Traders?at?the Alaba International Market have appealed to?the Lagos?State Government?to widen the?road network leading to the market.
The Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the market, Mr Felix Akpunonu,?made the appeal?on behalf of the traders in Lagos on Saturday.
Akpunono, who was speaking in?an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria(NAN), said the current road leading to the market was too narrow.
He described?the market as the biggest in the Sub-Sahara Africa, saying?that?as an international market, there was the?need for more link roads to facilitate human and vehicular traffic and mobility of goods.
He said?the Badagry-Mile 2 Road had been abandoned,?leaving only?the Volkswagen Road as the only major road to the market.
“Link roads like Cassidy-Alaba and Alaba-Rago-Alaba?are roads that should enable access into the market, but these roads have remained bad for years.”
According to Akpunonu, the international market serves?the economic needs of both the?West and South African countries but lacks adequate road network.
‘’As a market that deals with the importation of electrical cables, it deserves, at least,? an accessible road with a minimum electricity requirement which the government can oblige.”
The spokesman,?therefore, called for the support of the government to help alleviate the plight of traders in the market?as personal efforts in the past had failed.
Also speaking,?Mr Paul Emenike, a dealer in electrical cables,?said that?as a result of the bad roads, most trailers conveying containers experience difficulties to offload.
He said that sometimes, these containers fell off the trailers, thereby causing more obstruction to the traffic.
Emenike said?there were no parking lots or garages in a market of such standard, which made entrance more difficult.
He suggested that a large garage and parking lots be built to help clear up the traffic situation in the market.
In his contribution, Mr Emeka Anebo, a trader, said that?at present, the major link road into the market was? the?Volkswagen Road,?stressing?that it was?not healthy for?the market's operations.
He?called on?the government to help?by providing a wider road network leading to the market, saying that?the?challenges were? unbearable. (NAN)