Tinubu’s daughter knew about controversial levy, told us to hold on –Babaloja, Computer Village market

Adeniyi Olasoji is the Babaloja of the Ikeja Computer Village Market, Lagos State. He speaks to AFEEZ HANAFI and ALEXANDER OKERE about the allegations of financial extortion against the leadership of the market, among other issues

Recently, a coalition of associations in the market, through its president, accused you and the Iyaloja of the market of allegedly imposing illegal levies, including N1,000 monthly on the traders, in addition to the tax paid to the state government. What is your response to that?

I am also a trader in the market. I own an IT company and I’m also a property owner. Maybe the coalition was set up a few months ago but I believe it is not recognised. We know we only have administrators in the market – the Iyaloja and Babaloja. There is no issue with the N1,000 levy because it is meant for securing and cleaning the market, which we have been doing for a very long time. When I was the Community Development Association chairman for over five years, nobody paid a dime to the community to take care of security and sanitation. They (coalition) are just blowing things out of proportion. The N1,000 is paid per shop and the people kicking against it are doing that for propaganda.

But the traders claimed they pay a security fee to the CDA. Why are they made to pay another levy?

Nobody paid one naira for security to the CDA. I said I was the CDA chairman for five years and nobody paid a dime for security. That allegation is a blatant lie. The man who made that allegation used to be my secretary. So, he knows. You can ask him whether we have collected a kobo for security and sanitation in the past six years.

Is this levy known to the traders and approved by the Iyaloja General, Mrs Folashade Tinubu-Ojo?

Yes, she knew about it but told us to hold on. During the lockdown, some traders came into the market to check their shops or take something out of them. So, we secured the market; we had our security outfit on the ground for 24 hours. We reached out to some corporate bodies; they expressed their appreciation to us and made contributions. They also suggested that shop owners should pay something for security and sanitation, and we explained to them that we had been running the place without getting a kobo from them (traders) for over six years.

But they (corporate bodies) insisted that we should reach out to them to pay a small amount of money. For over eight months, we have been telling the traders to pay, but they have some forces behind them. There are some people that do not agree with the administration of the Iyaloja and Babaloja. The same set of people that protested when we were about to be installed are still going about saying things that do not exist.

If the Iyaloja General (Tinubu-Ojo) told you to hold on, why did you go ahead with the collection?

There was no enforcement because she had not given the go-ahead. The people we told initially were the ones paying. We did not force anybody to pay; they paid willingly. I also paid the N1,000.

The traders alleged that between N10,000 and N20,000 was extorted from them by miscreants acting on your behalf as a condition to offload their goods. Is that true?

It is a lie. When they (coalition) found out that they had a weak case, they decided to say something to make people believe them. Let them come out and challenge us that we sent boys to collect N10,000 from them to offload their goods. It is just a lie because they don’t have a case.

A trader recorded a video showing some people trying to make another trader pay an undisclosed amount of money before his goods could be offloaded…

Well, I’m not aware of that video; I’ve not seen it. In a market like ours, even with the way we control it, you will still find some people doing wrong things. But they are not members of our task force. It’s a very big market and some people will take advantage of it. But our task force members will not do something like that.

What have you done to rid the market of persons making life unbearable for traders?

We set up a special task force to look into it. Anybody found extorting traders will be arrested and the law will take its course. We don’t encourage extortion. I can guarantee that such a thing will not happen again.

Some of the traders also claimed that you and the Iyaloja were imposed on them, instead of allowing them to choose the leaders of their choice. What is your response to that?

The Iyaloja is a stakeholder in the community. She owns a laptop gallery and has been trading in the community for over 20 years. I am a business owner here and have lived most of my life here. If you saw them protesting, you would notice that it was the same set of persons going round and most of them don’t have shops or businesses here. We were inaugurated with the support of the landlords and tenants.

Was the selection process open to other traders, irrespective of their ethnic group?

The selection process is open to everybody. On the day we were installed, the market leaders for Ladipo market were also installed, and the Babaloja of Ladipo market is from the South-East. The nature of the Iyaloja General is such that if you present your case to her and she finds out that you are qualified, she would check your profile before giving her approval.

The president of the coalition said you refused to hand over when your tenure expired. Does that not mean you are acting unlawfully?

First, there wasn’t an election. There was a selection. The tenure I completed was my first term. The immediate past governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, did not call for an election throughout his tenure. I still have the opportunity of staying for a second term, but I’m not interested in that. I have a lot of my colleagues serving their second term. The CDA law states that you must be a landlord or tenant resident in the market. We haven’t had an election, so I don’t know who to hand over to. If we have a credible election, I will definitely hand over to a proper executive council. The Iyaloja and Babaloja are not elected but appointed. It is for life.

What is your reaction to the allegation that you failed to give account of the N50m that accrued to the community as revenue?

It’s a lie. The point is that if we have a genuine executive council accepted by the community, we will hand over and give an account to them.

It was learnt that a CDA system had been in place, why did it change to a market board?

When you don’t have an official administrator in the market, different associations will claim leadership, and corporate bodies would not feel comfortable working with different associations laying claim to the leadership of the market. But when you have the Iyaloja and Babaloja, they (corporate bodies) would know where to go. The Iyaloja and Babaloja head the market board and we have 15 members who are traders in the market. We also have associations, but they are not market administrators. A month after we were installed, a commercial bank came and agreed to work with us and bring their products to the Computer Village market to do business. Our job is to take care of the market, maintain good sanitation and take care of the welfare of the community, which we have been doing.

Was the CDA system not working?

We had to have a joint management with the Computer and Allied Products Dealers Association of Nigeria because the CDA is not legally allowed to collect revenue from the market. As I speak, the association (CAPDAN) is in court. So, the CDA can only benefit from the administration of the Iyaloja and Babaloja; it doesn’t have the right to collect revenue. We also have the Phone and Allied Product Dealers Association of Nigeria that has an issue with CAPDAN, which said it (PAPDAN) should not be brought onboard.

What are the revenues generated from signage and other sources used for?

They are used to take care of the community. We have a lot of security officials on the ground. We also have people who sweep the market every day. We have a very good record; nobody can say their shop was burgled since we came onboard.

So, why do you collect N1,000 monthly for providing security and sanitation when they had been provided for through the revenues generated from signage?

I will tell you the reason. The revenues come once in a year. When we exhaust the money, where do we go to? That is why they (traders) need to pay. The bank account where the money is paid to is there.

Some of the traders complained that you and the Iyaloja have not provided the right leadership through meaningful projects that could make the market comfortable for them. How would you respond to that?

We have solar streetlights which are very expensive to service. Each of the solar lights uses two batteries and we have 83 of them (streetlights). Each of the batteries costs over N100,000. So, when some of the batteries are flat, we have to replace them. All these cost a lot of money. How much does signage give us? The basic amount is N1.2m for a year and that can only provide 12 batteries. There are so many things that we spend money on. All the allegations against me are a product of blackmail, and even those making the allegations have been in the system and they know the truth.

How much accrues to the market as revenue every year?

To be honest with you, I cannot quantify that now.

The traders complained about the influx of street traders who pay N500 to the leadership of the market. What have you as a market leader done about?

When you talk about street traders, the market board has no business with them; it is even against street trading. The first set of street traders were moved to the GSM Village along Airport Road with the consent of the local government chairman. But there is youth restiveness; we have youths here who don’t have anything to do. So, the government said we should allow them. They are in charge of the street traders. That keeps them busy and they also keep a watch out for criminals in the market. When you have such youths from the area in the market, when an outsider comes in, they know. They also work with our task force members to secure the market. During the COVID-19 lockdown, they were on the ground.

(PUNCH)