Alaba Rago Leadership Crisis Deepens As Traders Demand Democratic Change

By Sherif Salau

The leadership issue in Alaba Rago Market, in Ojo Local Government Area, has deepened as the traders erupted into an open protest and demanded a democratic leadership change in the market. On Tuesday and Wednesday this week, groups of traders marched to the market gates and later to the Area E Police Command in Festac, carrying placards that left little room for ambiguity: “Lajawa Must Go Now,” “We Want An Election, Your Time is Due,” and “Enough of Shop and Revenue Racketeering.”

At the centre of their grievance is Alhaji Hussaini Lajawa (also referred to as Hussain Lajiawa), the caretaker chairman of the market’s interim committee. Traders claim he was appointed on a temporary basis—some say for six weeks, others for six months—yet has remained in office for nearly five years without an election. They insist the arrangement violates the market’s established rules and has left ordinary traders without a genuine voice in decisions that affect their livelihoods.

Alhaji Adamu Uman-Katogum, chairman of the Cattle-Ram Dealers Association, which accounts for a significant share of the market’s activity, told reporters that the interim committee had failed to protect traders’ interests. Allegations of revenue racketeering, the sale of market land to outsiders, and a general lack of accountability have fuelled the discontent. Many of the protesters are Hausa-Fulani traders who form the backbone of the livestock and food sections of the historic market.

The police response was measured. Officers at Area E directed the traders to return today with sectional heads and representatives to meet the Area Commander and discuss a possible election date. Market sources also confirmed that petitions had earlier been sent to the Department of State Services and other security agencies.

This is not the first time leadership tensions have flared at Alaba Rago. In September, the Iyaloja General of Lagos State, Mrs Folashade Tinubu-Ojo, intervened at a meeting hosted by the Oniba of Iba Kingdom, Oba Sulaimon Adesina. She promised an all-inclusive caretaker committee to calm the waters pending a more permanent solution. Yet the underlying demand for an elected leadership has only grown louder.

The crisis unfolds against a broader backdrop of change. The Lagos State Government took over the market in 2025, rebranded it the Alaba Transnational Market, and began a major redevelopment. Old stalls have been demolished and modern shops are under construction. While the government has allocated some shops and promised right of first refusal to previous occupants, many traders remain anxious about their place in the new order and about who will represent them in negotiations with the state.

For the traders who gathered at the market gate this week, the issue is straightforward. An interim arrangement that has stretched far beyond its original mandate no longer commands legitimacy. They want elections. They want leaders they can hold to account. And they want a voice in the future of a market that has sustained generations of families.

Whether the promised meeting with the police will produce a clear timeline for elections remains to be seen. What is already clear is that the demand for democratic change at Alaba Rago has moved from quiet complaint to open protest—and is unlikely to fade quietly.