News Room — Ajifa Solomon
TERMINUS MARKET, JOS—A drainage project, initiated with grand promises of urban renewal, has transformed into a monstrous wound, infecting the lives and livelihoods of several small business owners at Jos Main Market, popularly called “Terminus Market”.
In May, the Jos Metropolitan Development Board (JMDB) dug the trenches to build drainages in the city centre. It has been over two months, and construction plans need to be more forthcoming. The exteriors and entrances of stalls are deplorable.
“I don’t even know how badly the water has affected the foundation of our buildings. We are just hoping that we will not have the building fall one day. I just hope the government intervenes soon,” said one of the traders.
Agu Vincent, an interior decoration materials vendor, dreams of financial independence but is being strangled by the encroaching waters. Like many others, his shop stands precariously close to a trench, a gaping maw filled with putrid water that has become a breeding ground for disease-carrying mosquitoes. The air is thick with the stench of decay, a potent deterrent to customers who once flocked to the market. This has led to a steep decline in patronage.
“Now that it is a rainy season when rain falls, water gets logged directly in front of my shop,” he told JoeyOffAir. “We placed a plank over the trench to help us get to the shop, but sometimes, customers have a phobia of things like this. So, instead of crossing with the makeshift bridge, they just go to another place offering the same service.”
Agu added that after every rainfall, the trench overflows with water into the asphalt road, and sometimes pedestrians cannot tell where the road ends from where the trench starts.
“An old man nearly made that mistake today. He was getting too close to the gutter because it was filled with water, and he didn’t know there was a gutter beneath it. We had to tell and guide him from there,” he said.
Additionally, the trench is so close to Agu’s shop that it has become a constant threat. The filthy water has ruined some of his sample products, forcing him to reduce his display drastically. The overpowering stench of the stagnant water has driven away the few customers he has managed to retain. “Sometimes they tell me to make deliveries of orders so they don’t have to come to the shop themselves.”
This embarrassing scenario is not all that there is. The stagnant water has become a breeding ground for mosquitoes, a relentless menace even during daylight hours.
With Nigeria’s high malaria rate, the health risks are immense. Agu, like many others, lives in constant fear of contracting the disease. The threat of cholera, another waterborne illness, adds to the community’s anxiety. Agu carefully covers food and water to protect himself and his employees, but the overall health risk is palpable.
Despite these challenges, Agu is determined to keep his family’s business afloat. With over two decades in the curtain business, he’s deeply invested in the enterprise.
However, he did not venture into the business due to passion. He had other plans:
“I studied banking in finance at the University of Jos and graduated in 2012, hoping to get a white-collar job. When a job was not forthcoming, I decided to venture into the family business since I had been watching my dad since I was 10,” he said.
Agu’s ordeal is far from isolated. Countless businesses along the Railway Line at Terminus face identical challenges. One owner, echoing Agu’s despair, expressed feeling trapped, awaiting government intervention.
When JoeyOffAir reached out to Julius Dashe, the Chairman of the JMDB Task Force, he said that plans are underway to construct drainage.
“Very soon, they’ll start construction. They’ve gone far with the arrangements, and any moment from now, work will commence,” Dashe affirmed.
While the JMDB promises action, the Plateau Environmental Protection and Sanitation Agency (PEPSA) is taking immediate steps. Barnabas Dalyop, the agency’s Director of Enforcement, stated that his team is actively desilting drains across the Jos-Bukuru Metropolis.
