Traders count losses as Lagos Govt shuts Ojota chemical market over safety compliance

By Godwin Oritse

In a play erstwhile Nigeria is struggling to reboot its fragile economy, traders are losing hundreds of millions of naira to authorities clampdowns, raising concerns astir the champion attack to balancing compliance with economical recovery.

At a clip erstwhile Nigeria is striving to revive its fragile economy, authorities clampdowns are costing traders hundreds of millions of naira, sparking statement implicit however champion to equilibrium regulatory compliance with the request for economical recovery.

The Lagos State Government yesterday unopen down the Ojota Chemical Market implicit alleged non-compliance with occurrence information directives. The closure comes hardly months aft the government’s demolition of buildings astatine the Trade Fair International Market, wherever traders reportedly mislaid goods worthy millions of naira. Vanguard gathered that the closure of Ojota Chemical Market followed disagreements implicit the acquisition of occurrence extinguishers. The Lagos State Environmental Safety and Management Control had directed each chemic trader to get a 6kg acerb pulverization occurrence extinguisher. While the committee offered to proviso the extinguishers astatine ¦ 25,000 each, traders said they could root the aforesaid point for ¦ 17,000 successful the unfastened market.

Despite claims by traders that they had complied with the directive, the committee reportedly accused them of non-compliance and subsequently unopen down the market.

The traders allege that the committee has since demanded ¦ 10 cardinal — ¦ 5 cardinal from each of the 2 unions successful the marketplace — earlier reopening the facility.

The closure has near hundreds of shops nether fastener and key, with chemic dealers counting immense regular losses. Many fearfulness the prolonged shutdown could cripple their businesses, particularly arsenic the system continues to grapple with precocious inflation, weakened user demand, and sluggish growth.

Observers accidental portion information compliance is critical, shutting down large trading hubs astatine a clip erstwhile the authorities is pushing for economical betterment whitethorn beryllium counterproductive. “The question is not whether compliance is important; it is. The question is whether this is the champion mode to enforce it successful a struggling economy,” 1 manufacture stakeholder noted.

For the traders successful Ojota, the losses are already mounting, and galore are near wondering if the heavy-handed attack is the close way for a authorities that prides itself connected being Nigeria’s commercialized nervus centre.

The station Traders number losses arsenic Lagos Govt shuts Ojota chemic marketplace implicit information compliance appeared archetypal connected Vanguard News.