on insuperably, this reporter had to manoeuvre a u-turn out of the confusion.
The next day, the resort to a commercial motorcycle to get to Ojo was successful, even though the ride of more than 40 kilometres of failed portions of the road, littered with broken down vehicles and stagnant waste waters, was also excruciating.
Daily Trust Saturday would learn later from the traders at Alaba market how used they have been to commuting to and from the market on motorcycles. “Man must wack”, a dealer in electronics, Micheal Uju, told our correspondent.
A few minutes observation of commercial activities at Alaba International Market scripted volumes of why traders there are hanging on despite the anguish that infrastructure breakdown presents. Vehicular and pedestrian traffic in and out of the market is massive, with everybody caressing one electronic/electrical item or another.
The picture paints the huge volume of business that daily transpires at the market.
The chairman of the market’s founding fathers, Chief Christopher Chika Ajokorom, reminisced with delight how a simple act of faith by 13 young men of between 30 and 40 years old blossomed into a sub-Saharan pride.
“When we started, nobody believed we would develop anything out of that wilderness. We started from Alaba-Suru, near Mile 2. The then government said we were operating close to an expressway and would hinder vehicular movement, so we had to move. But much later, the same state government, although of another administration, approved a market in the same area. We are not bothered though because we have made a huge success of our movement to this place,” Ajokorom narrated with a broad smile.
Describing the state of physical development in Ojo then, the Chairman said, “Ojo was a sleeping hamlet,” adding that it was only heavy trucks conveying sharp sand to building sites that could go close to the area.
Suddenly, the warmth on Ajokorom’s face receded, replaced by some strange pallor. After some silence and a sigh, he revealed how only four of the market’s 13 founding fathers are still alive. “Nine of us are dead and only four of us are left,” he said in a low tone.
Starting a market with no infrastructure or any form of support from the government was clearly an extraordinary task, but that did not deter the 13 young men.
Recalling how they organized themselves, Ajokorom said, “We organized our boys then to sleep in the market area to serve as guards at night, even as there was no water or light. We also took turns to watch our goods ourselves until we were able to establish a proper security arrangement.”
After settling in to the reality of a new, slowly growing electronics market, the men approached the Jankara Market, which was then the largest market in Lagos, populated by traders selling everything from tie-and-dye cloth, trade beads and jewelries to pottery and electricals, to convince traders of electrical items there to join them at Alaba.
The Alaba traders believed the lines of commerce were similar and the Jankara traders would quickly carve a niche in the market for themselves and gain early success at Alaba.
Ajokorom continued, “And once we got off the ground, we built two churches and one mosque – St Patrick’s Catholic Church, Saint Peter’s Anglican Church and Alaba Central Mosque – to help us develop our faith and communal living.”
Also, the Public Relations Officer of the International Market Association (Electronics Section) of the Alaba International Market, Maduabuchi Adiukwu, told our correspondent that the journey so far has been “wonderful”.
According to Adiukwu, “This is the only place I know that you come with nothing and go back with something. Eighty per cent of the traders here today came in with nothing. Most of us came in here to serve our masters, after which we were settled and we established our own businesses.
“This is my 34th year in this market. I came in here when I was barely 18 years old, right after my secondary school.”
Adiukwu said successive leaderships of the market had tried to expand and develop it and the surrounding environment, as well as contributing their quota to the development of the state and the Ojo Local Government Area as a whole.
A fortnight ago, the market leaders set aside a day to honour the founding fathers. The market, which is usually open on a daily basis, except on Sundays and public holidays, was shut down completely so that the celebration could be widely observed.
The four surviving founding fathers were each given one brand new Toyota Corolla 2013 model car.
“It is just like retirement benefits, and from time to time, we will still give them some money to take care of themselves,” Adiukwu added.
Discussing the challenges bedeviling the market, the PRO said the main factor militating against their business is the road network.
He lamented, “The road is so bad that customers find it extremely difficult to access the market. Most times, customers leave their houses at 10am but before they get here, the market is closed because they can be in a gridlock for six hours.
“We have lost many containers of goods to that road. They fall off the truck every now and then and our goods are damaged. That has negatively impacted our growth. This is after we have paid all taxes and levies on these goods as demanded by the various authorities.”
Adding his voice to the access road problem, Ajokorom said, “The condition of the road is horrible. We hope the new governor, who visited us during his campaign and promised to make the road motorable before the end of December 2019, will keep to his promise. Already, some work has started around the Mile 2 area, but the work is being hindered by the rain.”
Adiukwu also shared how the various sectional leaders had helped to ensure peaceful co-existence between traders, and effect dispute resolutions with buyers.
“We have a by-law here that binds us. So, if you sell a product to anybody and the person finds out that it is faulty, within 48 hours the person should inform you about it, even if the person is outside Lagos. When the person returns it, you will have to fix it.
“Where you fail to do so, our unions mandate you to repair the item or change it for the customer. And if you refuse, we will lock up your shop until you comply. This is to avoid giving the market a bad name because we get customers not just from Nigeria but also from Cotonou, Benin Republic and Ghana who buy from us to resell in their various countries.
“This is the biggest electronics/electrical items market in the whole of West Africa. I can beat my chest to confirm that to you. We have about 13 sections that make up Alaba Market,” he quipped with pride.
He listed the leadership’s achievements as including building of a task force office and security stations, setting up of sanitation monitoring units, building of 10 structures housing different sections of the market, including an office to settle disputes.
Speaking on succession, possibly by children of the leaders, to carry on with their businesses, Adiukwu took a deep breath and said, “Most of us have sent our children to school to be educated. In most cases now, they go to the university. When they graduate, they can decide for themselves whether they want this line of business or to pursue their own interests.”
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