The Association of Motor Dealers of Nigeria (AMDON) may be losing between N20Million and N30million monthly due to the bad state of the Apapa Oshodi expressway.
When Shipping Position Daily visited the automobile market last week, it was observed that there was an ongoing road reconstruction in front of the market even though the project looked abandoned.
Confirming this, the National President of the association; Mr Metche Nnadiekwe who lamented the bad state of the road to our correspondent, also called for an urgent removal of the trucks blocking the market spot to allow prospective customers access the road.
He also lamented that dealers at the popular market are suffering seriously due to the bad nature of the road and the trucks parked on the road which made asses into the market very inaccessible for customers.
“It has not been fair to us, nothing is happening here again at Berger the people are suffering. I cannot give you and exact amount that we have lost so far because of the situation of the road, people are not happy with what is happening. Our major challenge is all these trucks and the bad road, if you say we are losing N20million or more, then we have not lost anything. The government should make an arrangement of clearing these roads; get the trucks off the road and all that. It is a major road in this country that needs to be reconstructed”, he lamented.
He also debunked the rumor that the association might embark on a strike due to the bad nature of the road.
“There are no plans for going on strike for now. Even after the Sallah, the market has not picked up it has been like that and people are suffering”, he said.
Shipping Position Daily also recalled that one of the dealers at Africa’s largest automobile market, lamented low sales after the Sallah celebration.
He also said that the traders have been witnessing low sales even before the two-day Sallah public holidays.
“This business, to a very large extent is not what one will depend fully to take care of his family; you must be doing something else to be able to survive. Even before the Sallah, sales have been very low, we are just managing and borrowing money to survive hoping that when we make sales to take care of our families. I am even planning to leave this business to go back to what I was doing before which is selling of clothes”, another dealer said.
Yet, another dealer, Poto Ngbadike also fingered the bad road as the major cause of low sales.
“If the roads were good, the type of low patronage we are getting today wouldn’t have been like that, it is worst because of the road. If you are a prospective buyer, looking at the nature of the road, will you like to come here? All we are saying is to call on the government to come to our rescue by fixing this road to help our own business and save the lives of our clients” he concluded.
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