The abandoned Dei-dei market, which is unarguably the largest market settlement in Abuja based on its plan, is yet to take off since about two decades the contract was awarded.
Abuja Metro reports that despite efforts from the previous FCT Administrations, the market, which had in the past, gulped millions of naira, is now rotting away without attention from the relevant stakeholders.
The market, with about 10,000 lockup shops, 400 warehouses, open space for petty traders, public conveniences, restaurants, as well as banking halls, was planned to decongest other markets in the city centre.
Chairman of the market’s shop owners and traders’ association, Tukur Abubakar, told Abuja Metro that it’s exactly 20 years now since the project for the market commenced.
It was started by the former FCT Minister, Malam Nasir El Rufai in February, 2005.
The chairman explained that the shop owners are mostly traders who were relocated to the market from the then New market in the city centre and were compensated with allocation of plots for new shops by the ex-FCT minister.
He said, “The allottees, joined by other investors, built about 75 percent of the shops in the market within just five months of the allocation.
‘’Engineers and other officials of the FCT Development Control Department used to supervise the building of the shops to ensure full compliance to the building codes.
‘’The market was named as the regional market because it was expected to serve other neighbouring states to the FCT within the North central states sub-region.
“The facility has an access road that is linked to the Abuja industrial zone of Idu, where a railway station is located, as well as another road that leads to Zuba town in the FCT.
‘’All trucks conveying goods to the FCT either from the south or northern parts of the country could access the market through the dedicated roads, with a plan to build a trailer park, behind it.’’
Our reporter, who went round the facility, discovered that almost all the developed shops were yet to be occupied by the traders, apart from some few warehouses that are being used by other traders from some neighbouring markets to store their goods.
It was discovered that vandals have started destroying many of the developed shops in the market.
They had reportedly stolen some materials used in building the shops such as their doors, windows, roofing sheets.
They also destroyed some of the pillars to remove their iron rods.
The market leader informed that following the allocation for the shops, every allottee was made to pay a certain amount of money to the Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC) which was expected to be used in providing infrastructures within the market.
He, however, lamented that most of the provided infrastructures that included electric poles, cables and three transformers were stolen.
He said access roads constructed within the market were damaged even before the market took off.
He disclosed that some of the completed shops were being occupied by individuals not known to their owners, let alone the market association as their sleeping rooms.
The market leader said there were also drug peddlers and prostitutes that operate in some of the shops, posing a threat to visitors as well as residents around the nearby areas.
He noted that three offices within the market were allocated to the vigilantes to deal with the situation but the team couldn’t act adequately.
He urged the FCT Administration to intervene and see to the completion and taking off of the market to prevent further damage to the buildings.
What is needed for the market to take off – Secretary
Also speaking, the secretary of the market traders and shop owners’ association, Benjamin Oroh, tasked the FCT Administration to renew efforts toward the completion of the market by providing some needed critical infrastructures as well as replacing the vandalized ones.
He commended the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, for constructing a new road that links the area with the Abuja industrial zone in Idu and Zuba town on the other hand.
He said “The minister should provide an access road from the market to link with the new road, as well as extending the one in front of the market to the expressway. There is also a need to build the parking lots within the market.
‘’All the shop owners that are yet to complete their shops or those that have been ruined by the vandals, should be invited and encouraged to rebuild them within a certain grace period or have them revoked by the authority.’’
Also speaking, the chairman of trailer park in Dei-Dei town, Salisu Haruna Dan-Yobe, said their union members had resolved to key into the development of the market by rallying all their members around the facility so as to make the area busy.
The chairman lauded the efforts of the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, for constructing a new road in the area as well as renovating the Dei-Dei-Karmo Road.
He urged the minister to develop the land dedicated as a trailer park, situated next to the market, which according to him, would be useful to all trucks supplying goods to the major markets in the axis.
He said, “The trailer park that we currently use around the Dei-Dei expressway couldn’t accommodate our trucks, leading some of our members to park along the expressway.
‘’So, if a mega trailer park is built around the market, it will serve as the rallying point to all trucks coming to the FCT from the Kaduna axis. The present FCT minister has done a similar project for the trailer drivers at Trans-Amadi, and Onne in Port Harcourt, while he was governor of Rivers State.
‘’Replicating same here in FCT will address the problem of road congestion as well as providing a source of income to the FCT administration.’’
When contacted, Innocent Amaechina, the head of operations, Abuja Markets Management Limited, said the FCTAdministration was doing a lot to bring the Dei Dei Regional Market alive by first dealing with the road infrastructure leading to the market.
He said, ‘’I am sure you are aware that access has been a major impediment to the growth of the entire hub of Dei- Dei. But thankfully, the FCT Administration has now converted the entire place to construction site. Saburi, Dei-Dei Junction to life camp and now Dantata to Filin Dabo all of which are access to Regional Market.
The FCT Administration is obviously opening up the whole of Dei Dei and the regional market will be one of the biggest beneficiaries of this effort.
‘’We can only advise allottees who are yet to develop their spaces inside the market to take advantage of this move by the FCTA to do the needful so that they won’t be under pressure or even have their allocations revoked. With the level of development going on in Dei Dei today, you don’t need anybody to tell you that it is a priority area for the present FCT Administration.’’
(Daily trust)
