An industrial dispute that was set off by an eviction notice served by the administration of former governor of Oyo State, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, on plank sellers and saw millers at the Temidire Plank Market, Gbagi, Ibadan, was recently resolved by the current administration of Governor Seyi Makinde.
For Alhaji Liadi (not real names), the world literally caved in in 2014 as a government policy summarily ended his source of income – or so it portended.
Liadi is a plank seller with two wives and eight children, the eldest of these children and the one next to him were far into their university education. The other siblings were at different stages of their secondary and primary education respectively.
Together with his wife, Abibat (not real name), who sells daily-need stuff like ogi, bread, recharge cards, pepper and tomatoes, as well as grinds such stuff for people, Liadi had managed to eke a living for several years, and his trade was all he had to give his children the future they desire.
But that had suddenly come under threat, as the administration of the former Governor Abiola Ajimobi summarily evicted him and his fellow traders at the Temidire Plank Market.
Temidire Plank market is located close to the popular Gbagi Market in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
And he (Ajimobi) meant well too: the activities of the plank sellers, and the saw millers particularly, had been reported to have consistently constituted serious environmental hazards in the community.
It was a tough decision, but the administration decided it would be better to relocate the plank market to Fasade community which it believed would be an alternative location for the plank sellers and saw millers to ply their trade.
The plank market would then be developed into a sort of modern market, christened Temidire Business Complex.
However, the potential loss of clientele, the physical and financial implications of such relocation, the loss of revenue, among other ‘collateral damages’, made the government’s offer unappealing, if not downright unacceptable.
Naturally, this sparked off protests by the traders, and eventually series of litigations by those who could not contemplate relocation.
While some complied with government’s order to relocate, some others refused to relocate, waiting for the court’s decision on the suit.
But the government would not take no for answer; as development on the ‘new market’ was promptly set in motion, even with the ‘recalcitrant’ traders still on the facility.
It’s said that the developer appointed by government even patronized such plank sellers in the acquisition of materials used for the construction of the modern market; but this did not mitigate the discontent and anger with the government.
This was the protracted litigation – and resentment – that the administration of Governor Seyi Makinde inherited.
However, the process for an amicable resolution was started on Friday, August 12, 2022, as, at the instance of the state government, representatives of both parties (government and the traders) met at a roundtable and worked on mutually agreeable terms to end the 10-year-old crisis.
The Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Mr Olasunkanmi Olaleye, a barrister, who represented Governor Seyi Makinde, said both parties had been able to resolve the matter “on terms that are favorable to all parties.”
Commenting on the protracted dispute, Olaleye said, “That location used to be occupied by saw millers at Temidire near Gbagi market, so the government of Oyo State in 2012 decided to have a very big market there and also relocate the saw millers to Fasade community. Some provisions were made for them, but while some people moved, some refused to move; so there was a dispute.
“They filed court case against government in court. Since 2012, the contractor has not been able to complete that project. Government has been engaging them in the last six months, and today we have been able to resolve (the crisis) on terms that are favorable to all parties.
He assured that the Temidire Business Complex would soon be completed.
The General Secretary, Temidire Saw Millers and Plank Market Association, Mr Adeniji, who is also one of the claimants, also affirmed that the body had indeed reached an agreement with the government, after due consultation, though he did not divulge the terms of the agreement when pressed for it.
The developer, Temidire Business complex, Mr Oyebola Okusanya, also appreciated the state government for bringing all the parties together and agreeing on mutually beneficial terms.
He also assured that the project would soon be completed.
He went further to commend the laudable infrastructural and developmental projects in the State, adding that Oyo State has become the Mecca of investors because of the enabling environment provided by the Seyi Makinde-led government.
When this writer visited the erstwhile Temidire Plank Market around Gbagi on Friday, the place was deserted, except for a man of apparently Hausa ancestry, most probably the guard.
There was sign of development, but no sign of ongoing construction work.
At the Fasade location the traders were relocated to, the leaders of the group of plank sellers who complied with government’s directive to relocate spoke with Saturday Tribune.
When asked whether the relocation from the original Temidire market (near Gbagi) had affected their business negatively, one of the leaders of the group that complied with government’s directive, Chief Sayo Obidiran, said the traders had lost nothing to the relocation.
“It has not affected our trade. The reason is that the government that brought us here had already made an arrangement for us to make life easy for us. According to the promise they made to us, they gave us land. They also provided us (electricity) transformer, 500KVA –which is key.
“After that, this land, government did the landscaping for us. If the other group had not been greedy, all our customers/clients would have followed us here. But they insisted they had to go to court.
“And government had made proper arrangement: one man, one shop. Government had planned that they would build this place for us; but before the time government planned to do that, these people had served it (government) the court papers. That was why government said, well, because of the court case, it would have to hold on.
“However, we that know that this is where we earn our living, we appealed to government to have mercy on us; even if they wouldn’t construct it for us, what is the structure they want this place to have? And they gave us sample. That was how we started to construct the shops.”
In his own contribution, the leader, Alhaji Ganiyu Oyetunji , said “If government asked people to relocate from one place to the other, it is for the development of the town. They said that place (Gbagi plank market) had been congested already, and they wanted to use it for something else, modern market. And they gave us a new location, here. Together with those who opposed the government, we sat together at a roundtable, that government had made provision for us, and we had gone to see the place. Let’s go there together and see the place; they refused, insisting that they would go to court.
“But we that we are trading, taking cooperative loans, we couldn’t go to court, since government had already provided an alternative for us. That was where we split: they focused on the litigation; we focused on the development of this place.
“It was when they hit the brick wall that they had to agree to settle out of court with government. 29th of September is the day they were given, that if they could reach a conclusion with government to settle out of court, they should reappear in court. It’s because they have announced that they are settling out of court that they went to liaise with the government for an agreement.
Saturday Tribune sought the comments of one of the leaders of the group that took government to court on the development, Mr Adeniji. However, though he confirmed that an agreement had, indeed, been reached with government to resolve the dispute, he said the group’s lawyer still had to put some finishing touches to the document before he could speak on it.
Also, when contacted on Friday, none of the members of the group agreed to speak on the matter – at least none wanted to be quoted, insisting that they had not been authorized to do so.
Whatever the case, it is obvious that a resolution to the ‘crisis’ has been established; all the parties confirmed this – and the credit goes to the Makinde administration that had decided to midwife this.
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