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Penultimate Saturday, traders at the Bola Ige International Market, popularly known as Gbagi Market, in Ibadan, Oyo State, staged a protest against the state government’s alleged plan to sell the market to associates of Governor Seyi Makinde.
The report has it that the protest was driven by concern tradeers in the market that the market would be demolished to facilitate the sale.
The traders claimed that Governor Makinde, through his agents, is causing significant distress by requiring them to pay a new fee of One Million Naira (N1,000,000) for their market spaces, despite already having invested meager resources through cooperatives and microfinance banks loans.
The Concerned Market Men and Women of Gbagi Market accused Governor Makinde of planning to sell the market to his cronies as a final gesture before the end of his tenure, which spans from 2019 to 2027.
The affected traders including; Mr. Saheed Oladosun, Alhaja Bola Okunade, Alhaja Sekinat Oladejo, Mrs. Funmilayo Ajewole, Mrs. Aderonke Kadiri, Mr. Wasiu Idowu, and Mrs. Sidikat Moriyeba Babajide.
The agents implicated in the alleged scheme include Alhaji Rasheed Ajagbe, Alhaji Sarumi, Alhaji Akeem Opakunle, Mr. Bolaji Gbadamosi, Mr. Ahmed Annex Construction, Alhaji Benjium, and others, including Mr. Lanre, the Career Officer representing the relevant ministry.
According to the State Ministry of Trade, Industries, Investment, and Cooperatives, the Expression of Interest Forms for the market spaces were issued to traders upon payment of Five Thousand Naira (N5,000) to HAMEX Construction LTD with a First Bank account number.
The Centre for Human Rights and Social Justice (CHRSJ) strongly condemned the alleged plan to privatize the market under the guise of a Public-Private Partnership (PPP).
The organization, through its Executive Chairman, Comrade Adeniyi Alimi Sulaiman, argued that the market belongs to the people of Oyo State and cannot be converted to private ownership by any governor.
Sulaiman also accused Governor Makinde of planning to finalize this arrangement with his Personal Assistant, Mr. Seye Famojuro, and urged the governor to abandon what he described as anti-people policies, explaining that the responsibility for managing markets falls under local governments, not the state governor, as per the amended 1999 Constitution.
Furthermore, Sulaiman criticized Makinde for allegedly selling significant portions of strategic land in Ibadan and other towns to his associates,recalling a previous incident where land belonging to the agency under the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology,called ARCEDEM,was sold to a developer, resulting in the destruction of valuable farm assets.
The CHRSJ also accused Makinde of unlawfully dissolving the State Chapter of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) to make way for a new Park Management Team, which they claim was done to benefit political allies at the expense of the union members’ livelihoods.
Sulaiman urged the people of Oyo State to resist any oppressive policies by the Makinde administration, assuring them that there would be “light at the end of the tunnel.”
