Please, do neither demolish, nor relocate Karmo Market, District Head appeals to Wike

Alh. Yunusa Ashama Karmo

The District Head of Karmo Sabo in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Alhaji Yunusa Ashama Karmo, has appealed to the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, and other relevant authorities to halt any plan to demolish Karmo Market or relocate its traders to a privately owned model market. In this interview with Abbanobi-Eku Onyeka in his office on Tuesday, Karmo explains why the market is important to the community, why he opposes both demolition and forced relocation, and why he wants the government to reconstruct and reorganize the existing market. Excerpts.

Karmo has a very big market which, even today, could not contain the number of people buying and selling there. It is, however, no longer news that the authorities want to demolish it and relocate the traders to a model market owned by a private individual. What is your take on this?
Thank you for the question. We have heard about this, and there was a time we were invited by Development Control. I personally attended the meeting and explained our position.

In any environment, you have the old stock and the new stock. You cannot simply say that because you want modernization, you should destroy the local structures and institutions that have existed for years. Doing that could create serious challenges.

This market has been in existence for as long as this community has existed. It is where our people sell their farm produce. Our women, especially those engaged in petty businesses, also depend on it for their livelihoods.

Initially, the market operated mainly on Tuesdays, but today it has become a daily market because of the development taking place in the area. Many of our people no longer have sufficient farmland, so they have turned to petty trading to make a living.

When Development Control invited us, the letter indicated that Karmo Market was to be relocated to a modern market. We explained that the proposed modern market was built by a private individual. In business, before establishing an enterprise, you are expected to study the environment and determine whether the business will work there. The proprietor of the modern market should have conducted the necessary survey and taken the surrounding community into consideration.

You cannot establish a private business without consulting the people and then later insist that everybody must be moved there.

There is a principle of free entry and free exit in business. I told the Development Control officials that if everybody is forcibly moved there, it could create a problem that even generations yet unborn may struggle to resolve.

I cited the historical Ife-Modakeke crisis as an example of what can happen when issues are not properly handled. We do not want anything that could create a crisis in our own area.

The proposed modern market is not within our community or our traditional control. If our people are forcefully moved there, we could be creating unnecessary tension.

So, we appealed to the government. At the end of the Development Control meeting, we were told that the market would not be relocated, but that we should see how we could partner with the operators of the modern market.

As a traditional title holder, I cannot go from one trader to another asking them to leave our market and move to another market. Whoever wishes to patronise the modern market is free to do so, just as the operators are free to advertise their facilities. But there should be no forced relocation.

There are two issues here, relocation and demolition. Which one do you support?
I support neither of them. This market was not always the way it is today. It started as a community market where people constructed small huts to conduct their businesses. Later, it became one of the revenue-generating points for the area council, like many local markets across Nigeria.

At a point, the market was developed and the area council collected revenue from the traders. As indigenous people, we did not oppose that.

However, during the tenure of a former FCT minister, when there was mass demolition across the territory, this market was demolished. Up till today, nobody has adequately explained to us why it was demolished.

Since then, we have repeatedly appealed to the government to rebuild and reorganise the market because its current condition is not conducive to trading.

Karmo is not the only local market in the FCT. We have markets such as Karu and Gwagwa where government intervention has taken place while maintaining their community character. So, why should Karmo be different? Why should our own market be demolished or relocated? That is the question that has not been satisfactorily answered.

What is the area council doing about the matter?
We have been approaching the area council. Their response has often been that they need to obtain approval from the FCDA.

We cannot force them to produce results overnight. But since this latest issue started, we have continued to make efforts to reach the chairman and seek his assistance in ensuring that our people are not neglected.

Taking the market away from this community is like taking away part of our identity.

The Federal Government has spoken about integrating indigenous people of the FCT. So, why relocate an important community institution away from them?
If you are integrating people, you should allow them to retain the institutions and accessories that form part of their community identity.

When making a demand from government, do you believe in confrontation or peaceful appeal?
We cannot fight the government. What we have been doing is appealing.

The letters we have written are appeals. Even today, we are still appealing. If I have the opportunity to meet the FCT Minister, I will appeal to him again. Even if I have to bend down before him in respect of his office, I will do so because he occupies a position of authority.

The FCT was created on February 3, 1976, under the military administration of General Murtala Mohammed. One of the reasons for creating the territory was to avoid the kind of conflict that existed between the Lagos State Government and the Federal Government.

The area was inhabited by indigenous communities before the creation of the FCT. Historical accounts identified hundreds of villages within the territory.

Was Karmo among those communities?
Yes. At that time, we were under Niger State.

Are you saying that Karmo existed before the creation of the FCT?
Yes. We were here before 1976.

What then is your message to the FCT Minister?
I appeal to the Honourable Minister, in my position as the District Head of Karmo, to look at our plight as innocent people who have no other place to call our own apart from this community.
Even if approval has already been given for the market to be demolished or relocated, I appeal to him to reconsider and allow the market to remain where it is.

Secondly, I am not comfortable with the present structure of the market. We have written several times asking the authorities to come and reorganise it.

If the market is properly reconstructed and reorganised, many traders currently operating by the roadside can be moved inside. This will reduce the congestion, traffic and other problems associated with roadside trading.

So, our appeal to the Minister is not simply to leave the market as it is. We want government to assist us in reconstructing and rebuilding it properly.

Are the people of Karmo united in this demand?
Yes, we are united, although individuals may have different considerations.
As far as the traditional institution is concerned, we are united. The traditional institutions were represented when we went to Development Control, and I served as the chief spokesman.
The village head and other representatives have also attended meetings when I could not make it because of other commitments.

Some people may argue that the Old Karmo community could benefit from the proposed modern market because it is located there. What is your view?
I do not know whether they will benefit from it because it is not their market. It was built by a private individual.

The fact that land has been allocated to someone in an area does not automatically make the market a community-owned facility.

Traditionally, people farmed wherever they found fertile land. There was not always the kind of rigid demarcation that exists today.

Some people from Karmo Sabo had farmlands in areas that now fall under other jurisdictions. When compensation is paid today, the relevant authorities within the current jurisdiction handle such matters.

So, the location of the modern market does not make it the property of the Karmo Sabo community.

Our position remains clear: we are not opposed to modern markets or development. We are opposed to the demolition of our existing market and the forced relocation of our people. What we want is for the government to reconstruct and reorganize Karmo Market where it is.

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