Odo Oba Market located in Oyo State is arguably the largest 24-hour foodstuff market in the south-west Nigeria. Despite its uniqueness and the fact that it is located on a 12-acre space, it is beset with many challenges. In this piece, SUNDAY ADEPOJU looks at the market’s history, its uniqueness, the infrastructural decadence and government’s intervention.
Located after the popular Odo Oba Bridge on Oyo-Ogbomoso road, Odo Oba Market, founded in 1938 by the then Onpetu of Ijeru, the late Oba Oyinkansola Adedoyin, is widely regarded as the largest foodstuff market in Yoruba land. Foodstuff dealers and traders in the market told Nigerian Tribune that people patronise the market from across all the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria and some neighbouring countries like Togo, Cameroon, Niger Republic, and so on.
Why the market is run 24 hours, every day
Apart from its popular name, the market is still referred to as Oja Oba (king’s market) and Oja Obada (the market established by the king). The king, in this regard, is the Onpetu of Ijeru, especially Oba Adedoyin. The present Onpetu of Ijeru, Oba Sunday Oladapo Oyediran, Lagbami Osekun III, in his interaction with the Nigerian Tribune revealed that “Odo Oba was founded around 1938 as a farmers’ market where farmers could take their farm produce to with a view to selling them. There used to be a five-day interval but as time went by, people could not wait for such interval and before long it became a daily market. The market is operated 24 hours every day.
“It was established by one of my predecessors, Oba Oyinkansola Adedoyin, in 1938. It used to be a market along the road. During the administration of the military governor, Colonel Sasaeniyan Oresanya, there was an agitation that the market should be relocated from the main road because of occasional accidents. So, it behoved my immediate predecessor, Oba Mobolade Yusuf Atobatele, to provide an expanse of land where the market would be and that was what informed the present site of the market.”
According to the longest-serving chairman of the market who acted for over thirty years and the current leader of Isokan Association, Pa Samuel Adeleke Oladele, the market was initially around the Odo Oba bridge before it was moved to the present site due to its rapid expansion and the need to avoid road accidents on the narrow road and the bridge.
Corroborating this, the current chairman of Otitoju Association of Foodstuff Dealers in the market, Olayiwola Oyewo, explained: “Historically, we moved here in 1990. The physical size of the market is about 12 acres and was donated by Oba Atobatele, the immediate past Onpetu.”
Also speaking to Nigerian Tribune, secretary of Otitoju Foodstuff Dealers’ Association, Simeon Adegboye, stated that “So many things have been said about our ancient market. I was born into this business and market. This market is open for business every day, including Sundays and festivals. This market alone bears three names: Odo Oba, Obada, and Oja Oba.”
Adegboye, who is also the secretary of the Princes and Princesses of Onpetu in the market, explained further that, like many other ancient markets, market rituals were performed in the past, although responses of the stakeholders differed on the present position of the worship.
While some affirmed that such ritual performances still occur, others countered it. “In the past, there used to be a place called Ale Ojà, a place where ritual was performed in the market. Since the ascension of Oba Sunday Oyediran, Lagbami Osekun III, the practice has ceased because our king is an evangelist,” Adegboye stated. Oba Oladapo stated that such practice had been abolished long ago.
Commenting on the uniqueness of the market, a cross section of stakeholders told Nigerian Tribune that the market remains a reference point whenever the issue of foodstuff markets in the South-West is discussed. The park management system put in place by the Oyo State government, it is believed, is a principal stakeholder in the organisation of the market, especially in the area of transportation of foodstuffs. The motor park manager of Ogo Oluwa Local Government Area, Mr Oyebamiji Oke Alara, claimed that “Odo Oba Market is daily patronised by people from Ife, Ilesa, Osogbo, Maiduguri, Sokoto, Kano, Ilela, Benin, Lagos, Ibadan, Abeokuta, Abuja, Niger Republic, Togo, Cameroon, Benin Republic, among others.”
Buttressing the importance of the market, Oyewo noted that “Odo Oba market is regarded as the largest foodstuff market in the South-West. All kinds of food items are found in the market. There are yams, maize, millet, groundout, cassava, tomatoes, fruits, yam and cassava flour, among others. This market is unique because of the presence of all these items and other non-food stuffs. It is a daily market and I can also say that the market opens 24 hours.”
Oba Oyediran clarified, “Talking about food and other agricultural products, Odo Oba Market is second to none. In terms of patronage and abundance of foodstuff and agricultural produce, Odo Oba Market is second to none in the South-West. The market is a pride to Oyo State.”
Stakeholders decry challenges, call for government intervention
Despite all these and the revenues generated by the government, the market is facing challenges of dearth of infrastructure that can give it the proper footing. Lamenting the toilet system in the market, Mr Oke Alara stated that “The toilet system has been from private individuals for business purposes. One will be very uncomfortable to use such toilets because they are not in a good state. We want the government to build modern toilets for public use in the market.
“Also the open refuse ground at the back of the market needs to be cleared and this we have updated the caretaker chairman of Odo Oba Local Council Development Area on. This morning, as God would have it, I also informed Mr Seun Ojo, who is in charge of Ogo Oluwa, to come to the market’s aid on this ugly case. We also implore the leadership of the market and governments at various levels to help tar the affected portions of the market roads and, if need be, help renovate the motor parks in the market. We call on other stakeholders to put all the needed amenities in place.”
Nigerian Tribune gathered that among the pressing amenities needed are good road networks within the market, regular electricity supply, regular supply of water, waste vans from the government, link roads to the ongoing new express road under construction, and a commercial bank in the market. For instance, Mrs Bolanle Adelowo and Mrs Ruth Ishola called on the government to assist in this regard so as to make buying and selling enjoyable in the market.
“We don’t have functional toilets and very recently rainfall destroyed some of our shops. We are still begging the government to assist us,” Mrs Adelowo pleaded.
Oba Oyediran told Nigerian Tribune in his palace in Ogbomoso that it is necessary to have a commercial bank in the market. He declared, “Apart from the common infrastructure needed there, the market is still in dire need of a commercial bank to better improve buying and selling. But I will not go there because I made an effort sometime which resulted in litigation and we are still on it.
“The volume of money that enters that market on a daily basis is an attestation to this acute need. By 2005, I approached two commercial banks and one already went to the location which was the source of the litigation. When we started, we aimed high with the level of my own exposure.” He explained that another area that needs government attention is a link road from the new Oyo-Ogbomoso express road.
The traditional ruler maintained that what is delaying a functional electrical system in the town (Odo Oba) and in the market is the 132KVA that “we are expecting in Ogbomoso.” He charged government to expedite action on the project. Until that is in place, he said, there can’t be stable electricity in the market and Odo Oba community.
“Let me say that the market needs the attention of the state government to augment whatever the government at the grassroots contributes to it. But, truly, the market is bigger than what a local government can solely take care of,” he said.
What we are doing to improve state of the market—Govt
While reacting to the state of the market, the caretaker chairman of Ogo Oluwa Local Government Area, Mr Seun Ojo, who also affirmed that the market is unique and popular across the country, vowed that the matter would be communicated to the Oyo State government for prompt attention.
“I’m always moved when it comes to issues pertaining to this market. Recently, a rainstorm destroyed shops. As a concerned Nigerian, I went to the market; I gave them ten bundles of roofing sheets; I also supported the owners of the affected shops aside from individual donations to groups. I contributed these from my personal account.
“We cannot fold our arms because it is a source of revenue to the local and state governments. We have plans to improve the system. Some of the areas we want to intervene include, among others, filling of potholes on the tarred roads within the market, provision of new toilets and renovation of the existing ones. We will try our best. We are going to build modern and standard toilets for the market. On water supply, we will do something. As it is, the market has two boreholes. We can channel and expand the two boreholes like 60 meters, 40 meters, 30 meters left and right with the use of pipes. This will cut the cost and maximise the space. So, everybody will have access to water but it will be in collaboration between the local government and local council development area in Odo Oba.”
“Successive administrations, I will say, have done their best on the market. We would record great achievements during our tenure and through the support from the state government led by Governor Seyi Makinde. When I was supervisory councilor for works under the chairmanship of Mr Kehinde Mofolasere, roads 1, 2, 3 within the market were tarred. The importance of the tarred roads cannot be underestimated at all as they ease the movement of vehicles, motorcycles and people within the market.”
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