By Ofonime Honesty
Almost every attempt to restore sanity and order in society faces stiff, hydra-headed resistance from those accustomed to disorder and chaos.
Recently, I was at Ibom Plaza when the Uyo Capital City Development Authority (UCCDA) anti-street trading enforcement team arrived with police officers. They came in their vehicles. They came with the law in their hands. They came to meet roadside traders who had blatantly refused to relocate into designated stalls inside the plaza or other approved markets after a grace period.
The traders were defiant. But the UCCDA team was not moved. They had watched the drama many times. They knew the script. They knew the actors. So they were unperturbed.
As the team began executing its assignment, one of the defaulters threw himself on the ground, began to shake, and foamed at the mouth.
“He don die o! He don die o!” people screamed.
And what happened? The “dead man” later “rose” to continue his illegal business. Nollywood-type stuff!
Let me be clear. I am not against traders. I am not against the hustle. I am not against the man or woman who wakes up at 4:00 am to buy his goods and stands until midnight to sell them. I know what it means to struggle. I know what it means to feed a family from a small business.
But there is a difference between hustle and lawlessness. There is a difference between trading and endangering lives. There is a difference between selling and turning the city into a pigsty. There is a difference between making a living and constituting a nuisance.
The Akwa Ibom State government did not wake up one morning and decide to punish traders. No! The government saw that the streets of Uyo were becoming impassable. It saw pedestrians dangerously zigzagging on traffic lanes because traders had taken over the walkways. It saw lives lost to preventable road accidents caused by street trading. It saw refuse piling up. It saw the Uyo Capital City losing its beauty and its masterplan. And the government decided to act. You cannot make an omelette without breaking eggs.
But the government did not act arbitrarily. It acted according to the law. Let me tell you why unapproved trading at Ibom Plaza and its environs has no defence.
The ban on street trading at Ibom Plaza is enforced by the UCCDA under the law established by Edict 13 of 1988. Under this Law, UCCDA is empowered to manage land within the capital city, designate sites for their intended purpose, and demolish structures, including unapproved market stalls and shanties.
Then there is the Town and Country Planning Law Cap. 133, Laws of Akwa Ibom State. When a structure is erected without approval, when a market springs up in an undesignated area, when a trader turns a walkway into a stall, the law is clear: it is an offence.
Also, there is the Akwa Ibom State Public Health Law, Cap. 103, Vol. 5 of 2000. Section 4(m) which codifies environmental and public health offences related to illegal street trading, blocking public access ways, and littering the environment.
Ibom Plaza was designated as a breathing space in the city center—a relaxation hub and green zone, not a market. But traders turned a place of beauty into a place of chaos. They converted walkways, relaxation spots, and green areas into trading spots, blocking pedestrian access and creating traffic bottlenecks and mishaps within and around the facility, as well as on the entrances of Wellington Bassey Road, Ikot Ekpene Road, Abak Road, Aka Road, and Oron Road.
Prior to applying the law, the UCCDA launched sustained sensitization across the Plaza, Itam, Nung Oku, Ikot Oku Ikono, and other areas. It did not rush. It did not pounce. Notices were issued. Weeks running into months of grace were given. But some traders are bent on playing the victim when the law is applied to them.
This is why UCCDA must be commended. YES, I SAID IT! Commended, because it is doing what needs to be done.
They have cleared illegal structures. They have removed shanties. They have demolished illegal parks. They have opened up blocked drainages. They have restored the masterplan. They have relocated traders to designated markets. They have provided lock-up stalls at Ibom Plaza. They have created spaces for orderly trading.
They have gone after illegal filling stations. They have gone after illegal telecommunication masts. They have gone after illegal billboards. They have gone after illegal cemeteries. They have gone after illegal estate developments. They have gone after everything that violates the Uyo Capital City Master Plan.
It is not persecution. It is not oppression. It is not wickedness. If the government provides a market and you refuse to enter it, who is to blame? If the government provides lock-up stalls and you prefer to display your goods on the road, who is the enemy of progress? If the government says, “Move to this place,” and you say, “No, I will stay on the road,” who is defying authority?
The answer is clear. It is the trader. It is the hawker. It is the man who feigns death when the law is enforced.
And this is why the government must not relent. This is why UCCDA must not back down. This is why the enforcement team must not be discouraged. Because if they back down, the streets will return to chaos. If they back down, the city will return to dirt. If they back down, the law will become a laughing stock. If they back down, the “dead man” who “rose again” will tell his friends, “You see? They cannot do anything. Just feign death and they will run away.”
We cannot allow that. We cannot allow the law to be mocked. We cannot allow Ibom Plaza to become a slum. We cannot allow Uyo to become a laughing stock among capital cities.
So I say to UCCDA: do not stop. Do not be moved by the drama. Do not be swayed by crocodile tears. Do not be deceived by feigned death. Keep enforcing. Keep clearing. Keep restoring. Keep building. Keep planning. Keep doing your job. But, most importantly, let every action be within the ambit of the law.
And I say to the traders: obey the law. Move to the designated markets. Enter the lock-up stalls. Respect the government. Respect yourselves. Because the street is not a market. The road is not a shop. The walkway is not a showroom. The drainage is not a warehouse.
Let the law be obeyed. Let sanity prevail. Let the Uyo Capital City breathe.
