BY AHMED TUKUR, LAFIA – Traders in Nasarawa State have raised concerns that there is a ticking time bomb of congestion looming over the Lafia New Market, warning that immediate intervention is required to avert an impending catastrophe.
According to the concerned traders, their call for caution comes against the backdrop that the bustling commercial hub, once a symbol of economic promise, is now suffocating under its expanding weight with basic infrastructure buckling under the sheer volume of daily traffic.
Some of them who spoke with Forefront News hinted that every sunrise brings a chaotic influx of merchants and buyers, transforming the market into a gridlocked maze with movement being difficult and raising concerns about the sanitation and safety of the marjket environment.
A prominent fabric trader, Hasan Baba, in a passionate appeal to the state government to provide alternative spaces for traders to ease congestion and prevent possible disasters, said the relentless human surge has completely overstretched the facility’s limits, turning routine commerce into a hazardous gamble.
Baba explained that with walkways choked, movement paralyzed, and basic sanitation collapsing, the market is fast becoming a high-risk flashpoint for safety hazards and potential disaster, noting that for those on the frontlines, the breaking point has already arrived.
“We are sitting on a powder keg,” Baba said, and urged officials of the Nasarawa State government to swiftly allocate alternative trading spaces to diffuse the pressure cooker environment before an avoidable tragedy unfolds.
As you can see, movement of people is becoming difficult in the market because of congestion. If anything happens, such as a fire outbreak or any other disaster, there will be a lot of casualties,” he said.
Similarly, John Ogochukwu, who deals in household utensils, said essential facilities, such as toilets, refuse dumps and other services, have been overstretched due to the growing population, adding: “You need to go out of the market to access certain services because of the population. Government must make policies to avoid unfortunate situations.”
On her part, a tomatoes hawker, Mama Favour, also lamented the difficulty of securing trading spaces, saying she changes her location daily because of the struggle for available spaces among traders. “You need to come early to get space, or you continue to move around with your goods on your head,” she volunteered
Forefront News findings revealed that the market, located in the City centre along Lafia East local government, has 1,115 shops accommodating various businesses that into selling household items, perishables and other essential commodities.
However, with the increasing population of Lafia, an additional 412 attachments have reportedly been created, further stretching facilities originally provided for the market. This is as Forefront News
It was also observed that some traders who could not secure spaces within the market are resorting to constructing makeshift shops outside the market perimeters, a situation that is further compounded by some residents living around the market, who reportedly take advantage of the available refuse dumpsite to dispose of their waste at night,
This unfortunate development has continued adding to the pressure on the existing waste management facilities within the market space.
Reacting to the traders’ concerns, Director-General of the Nasarawa State Market Bureau (NSMB), Yakubu Ahmed Ubangari, assured them that the bureau was intensifying efforts to address the challenges, adding that the Bureau would soon introduce alternative arrangements to ease the pressure on the market.
Further explaining that improvements in services and the provision of infrastructure by the state government across the state had contributed to the growing population and commercial activities in Lafia, the NSMB said: “A lot of agencies, companies and other businesses have increased in Lafia, so it is expected that markets will also have corresponding effects.”
