Poor sanitation conditions threaten public health in Lafia markets

Traders at Lafia markets, particularly Lafia Modern Market in Nasarawa State, have complained of deteriorating sanitary conditions, uncollected waste and alleged negligence on the part of the Nasarawa State Market Office.

Traders complained of what they described as government neglect, citing piles of rubbish, inadequate access roads, inadequate security and lack of basic services, including water.

One of the traders, Sule Ali, said poor sanitation and unhygienic conditions in Lafia’s modern market pose serious public health risks, requiring urgent government intervention.

Ali said uncollected rubbish and food waste attract pests, flies and rodents, exposing traders and customers to potential health risks.

He said the waste, which should be evacuated every two days or weekly, was sometimes left unattended for months before being disposed of.

According to him, traders operating near the landfill are recording losses due to dwindling customers, as the stench emanating from the waste discourages customers from visiting their shops.

He accused the State Market Bureau of failing to respond to their complaints.

Similarly, Lafia Modern Market Chairman Muhammad Nureedeen accused the Nasarawa State Market Office of charging excessive fees without providing adequate services.

He said traders had continued to pay service charges without receiving commensurate services from the bureau.

Nureedeen appealed to the state government to hand over the responsibility of collecting and managing service charges to the market management, arguing that this would improve service delivery.

He expressed concern that failure to regularly evacuate waste could increase the risk of infectious diseases and diseases associated with poor sanitation, including cholera and typhoid fever.

“When the market is clean, shoppers will feel comfortable, business will grow and everyone will live healthy. A clean market means a healthy community,” he said.

Beyond sanitation, Nureedeen said the absence of banks in and around the market has increased safety concerns for traders handling cash from daily sales.

Additionally, Lafia Neighborhood Market president Yusuf Rabi’u said traders are often worried about the safety of their goods, particularly after the market closes.

He said security expenditure could help improve security if the money raised was properly accounted for and used for its intended purpose.

Rabi’u appealed to the Nasarawa State Government to strengthen security at markets and prevent traders from being subjected to unnecessary burdens.

Responding to the complaints, the Director General of Nasarawa State Market Office, Yakubu Ahmed Ubangari, assured traders that the office will intensify efforts to address the challenges.

On the issue of service charges, Ubangari explained that the amounts collected from traders were insufficient to cover all services required in the markets, including waste evacuation, security payments and other maintenance activities.

“The cost of the service they are talking about is not something to get excited about. The cost is too low. They pay between N9,000 and N12,000 per annum. How do you expect this money to cover all the services? It cannot be possible, but we are trying our best to provide them with services,” he said.

The director general, however, promised to convey the traders’ concerns to the state government and seek its intervention to address some of the security challenges.

He said the bureau would ask the government to absorb some of the security personnel into its payroll, which would allow the agency to improve the salaries of remaining security guards and channel available resources toward solving other challenges facing markets.