In recent time we have witnessed demolitions, harassment of small shop owners across Lagos. One will think that responsible government will make provisions for the affected shop owners before carrying out the exercise but opposite is the case of Lagos. Food vendors that render services for corporate people are not left out from this exercise. For people in my area we are forced to patronize Fast Food everyday and it cost more. I think we need to share our views on this.

I think the Lagos Stae Govt is now making some sense and trying to bring sanity into our pple and environment. I Believe that we Nigerians especially Lagosians need to pay more attention to our environs. Those shops and small stalls shld be broken down with immediate effect cos they are constituting a nuisance on our roads.

And u all know that when u want to bring abt sanity there are definitely things a person must overlook. A person like BRF need not be sentimental abt pples plight.e.g we voted for him like some have started saying.

Deprive people of their livelihood? I dont think so. Unless the government of Lagos can offer stalls to accomodate the side traders, then they cant demolish open air stalls. Chei, people are eking out a living via honest means, and the govt are pursuing them. Let them focus their attention on robbers.

you have to understand the govt is not a charity shop, even a charity shop wont just offer free shops to people like that

there's no real reason why the govt should provide shops and so on to businessmen,
they will basically be using tax payers money to provide free premises to these people making profit.

and it is actually unfair on those that have raised money to pay rent, employed people and pay tax, according the the laws of the land for some people-who usually disrupt flow of traffic, litter the streets and even cause accidents; to operate without license/tax.

what we are saying is that even if govt fail to provide shops, they should be low and avoidable shops for those traders to carrying on with thier lives. They can even do it at installment pay level. What happen to those shops built by Govt in the past. Look at Awolowo market @ mushin. Govt pushed the traders out promising to only refurbish and they will be take over thier shops. After completion they place as high as 800k above i bet you up till now those shops are still empty. As I talk to you now, those traders recently pushed out just roam about the street. Honestly this is frustrating.

the problem with us in naija is that
we hate to be law abidding citizen.

the structure that where demolished, are they with proper documents?
are they not those shops that people just build on the sewage system.
there cant be proper development if govt do not right all these wrongs

go to oshodi at times i wonder are the roads double lane or single lane

You just cant come over and put an end to someone's honest living, because of a flimsy environment in beautifying the environment. It is unfair, period!. One governor demolished Maroko, probably in the name of beautifying the environment, displaced a lot of people, and what happened in the end? Those land, from what I heard now belongs to some military rulers. Even in America, there are slums where people live in. In an ideal world, slums wont exist, but in Nigeria, there are far pressing issues like combatting crimes, which should be more of a priority than beautifying the environment.

Ndipe:

If I come and setup a shop in front of your house will you allow me to stay?
"It is an honest living. "

No one is preventing them from selling.  All the govt is saying is that the goods should be sold in the right places.  The whole city is not a market.  Goods should not be sold on streets and other inappropriate places.  These types of activities endangers peoples lives.

When you say right places, where are the right places? As a citicen am I suppose to create right place for myself or the govt? Before you can fully enforce ther order you must also provide a place.

Why must the govt provide a place for you? Do they run your business? Do they receive a percentage of the profits from your business? Did the govt provide Zenith Bank or Glo a place to run their business? You cannot turn a road into a market. Roads were built for cars to move around freely not for someone to sell their goods. Additionally, you cannot build a store in a location you do not own. Why do you feel you have the right to setup a shop anywhere you please? Did you pay for the land? Another thing is the governments have zoning rights. Whether you like it or not they have the right to restrict certain areas for certain purpose. It creates order.

I love all the things Fashola is doing and I think he is/will be a great governor. He will change the face of Lagos and it will be a great place to live. Lagos and Nigeria as a whole needs to become organized. We cannot keep living a lawless life in Nigeria.

dcdal:

You cannot turn a road into a market. Roads were built for cars to move around freely not for someone to sell their goods. Additionally, you cannot build a store in a location you do not own. Why do you feel you have the right to setup a shop anywhere you please? Did you pay for the land? Another thing is the governments have zoning rights. Whether you like it or not they have the right to restrict certain areas for certain purpose. It creates order.

I love all the things Fashola is doing and I think he is/will be a great governor. He will change the face of Lagos and it will be a great place to live. Lagos and Nigeria as a whole needs to become organized. We cannot keep living a lawless life in Nigeria.

May you live long!! A lot of those street traders have now turned our highways, tarred streets and bus-stops into a market place under the excuse that they are busy trying to earn a living. Dual carriage-ways which should make traffic flow with ease have become bottle-necks of misery, simply because some traders have turned a whole lane into a market. Under whose orders?

Go to Tejuosho market in Yaba, Lagos. The whole place is an eyesore, right down to the street. Whole lanes on either side of the road have been turned into markets, so you can spend one hour or more on a road that is less than five hundred metres, just because some folks have colonised a whole section of the street. Then take the railway tracks in Lagos. Oshodi and Yaba railway lines have become markets. The traders don't even give a damn about the trains when they come hooting down the line. So many of them have been killed along those tracks, but the next minute (despite the no. of accidents) other traders place their wares right back on the track, and continue with their trading. Why people keep playing Ludo with their lives, is something am yet to understand.

Aswani market in Isolo, nko? Traders have since abandoned the interior of the market, to take up space on the street. You can spend three hours on a good day trying to turn into that area from the Murtala Muhammed International Airport road that links that place with Isolo. Ask those who reside there, what they go through on Tuesdays. The day I entered inside the market, I was suprised. There were vast empty spaces within the market, where traders could display their wares on the bare ground, yet only very few chose to do so. Most of them headed for the express way, and decided to turn it into a shopping centre. Yet, trailers, trucks and other heavy-duty vehicles ply that road. Those traders refuse to think of the risk, forgetting that only the living can enjoy the fruit of the day's sales. 

Then go to Okokomaiko, down to Ojo side. Traders have turned the divider right in the middle of the expressway which separates one lane from the other, into a trading joint. Na centre of road I dey talk o, no be bush path or sidewalk. The day I saw this, I was weak. It really makes me wonder if people place any value on their lives.

Go to Benin Republic next door, as tiny as it is, there is law and order in that place. You cannot trade on the streets. If the chips are down and you can't afford to rent a shop, nothing stops you from spreading your wares on the floor in those open spaces within the market, not outside on the street. That was what people were doing, when I visited Benin Republic. In fact, the minute you cross Seme border and you see the orderly way things are done in Cotonou, you start wondering what has gone wrong with our psyche in Nigeria.

I believe we pple should be able to think rite and learn to do what is rite even if the Govt does not have to tell us ,warn us by destroying the open air stalls. A place like Ikotun Egbe is a diaster when it comes to street trading and to think of it the Local Govt is rite beside it and all those atrocities are being done, displaying wares on the road and all these distort traffic movement.

@ yemmight
I need to ask a question? if u were the Local Govt Chairman of ur Local Govt what are the 1st steps u'll take to sanitize ur environment or say the LG?

FELLOW LAGOSIANS pls wake up from ur slumber and i also implore all NIGERIANS to do so . Lets keep our environment neat and tidy. Lets make the roads free from all this nasty shit called Street trading all in the name of making ends meet.

I SUPPORT THE GOVT OF BABTUNDE RAJI FASHOLA. carry go!

I agree with the POSTER. It is not enough to demolish stores and kick the people to the curb over and over again. I mean the Lagos government has had to do that over 10 times in the past decade and from experience, we know they will keep coming back. Why ?? Cause these people do not seem to have other means to deal.

Responsible Government would provide the people with alternatives or better and cheaper options. The reason most of these people are not in stalls in the first place is cause they 1) can not afford them 2) Feel that the majority of buyers would patronize them if they had their wares out in the open as they had them. If the government can instead put up structures that would not only house these sellers at affordable rates but also FORCE the consumers to actually walk into these facilities to purchase needed goods, then we could have this situation dealt with once and for all.

That is how responsible government should work. You do not demolish their main means of livelihood and claim cause they are occupying those places illegally, you have solved the issue. It does not work that way and apparently has not for decades now. Government should always consider the good of the people, those affected and those involved in deciding what solution would work best for what situation. When we consider stores in Lagos, we are talking of more than 5% of the population of the state itself. Would it make sense to send over 5% of the state's population into abject poverty overnight?? In the end, the Tax payers money will be used to house the many criminals that will come from that pile, in addition to those we already have to deal with in the many prisons around the state.

It is actually to the interest of the tax paying citizens of Lagos that the Government provide a better option for these people. We are talking of children and families whose only source of livelihood is being thrown away there.

Its easy to demolish any thing,But a REAL GOVT will surely think of the side effect of any action,I dont think they did that because
1.More poverty in the state
2.More thieves in the state 4 sure
3.Less job creation(because a good % of people in lagos are traders,some are legal anyway

I think they should first combat Armed robbery and enforce a good security system so that more investors can come and build standard structures for the traders to continue.

Summary: as 4 me its jus a dumb move again,after chasing lagos girls off the road and na lagos traders.

i think people are unnecessarily sentimental. It is wrong for anybody to put up shacks and say they are selling goods( sometimes food). It's amusing the way people argue at times.
When there is law in a land it must be followed. It is unlawful for anyone to put up a building without proper documentations. All this shack do not have these required document.

Go to ABUJA, and you will be proud to be a NIGERIAN. It did not come easy , some unlawful things were removed.
let fashola continue the good work. we will all be happy for it later

then people change this is 2007. Gone are those days when government does everything. Let the traders union build shopping complexes. The government can't do everything jare

don't mind them. They would be the first to abuse government if they have diseases. Now the government is helping us now we are not appreciating it.
Go to small African cities that have much poorer people than us and you see how orderly people live their lives and do business.

[b][/b]Everybody are just talking about the citizen not being law abiding but have we forgotten that lagos is over populated and it takes what u can afford to give some people as bribe before you can get a stress and itch free locaaation to sell your wares. Firstly the price of the so called lock up shops are on the high side that an average lagosian can afford and since Lagos is such a state that I foyu don't work, you are not gonna eat, then one need to look for ways to make both ends. Nobody is saying the Lagos state government shouldn't beautify the state but the the hard assignment for them is to make provision for shop at subsidized price so taht it could be affordable for an average Lagosian to afford.
Here I don't there is anybody that doesn't like good thing.
[size=13pt][/size][i][/i]Hey na VGC I dey live make una no think say i dey stay ghetto thats why am speaking for

Huh  ,

The poor always suffer, why? They have no rights!  
They just keep praying, the Yaradua government should do something better. (Give them compensation), they take away their livelyhood.

Though they are doing the wrong thing, but they have to consider their well being, Wrong of the Government!

To reIterate my point, this is not about saying the government is doing a bad job. This is not about saying the government is doing the wrong thing. If you, anyone of you know the history of lagos in the past 15 years alone, you will note that this guy is NOT the first to try the DEMOLISH the STALLS AND THEY WILL GO tactic. INfact if you look back, you will see that from Mudashiru down till now, many of the state governments have tried the same tactic and to no avail. Why is it ok to repeat the same and expect different results without trying to do things a bit different this time?? I mean I seriously urge you all to look into history for a clue as to how this might go and try to see that maybe the best way to get a lasting solution in this case is to approach it in a different manner. Look into how much of our tax money has been put into this enterprise in the past and look at the result of it all.

Isn't it time for Nigeria to STOP doing the same thing over and over the same way and maybe spend more time looking into how to implement more lasting solutions. In this case, maybe providing the people with a place to sell their wares, make a living at the same time, put money back in the pocket of the government and in the long run, providing money for other future projects in the same or different area. This is really simple!!

Kobojunkie:
Using your analogy, should the Lagos govt give up fighting crimes against armed robbers because they have failed to protect their citizens in the past?

Unfortunately, Nigeria is not a rich country that can provide economic benefits to the poor. Hopefully in 5, 10 or 15 years our country can reach the level that will enable them to give some benefits for people in need.

The ideal solution would be to stop all street trading & create several central market places around Lagos that the merchants can sell their goods. However, no government is under any obligation to provide free land for someone to conduct their business. So don't fault the Lagos govt for not doing so. The govt does have a duty to enforce laws and make sure people are following the rules. It does not matter if this has been done in the past and failed. It's the law, therefore there should be an attempt to enforce the law.

IMO - For Nigeria to move forward the amount of people street trading needs to be reduced substantially. I understand that when you are poor your options are substantially limited and the street traders do not have alot of options. Street trading is such a low profit margin business that is almost makes no sense to be in that sort of business. They are better of staying or going to the village and farming. Then sell their harvest to companies that will mass process and package those harvests.

Nigeria has a massive amount of fertile land. This should be the emphasis for those that do not have a job. My family from a village in the Niger Delta and when I visit I see very effective small scale farming. If the traders can't make a living in Lagos, then they should move to other parts of the country and farm. Their profit margin will be alot better.

Where in what I wrote up there did you get that THINKING of yours from ?? Did you READ even the First line to understand what the whole is about Where in my whole NOTE there did you see anything about Nigerian PROVIDING for the POOR??  You practically go ahead and REPEAT exactly what I gave as a great solution after making it seem I SAID exactly the opposite,  Again did you READ what I posted from BEGINNING TO END


If you had actually spent time to read what I typed, you would see that my ANALOGY there DOES NOT call for the government to STOP FIGHTING crime, but TRY A NEW METHOD OF APPROACH in FIGHTING CRIME, e.g, since most all his predecessors decided to go after crime with a force that was 1) ill-equipped and 2) Not really educated in how best to handle cases 3) a Justice system that does not seem to be processing cases well enough, Maybe he should try solve the many problems that exist in the system so that as the police go out there, they are well prepared to battle the many cases they meet out there and experience better success than they would have if they went the old way. Basically, embolden the people of Lagos that way in the fact that the system is changed and ready to help squash crime once and for all. You will see people coming from all parts to report crime where they see it. How you got your own take on what I said, I have absolutely NO CLUE

@dcdal, you claim Nigeria is not a rich country to provide for the poor, but then the same country has been plundered by its leaders of billions of dollars by some of its leaders. Now, those money could be earmarked in providing social services for the poor, wouldnt it?

I actually agree with having money set aside to help the poor. I am all for such a program to be in place in Nigeria. To Provide the poor with same level education as those politicians give their own kids in private schools while they allow the public schools to rot. Healthcare programs to help the poor as well as programs to train them and improve the skills of the work force in that country.

Kobojunkie:
Don’t take any offense in what I wrote; I am not in the mood for a fight. I can infer your feelings on this subject based of your post.
In your first post you stated that a “Responsible Government would provide the people with alternatives or better and cheaper options” Which is basically a sugar coated way of saying a Government that does not provide these alternatives is irresponsible”. Deny it if you may I really don’t care. My feeling on this subject is that in an ideal situation the Government should provide these facilities BUT they are in no way obligated to do such a thing. And it does not make them “irresponsible” if they do not.
BTW – How many governments in this world provide free land for their citizens to sell their goods? Not many I would assume. Does that mean there are few “Responsible” Governments in this world?
The reason I made the analogy is because your post seems to suggest that if the government uses the same method the result will be the same. That is not necessarily true. Perseverance goes a long way. The same method can work if the Lagos Govt is willing to work hard to make sure people are following the law. Change takes time. They should not give up if after 6 months or even 1 year some people are still street trading. Keep enforcing the law until the day that this situation no longer occurs.

Ndipe:
Believe me I wish every single penny of the loot could go to the poor. But as it is now Nigeria is not a rich country. Thankfully, things seem to be changing and we no longer have a President that wants to loot billions into foreign accounts.

Anyways, like I said, I don't feel like arguing. I really like what Fashola is doing in Lagos and I think his methods will work.

To Understand what responsible government is supposed to do, We need to read up on the meaning of the word DEMOCRACY . That way we might get a better idea of what RESPONSIBLE government is supposed to do FOR THE PEOPLE.

The Government is not just there for people who are keeping the law and living in their own houses and working in offices. The Government is also there for the poor who resort to non lawful ways to make a living or even put up small sheds to earn a naira or two to feed themselves with. At least look at how it is handled in states like California in the USA. You might find that the system actually produces good and better results than we have in decades of running the same way in Lagos. When Government provides a situation where both the rich and poor can coexist with the least friction, it is shown that crime rate is greatly reduced, programs and organizations set up to help combat such ills as poverty are better able to work with the people to help solve problems.

dcdal:

Kobojunkie:
Don’t take any offense in what I wrote; I am not in the mood for a fight. I can infer your feelings on this subject based of your post.
In your first post you stated that a “Responsible Government would provide the people with alternatives or better and cheaper options” Which is basically a sugar coated way of saying a Government that does not provide these alternatives is irresponsible”. Deny it if you may I really don’t care. My feeling on this subject is that in an ideal situation the Government should provide these facilities BUT they are in no way obligated to do such a thing. And it does not make them “irresponsible” if they do not.
BTW – How many governments in this world provide free land for their citizens to sell their goods? Not many I would assume. Does that mean there are few “Responsible” Governments in this world?The reason I made the analogy is because your post seems to suggest that if the government uses the same method the result will be the same. That is not necessarily true.

Like I said ,  READ WHAT I TYPED AND THEN SERIOUSLY DIGEST IT OVER AND OVER AND MAYBE you will understand. I gave you HISTORY as reason why we know it has worked the same over and over,  it is time we come up with something different that will BENEFIT ALL PERSONS FOR A CHANGE is my Suggestion there ,  Please READ

Like I mentioned earlier,  this is not the FIRST government to embark on this same plot. I never said anything about giving people things for free but basically spoke of government helping these people by putting up facilities that will help them sell their wares and also force those who patronize them to do it the right way. Claiming the failure we have seen in the same Lagos over the past 20 years with this same back and forth move by the different governments falls under the umbrella PERSEVERANCE is ludicrous. How can anyone who has actually lived in Lagos and seen governor after governor do exactly the same thing and watched the situation get worse by the year say it is about perseverance?? Did you see Lagos Back in the 80's, the early 90's mid 90's and then now?? Take Yaba for instance,  Yaba when I was a kid was not even by the road there ,  late 80's,  yaba was even better than it was early 90's,  then mid 90's it got worse as the traders came closer and closer to the other side of the tracks from the tejuosho,  and then it got worse,  and note that this move has continued even after many governments have demolished stores and even called in the police to throw sellers and their wares in the gutters over and over and over again.

I mean anyone seeing that would at least figure that maybe the best way to deal is provide these people ANOTHER place to go to instead of them being out there on the streets. and that is where I came in with affordable stores they can sign up and pay for.  It is one thing to be optimistic but another to be optimistically silly. Last thing Nigeria needs is not more "E GO BETTER AS LONG AS WE KEEP SAYING IT WILL" people,  but people who actually put their heads down to the drawing board and come up with SOLUTIONS to situations and not more "if we keep doing exactly what has failed over and over and close our eyes and wish some more,  it will happen",  This governor can push for as long as his term is for and the traders will wait for him to step down and they go back to the same old place and maybe this time,  they will be right their on the street for good.

This is one of the things I love about the western world,  and I wish we could for once look to at least copy. Instead of putting plaster on the wound,  DEAL WITH IT ONCE AND FOR ALL,  God is not going to Come down and make it all Better,  we need to USE the brains God gave us in fixing the SIMPLE PROBLEMS WE Have allowed to Accumulate over the years in the name of "THINGS GO BETTER". We do not have time anymore. We live in the information age. Technology age where the world is running far ahead while we are still dealing with things like street traders and water or no water. Nigeria as a whole is at least 25 years behind economically, educationally, technologically, socially you name it. and if we are not careful, in the next 5 years, we will be 30 years behind if we are still dealing with these same problems and claiming PERSEVERANCE. We are supposed to start attacking problems not going at the same old lazy man /THINGS to BETTER WAY in the name of PERSERVARANCE, we can not afford it. Nigeria is Supposed to be among the richest countries in the world. Lagos has the people and the location to make it one of the top cities of the world but what are we still dealing with in the year 2007/2008?? stalls and street traders??

I guess you are loonier than I thought.  This buffoon wants to compare California, a state that has over 10 times the GDP of NIGERIA, to Lagos State.   LOL.  Maybe things work better in California because they have the money to implement projects? 

Unfortunately for Nigerians, Lagos does not have the financial capacity to implement a lot of social projects.  Therefore, they have to wisely pick the social projects they implement.  Right now, fixing the roads, providing clean water, improving schools, providing good health facilities (WHICH FASHOLA IS DOING) are all way ahead of providing a market place for street traders.  So you can stop crying and whining about it.

The notion of "Beautifying Lagos" is analogous to putting lipstick and jewelery on a pig in the hopes that the animal will not be recognised for what it is - a filthy, disgusting, smelly animal that roots about in festering sewage for morsels to eat.

I support the Lagos State Govt.
Some people say its depriving others of their livelihood,but i will say it PUTTING SANITY in the system.

If all these kiosks litter Yankee,i don't think the place would be what it is today.
People have abused the privilege and it is now madness.
Landlords build shop yet still sell spaces for containers and this in every way is wrong.

Talking about profit margin,are those renting shops legally actually crazy?
Are they not all feeling the crunch together?

Taking about the fight against crime,Even the Federal Govt cannot and u are looking up to Lagos State.
Crime is as old as Prostitution so forget stopping it.It can only be reduced and i think they have tried.
the enforcement agents are the ones to blame in this case.
If u drive along the streets of lagos,you will notice the brand new Ford Ranger jeep driven by the police.
na Logos State buy them.So what else do u pple want?

its time to sanitize lagos

Fashola, CARRY GO JO

The most important question to ask in this matter is how those shops were built in the first instance. I am sure many people built shops anywhere they so pleased without giving considerations to the legality of the structure.

I am personally affected by the demolition, but i must confess to you that the government do not have to provide any alternative when the structures are illegally occupied. We can talk about relocation or compensation if shops at TEJUOSHO market are demolished.

El Rufai did the same thing in Abuja some years back and many people were affected, but today, those people are a party to those saying Abuja is beautiful.

Topetope,

The only agreement I have in your posting is the fact that you are my fellow Man u. You said in your post that in yankee we don’t have shops like that. In that country it is not even meant to be in the first place.

You go to Oshodi railway line, Lagos State Govt now planning to dislodge those traders. Fine it’s good. Question I am asking is those thousands traders where do they go from there?

In a more decent and organized market like old Awolowo market, Mushin, govt woke up one day and promised the market people that they want to beautify the market and after rehabilitation they take over their shops, I tell you after completion, everybody was dragged out and the shop were placed on exorbitant prices. My mum was one of the victims of that exercise and up till now those shops are still empty because of the rate. If my mum had gotten no alternative at her residence where do u want her to? Some of them end up by the road side today.

You must agree with me that any sane human being won’t prefer to go to railway line to go and sell no. if by next week now they drag them out of that place another irresponsibility on the part of govt.

@Kobojunkie & yemmight,

So when people decide to commit an illegal act by displaying their wares in the middle of the road, or right on top of railway lines, where they are NOT even supposed to be in the first place, (instead of displaying such goods on the bare ground within the market), do you expect govt. to reward their wrong behaviour by providing them with shops? What signal would that be sending to the rest of the populace? "Just place your calabash, pepper, tomatoes and yams right on the road in total disregard of law, order and safety regulations. . . .in order to get govt. to reward you with an affordable shop?" Do people even realise that there are trading regulations in our statute books? Why must we justify every excuse at breaking the law?

If I was governor of Lagos, honestly I would first of all arrest all those lazy drones that patronise them. If there were no buyers, there would be no sellers. Chikena! If you want to shop, come down from your car or hop down from the bus and ENTER the market to buy what you need. Don't haggle with traders on the road. Period!