We can't leave city and move inside bush, Mile 12 chairman speaks on market relocation

Mile 12 International Market keeps getting vital upgrade in all areas especially with the emergence of its current executives led by the amiable University of Calabar, Business Administration graduate, Alhaji Shehu Usman Jubril. In a recent chat, he shared more updates on issues concerning the very popular market. Titilope Oshunlalu was there.

Q: Kindly introduce yourself and what are some of the achievements you can list since you took office.
A: My name is Shehu Usman, the chairman of Mile 12 International Market and I can humbly say since we took office, we have improved security in the market, ensure less traffic caused by those hawking by the road side and better sanitation all round. The market is in fact very peaceful.

Q: Tell us more about what has changed for the better in Mile 12 under your Leadership.
A: Having risen through the ranks in the leadership of the market, I have been privileged with my colleagues to bring wealth of experience to the running of the market and we have recorded some improvements like;

1. No more trucks of perishables causing havoc in the market anymore as they now deliver their perishables at night between midnight and 1am etc.

2. Our good friends in banks loaned us money to further improve on our services and we are fully online now; Facebook, Twitter etc. People operating here are all registered to our central office hence better security.

3. No more ‘Alabaru’ running away with customers’ goods because they all have to register with our office and wear tags so can easily be traceable if they attempt to run away with goods in their care.

Q: How is your relationship with the Iyaloja Shade Bola Tinubu?
A: Fantastic! Iyaloja Tinubu and I are 5 and 6. She doesn’t joke about me and I return the honour. She can delegate duties to me at will to represent her at events and I never hesitate. We have a very cordial relationship and we all appreciate her support and understanding.

Q: Any plan for expansion?
A: Right now we are doing a lot to the exterior of the market as well as near future plans for building more shops. There’s going to be a comprehensive parking lot within the market soon that will further improve accessibility.

Q: There were talks that the state government plan to move Mile 12 market to a more remote area. How true is that?
A: How do you go to the bush when you have cities? There were issues the government was not happy about and we have massively addressed them. Now traffic has become a thing of the past as hawkers do not block the roads anymore. The petition also mentioned that Mile 12 was dirty and unhygienic. This has also be resolved and now the government is happy. It is our plan to do more, so we do not need to move.

Q: What about the Lagos State Governor, Babajide SanwoOlu?
A: His Excellency, Babajide Sanwoolu, has assured us on three occasions that the market will not be moved provided we adhere to solutions to concerns raised and we have addressed them. Now he mainly hears good reports concerning us. We sent him our plans for the proposed Ring Road in the market and he sent engineers down to have a look already. We are very cordial with our amiable Governor.

Q: You are also prominent in the Arewa Youth.
A: All my posts were elective. As a Youth Leader of the Arewa in the state, I was elected and that was politics. And emerging as the chairman of Mile 12 was through an election too. We work hard to be close to the grassroots and youths generally for progress at all levels. We intend to get better especially when you judge us on what we’ve achieved in considerably short time, with everyone’s support we can only get better

Q: Message to people about Mile 12?

A: Mile 12 is for all of us Africans. We have Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo and other ethnic groups here. Infact, other Africans from Benin Republic, Ghana, Togo etc are here. We work on maintaining peace and supporting one another hence the name Mile 12 International Market, let us join hands to continue to thrive and we all enjoy this special market.