Low adherence to regulations is one of the challenges facing the retail sector in Nigeria. Following a recent outcry by retailers/ traders at the Oluwole Urban Market at Lagos Island developed by Lagos State Development Property Company, leased to ARM Properties  and managed by Briscoe Properties. Mr Odutola of ARM Properties said the reason behind the recent outburst is due to fact that occupiers has failed to meet their obligations under the service agreement. The Managing Director of ARM Properties went further to state that plans are been put in place to ensure that all parties strictly adhere to the service contract .

According to PUNCH traders at the Oluwole Urban Market, Lagos Island, are warming up for a battle with ARM Properties Limited over what they termed breach of contract and neglect. Some of the traders, who spoke with our correspondent, alleged that the shopping mall was not being maintained and all efforts to bring improvement had proved abortive.

In a letter to ARM dated September 16, 2013, and made available to our correspondent, the traders stated, “We the owners and tenants of this market are bitter about the way our market and properties are being run by the Briscoe Properties Limited. We have been complaining to the said organisation for over 12 months and nothing is being done.”

Leader of the traders, Mrs. Agnes Taiwo, said each shop owner was paying between N50,000 and N128,000 annually for maintenance for the small and big shops, respectively.

She alleged that the traders were not getting value for their money as the asbestos roofs had broken, leading to goods being damaged whenever it rained, while the toilets, generators and elevators were no longer functioning.

Investigations by our correspondent revealed that the Oluwole Urban Market was built by the Lagos State Development and Property Corporation and was inaugurated by Governor Babtunde Fashola in 2010.

The four-storey mall with 400 lock-up shops and 300 smaller K-Klamp shops was then leased to ARM Properties for 25 years, after which the lease may be renewed, while Briscoe Properties Limited was made the facility manager.

According to the traders, by the tenancy terms, all the maintenance issues are to be handled by BPL, while they (traders) will pay for the services annually.

A trader, Mr. Fagazi Fabrima, said the agreement had been breached as the traders were paying the necessary service charges but were not getting commensurate services.

“The elevator has never worked, that is why some shops are still vacant on the fourth floor. Several times we have contacted BPL, but they keep saying there is nothing they can do,” he said.

Another trader, Mr. Akanni Olalekan, said “We had a meeting with ARM and the project manager invited the manager of BPL. The meeting lasted for four hours and they promised to do something about the situation, but nothing has changed several months after the meeting was held.”

He said the traders were contributing money to fuel the generator, adding that business could not go on in the absence of electricity, as the mall did not have adequate natural lighting.

Mr. Pius Anizor said he rented one of the shops in 2010 that most of the traders relocated from neighbouring markets because they were promised ‘a unique’ experience.

Anizor added that the reverse had, however, been the case after most of the shops became occupied.

He said, “We have since discovered that the management here is poor and this is just a reflection of what is happening in the country. People are promised one thing and are given another. The toilets here are shut; you have to find your way outside to relieve yourself and we pay as much as N12,500 quarterly for these services.

“We have an association, came together and complained that we hardly have light. Throughout the festive period when we needed light for our businesses, there was none. We have not had light for close to two weeks and even when they bring the light; they switch it off by 4pm, while the mall closes by 5pm.”

Other traders said apart from power outages, which ought not to be because the mall had more than one electricity generating set to provide light, they were also bothered by the insecurity around the mall.

“People’s shops have been burgled several times when we are supposed to have security here. My shop has been affected twice. On September 12, 2013, I met my roof opened with parts of my goods gone. I have complained but nothing has been done about the problem,” a trader, Mrs. Bimbo Adetunji, said.

Mrs. Oludotun Oyewole alleged that the traders were always threatened with eviction any time they complained.

According to her, all the agreements between the tenants and ARM had been breached.

“They even allow area boys to come here and threaten us each time we complain. I have shops in Balogun but rented this place due to the promises they made at the beginning, but the way they are running this place is bad,” Oyewole said.

She further stated that every available space in the mall had been rented out, including stores for goods, while the traders had to compete to sell their wares.

“All the things I bought for the festive season are still in my shop because customers are not coming in. They have given out every available space to people who sell inferior goods. These people have access to buyers who don’t bother to come into the shops anymore,” she lamented.

Another trader, who gave her name as Mrs. Chidinma Oluomo, said she had repeatedly called on the LSDPC and BPL to do something about the development without any response.

“I go to nearby banks to relieve myself because I can’t use the toilet here. There was a particular time that water from the toilet flooded my shop and destroyed some of my goods,” she said.

According to the traders, their outcry has become expedient because the management of the mall has served them with a letter that the complex will be shut this month if the services charges are not paid.

In a letter dated December 24, 2013 and signed by the Managing Director, ARM Properties Plc, Mr. Wale Odutola, and the Legal Adviser to the LSDPC, Mr. Jimi Benson, the traders were directed to update their account status before December 31, 2013.

“From January 2, 2013, all defaulting shops will be locked by the task force appointed by the owners and remain locked until the outstanding service charge debt and the penalty fee is paid,” the letter read in part.

The Manager, BPL, Mr. Clement Oparinde, could not be reached for his reactions to the traders’ allegation as his telephone line was not available.

The Project Manager, ARM, Mr. Tola Akinsulire, however, said in an emailed statement made available to our correspondent that the mall was developed as a modern facility with elevator, sewage treatment plant, fire fighting hose reels and equipment as well as power generating sets to provide alternative electricity supply for the comfort of the traders and customers.

He said the service charge to maintain the facilities was calculated to be about N40m per year, excluding the cost of diesel and Power Holding Company of Nigeria’a charges, which he estimated to be about N38m per year.

“This service charge is shared amongst the 678 shops based on the square meters of the spaces. However about 65 per cent of the traders refuse to pay the service charge with the excuse that business is slow for them. This inadvertently creates lack of funds to continue to provide services, especially diesel and power charges, which the traders always demand for whether they pay or not.

“In order to give the traders some succour, it was agreed that the service charge be reduced to N25m, resulting to N50,000  per year for the nine-square metre shops, while the smaller shops or the k-klamps pay N12,500. This also led to a reduction in some of the services initially provided at the mall. Most of them still refuse to pay, making it very difficult to provide the required services to maintain the mall.”

He added that meetings had been held in the past with the traders with a view to encouraging them to pay up in order to improve service delivery. “This has not yielded much result, hence, the current situation at the mall. We believe that all of the current challenges can be sufficiently addressed if the traders pay the service charge required to maintain the mall,” Akinsulire stated.

2014-01-14