Computer Village traders are still complaining, though this time silently over the imposition of Iyaloja and Babaloja on them.
e-NIGERIA! can now reveal on good authority why the traders at the International Computer Village desperately fought against having any traditional female and male market leaders in their midst.
“In the past, we had had a taste of paying levies for every reason, ranging from ‘Iyaloja wants to do weekend,’ ‘Iyaloja wants to go to hospital, among others. These levies sometimes ran into millions.
“There was a time in the past when we were fleeced in the name of Iyaloja, that they were going to make identification cards. Each trader paid N1,000 and the collection ran into millions again.
“But sadly, up till today, we have not got the ID cards.”
The source revealed that before reaching this autocratic imposition of Iya Oloja and Babalojaon them, that their association once asked what would be the economic or corporate advantage of having market leaders from t he President-General, Association of Commodity Market Women and Men of Nigeria, Folashade Tinubu-Ojo.
He said they were succinctly dismissed with the words: “No explanation, it is our culture. It is either you comply or you return to your own state.”
The Computer Village traders had earlier embarked on protest which paralyszed activities at the market for hours, insisting that people outside the market had no right to choose leaders for them.
However, as reported by e-nigeriang.com, Tinubu-Ojo at a news conference on Wednesday, described the protests as ill-informed, and on Thursday she imposed Adeniyi Olasoji and Abisola Azeez as Babaloja and Iyaloja, for the traders.
She claimed that as the leader of all commodities’ traders, it was within her powers to appoint leaders for any market, including the Computer Village.
The market leader denied imposing leaders on the traders, saying she only endorsed as leaders the traders within the market that were chosen by stakeholders.
She alleged that some officials of the Computer and Allied Products Dealers Association of Nigeria, CAPDAN, whose tenure she claimed had expired, were behind the protests.
The market leader alleged that the objective of the sponsors of the protests was to perpetuate themselves in power.
