Why We Will Not Vote For APC, By Ladipo Traders

Why we will not vote for APC, by Ladipo traders
•As Fashola, others storm market
IF the All Progressives Congress (APC) must win the gubernatorial
elections come April, then the party must begin to look beyond the
Ndigbos in the popular Ladipo International Spare Parts Market,
Mushin, Lagos.

The traders, it appears, already have their minds skewed in favour of
the opposition party – the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) -- and this
was evident when governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN) made a rare
visit on Tuesday.

Fashola, in company of the APC guber candidate in Lagos, Akinwunmi
Ambode, Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Ben Akabueze and
Publicity Secretary of the Lagos APC, Joe Igbokwe, among others
showed up in the market around 3 p.m. giving reasons why the
traders should queue behind the APC in the coming elections.
Words had reached the campaign team that the densely populated
Ladipo market, mainly of Igbo immigrants, was already rooting for the
PDP candidates, allegedly as payback for the high-handedness of the
APC government, under Fashola.

Besides claims that the traders had been offered money by their
kinsmen running on the platform of the PDP for State House of
Assembly and House of Reps, the Guardian gathered that the dealers
have issues with multiple levies and charges by the state, without
basic infrastructure to show for the effort.

But the rousing welcome that greeted the August visitors could easily
have dispelled the rumour. The duo of Fashola and Ambode mounted
the roof top of their campaign vehicle to wave brooms to the
'cheering' spare parts dealers and mechanics. Intermittently, they
flung pieces of party souvenirs into the crowd as their convoy made
way through mucky bad portions of the Ladipo-Mushin road, right in
the heart of the market.

President General of all associations in the market, Ikechukwu
Anumalu, in his welcome address was quick to disassociate the
market from the PDP. Anumalu said, "we are all APC. All 37 chairmen
(in the market) have met and have endorsed Ambode to be our next
governor," he said, to a loud roar of approval from his members.
The President General, however reminded the governor and Ambode
of the abandoned roads in the market, perennial call for pedestrian
bridge at Toyota bus stop and the need to pull a rein on incessant
closure of the market at slight provocation.

After Igbokwe and Akabueze had addressed in Igbo, Ambode took the
stage with the promise of addressing all works, either undone or
uncompleted by Fashola, if he is elected. He had made similar promise
at the Ejigbo rally, held on the same day, and in Ipaja, a day before.
Fashola, in his address, said elections avail the all-important
opportunity for the public to change a government that they are not
comfortable with and ensure continuity for others that had done well.
Apparently taking pride in the cosmopolitan nature of the state,
Fashola said the issue at stake had gone beyond partisan politics or
ethnicity or religion.

Like he had been campaigning for weeks now, and also at the Tuesday
rally in Ejigbo and meeting with members of the Independent
Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Lagos State
Chapter, Fashola said the country was in dire strait and "the only way
to save Nigeria is to vote out the present government at the centre."
The governor's hard-knocks really jeered the attentive crowd, who
were also entertain by the speaker's use of Igbo words like Igbo-
kwenu, dalu, ndewo, kwezuenuo and nwayo-nwayo.

The entourage left with the conviction that they had converted the
market. But the convoy had barely taxied out when the same crowd
began to chorus Pee Dee Pee, Power!!!, with a louder cheer that
reverberated across the market.
One of the enchanted spare part dealer, Uche Anayo, said the entire
market agreed to play along with Fashola and his team, but nothing
would change their minds from voting for the PDP, which parades
their kinsmen as candidates in the area.
According to him, the traders are miffed at what he described as
"multiple taxation regime" of the government, high-handed of the
Mushim LGA and failure of road network in the area.
Emeka, a member of Ohanaeze Youth Council (OYC) in the market,
told The Guardian that they had been burdened by many levies, among
which are trade permit, resident permit and lock-up and parking
permits (being an extortion by area boys around the market).
Emeka said: "The market executive wanted the people to support APC
but they will not. We want a government that will cut down on all
these money we are paying. See, they are collecting N4000 trade
permit per person. Even if you are four in a shop, every one will pay
N4000 every year. Imagine that amount from all these people in the
market, yet the road, they did not do," he said.

Another who spoke on condition of anonymity added that the state
government's policy were not accommodating enough. He observed
that the government had shut down the market severally without
consideration for the traders.
"I understand that we have to be clean and properly organised, but
why are we paying all these fees if the Local government cannot put
things in order?”
But everytime we have issues like that, they will just invited the state
task force and close down the market, that is why we will not accept
them," he said.
- The Guardian