The Tungamaje market in the Gwagwalada area council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has become a symbol of neglect and a nightmare for residents, traders, and buyers as a result of the neglect from the government for the past ten years.
NEWSNGR understands that between 2016 and 2022, surveyors from the Gwagwalada area council, in collaboration with the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), had conducted an assessment of the market with a view to upgrading the dilapidated state of infrastructure in the market.
But some of the traders who spoke to NEWSNGR in separate interviews said the lack of modern shops, drainage systems, waste collectors and an efficient road network has worsened their level of hardship under the administration of President Bola Tinubu.
The market chairman, Mohammed Shafiu, popularly known as Idon Gari, stated that he made several attempts with the previous executive chairman of the Gwagwalada Area Council, Honourable Adamu Mustapha Denze, to upgrade the market.
“Some officials from the Gwagwalada Area Council came with surveyors and captured the market. They promised intervention, but till today nothing has been done; the lack of a waste disposal system has worsened environmental and health hazards in the market,” Shafiu lamented.
He acknowledged that waste collectors were once assigned to the market by the FCDA, but they stopped coming after the women employed to sweep the market were left unpaid.
“Now traders clean their shops themselves and dump refuse on the expressway,” he added.
Odio Ibrahim, a trader who sells rice and beans, said the rainy season is a nightmare, adding that “anytime rain starts, we always run to cover our goods because we have no shops.”
Charity Best, a widow who sells fufu, said the hardship has forced many out of business.
“We used to be about 50 selling fufu here; now we are only 10. I pay N25,000 yearly just to have a space to use my umbrella under the sun and rain,” she lamented.
Another trader, Mrs Oke Doris, described the market as ‘rough, dirty, muddy, and flooded’, accusing government officials of making empty visits without action.
Juliet Ibrahim, who owns a shop, said insecurity has compounded the problem. “They break into shops to steal. That’s why I had to fix the burglar-proof on my door.”
Buyers are not spared from the market challenges, saying the market’s poor state discourages patronage.
Naomi, a regular customer, recalled almost falling into a ditch at the entrance of the market after heavy rain. “The market stinks and is very dirty,” she said.
Emmanuel Ogepu, another buyer, said, “The market has poor infrastructure and sanitation. Whenever it rains, everywhere is muddy and chaotic. A modern market will change the face of the whole community,” he said.
Despite its strategic location along the Abuja-Kaduna expressway, Tungamaje Market has become a symbol of neglect. Traders and buyers are now urging the government, the FCT administration, and the Gwagwalada Area Council to urgently rebuild the market with modern infrastructure to save it from total collapse.
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