Daily Independent Online.
*
Wednesday, July 07, 2004.
Government should come to our aid, pleads
Alaba traders
By Victor Ebimomi
reporter, Lagos
As preparations towards the silver jubilee
anniversary of the founding of Alaba International Market reach a top gear,
Chief Leonard Okeke, the Executive Chairman of International Market Association
(Electronics) has appealed to the government to give the decaying
infrastructures in the market a face-lift and also provide other necessary
amenities.
Okeke said the need to urgently come to the aid of
the association at this time in particular is because “we are planning to
invite the whole world to this wonderful epoch making occasion”.
According to him, many dignitaries both foreign and local including the
Vice-President of the federation, Alhaji Abubakar Atiku, Governor of Lagos
state, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as well as five other governors from the
Eastern part of the country and law makers from national and state legislatures
would grace the occasion.
Outlining the programme lined up for the anniversary
which is tentatively fix for August 1 to 7, he said there would be
seminars/symposium, football, gala/award dinner, presentation/ launching of
anniversary magazine and documentary, commissioning of a modern secretariat and
raffle draw.
The raffle draw, according to him would be the climax
of the celebration and the first winner would smile home with a brand new Kia
Rio Car, while 34-inches colour television and Deep freezer would go to the
second and third winners respectively.
While promising that the draw would be as transparent
as possible, he enjoined every interested Nigerian to participate adding that
the price has been reduced to accommodate both rich and the poor.
“Our tickets are sold for N100 per leaflet.
Ordinarily it would have been N200 because of the quality of items we are
giving out but we decided to make it affordable even among the poor”, he
explained, stressing that a booklet of 25 copies is sold for N2,000.
He commended all those who have contributed in one
way or the other to the development of the market, just as he specifically
praised the Lagos state governor through the Lagos State Ministry of Urban and
Regional Planning Board “who took the bull by the horn to come here last
week for demolition of some of these buildings” in order to control the
flood that have been ravaging the market for a long time.
He therefore condemned those who staged a protest
against the government action saying they were on their own and had selfish
interest.
