The new Alaba Rago Transnational Market, when completed in the next two years, will comprise over 5,000 shops, an event hall, banks, a hotel, a fire station, an abattoir, a place of worship, a sewage treatment plant, a police post, a recreation centre and a parking arena, among others.

Speaking during the groundbreaking ceremony, Governor Sanwo-Olu, who was represented by his Special Adviser on EGIS and Urban Development, Dr. Olajide Babatunde, assured traders whose shops were demolished for the re-development of allocations once the project is completed within the next 24 months.

The governor called on all factions in the market to support the contractors handling the project for speedy completion.

He said: “We are here today to work together with the Alaba Rago community on the revitalisation, redevelopment and renewal of the Alaba Rago Transnational Market.

“The market has been here for a very long time, and the state is becoming deteriorated, and after series of stakeholder meetings between us and the Alaba Rago people, including Mr. Governor, commissioners, special advisers and community leaders, we eventually come up with the idea that Alaba Rago must be renewed and must be given a rebirth and that is why we are here today.

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“We have just laid the foundation stone for the new Alaba-Rago Transnational Market. This market is a market to be built solely for the Alaba Rago people. It is not for people from the outside. This market belongs to Alaba Rago people. The Alaba Rago people have agreed to work with us, and the market would be rebuilt.”

He assured that all the concerns raised by the property owners and traders would be attended to by the Lagos state government to protect their interests.

Speaking earlier, the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Mr. Kayode Robert, who oversees market management in the state and the Chairman of Iba LCDA, Mr. Yisa Jubril, thanked Governor Sanwo-Olu for bringing development to the grassroots, which they believed would create more job opportunities and beautify the aesthetic of the area when completed.

Also speaking, the Chairman of the Lagos State House of Assembly Committee on eGIS and Urban Development, Sylvester Ogunkelu, assured the people of Alaba-Rago Market that the new market being constructed is for their benefits and implored them to work closely and partner with the government for the success of the project.

In their remarks, traders in Alaba Rago Market, who spoke through the leaders, the Baba Oja of Alaba Rago Market, Alhaji Ali Ibrahim-Malami, and the Deputy Sarkin of Alaba Rago, Alhaji Adamu Umar Katagum, called on the Lagos State Government to have a written Memorandum of Understanding with the market leadership to serve as assurance to them that the new shops when completed would be allocated to affected traders and property owners in the market.

They also appealed to the state government to ensure that the interests of property owners and traders were protected upon completion of the new ultramodern Alaba Rago Transnational Market.

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The order was issued through a joint team of Rapid Response Squad and Lagos Taskforce.

The joint team, which was led by Commander, Rapid Response Squad, RRS, CSP Olayinka Egbeyemi, and Chairman, Lagos State Environment and Special Offences Unit (Taskforce), CSP Sola Jejeloye, met the occupants of the market in clusters to inform them of the 14-day vacation order.

Egbeyemi stated that emerging security reports from the area had shown that Alaba Rago had become a den of criminals stressing that the state government had concluded plans to modernize the place in the shortest possible time in the best interest of the residents.

He stated that last week’s recovery of several guns in Alaba Rago by Ojo Police Division and the revelation by drug dealers that they regularly funnel drugs through the area to several parts of the state were the more reasons government needed to move swiftly to modernise the area for there to be orderliness.

He noted that the demolition of the area was in conformity with government’s T.H.E.M.E.S agenda on Environment and Security, adding that government was bothered by the shanties and the filthy conditions of the area, hence modernising it would be in the best interest of the occupiers.

Egbeyemi beseeched the occupiers not to read ethnic and religious motives into the exercise, noting that Lagos State is a convergence point for all Nigerian, irrespective of religion, ethnicity or tribes.

Jejeloye noted that many meetings had been held with all the major stakeholders in the past and that the demolition should have taken place during the Ramadan.

He added that government was sensitive to delay it in order for those who travelled for the Ramadan to be around.

He stated that after the 14-day ultimatum for the residents to temporarily relocate for the cleaning up and modernisation, the team would not listen to further excuses from the occupiers.

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