In the News:
AFRICAN PLANTS AND EQUIPMENT DIGEST:
Owode Scrap Market and the "Economy of Promise Land"
Owode Scrap Market- A Place Where Waste Is Redefined
Have you ever wondered where companies dispose of their junk equipment? What about unused cars, trucks, generating sets, rods, iron bars and building materials? The place is Owode Scrap market near Mile 12 on the outskirts of Lagos. Please follow me as we explore activities going on here.
This scrap market is home to all kinds of scraps you can ever think of. Basically you have a vehicle section and a section for other scraps. In the vehicle section, used cars, both secondhand and third-hand, are seen on display. Also, vehicles whose bodies have been disfigured as a result of accidents or fire find home here at the market. You are not far from the truth if you call the market a junkyard or a scrap-yard. DDH gathered that the vehicles are bought from various sources. Some from Ladipo auto market, others from Apapa and wherever there is unwanted vehicles for sale. Even unwanted company vehicles are disposed of here. According to information garnered from some of the dealers, Owode market is known all over Lagos for the sale of old auto spare parts. In fact, it has existed for over 30 years now and the fame is what attracted DDH to take a closer look! People come to Owode scrap market from far and near to get parts made scarce because their assembly line productions have stopped and the users of the vehicles must somehow continue to maintain them.
At the other section of Owode scrap market, one observes different business lines: in fact, eleven in number. Business lines one to six are mainly depots of scrap iron bars. Welders work on the scrap metals for customers who have purchased them for various construction projects. Line seven is the location for old generator sets and machine parts. Here the technicians who repair the machines are at the ready for any customer who may employ their services. Also visible are used cold rooms, refrigerators and cooling systems. The dealers get them from factories, firms and buildings that no longer need them. Poles for street lights are constructed here from scrap metals. You will see the technicians welding and joining the scrap to make the poles. The other business lines also sell the same items - scraps of all types. At the entrance of Line eleven, was seen being loaded into a shop, scraps of iron pans. The model here is one-man business and unlike the other spare part markets, dealers here appear to be mainly the indigenes of Owode village and its environs, the language of business is Yoruba, for the most parts.
According to one of the dealers, Mr.Olododo, there are over one hundred shops in each of the eleven business lines. So there are just above a thousand shops at the scrap market. One thing palpable about the shops is the construction material. The shops are constructed with scrap metals and iron bars as well as scraps of wood and some are accessible only via a staircase made of iron bars. In one of them, one can see on display scraps of bookshelves and building materials of all kinds. The scrap dealers do not only sell these parts but also solicit to be contacted by owners or factories that may have items to disposed of. In such cases, DDH gathered, the scraps are evaluated and assessed to arrive at bargains. One of the dealers implored the magazine to contact him if we get wind of a disposable scrap.
When we wanted to know how the dealers relate with the state and local authorities, one of the dealers explained that they pay their tax as a group. In fact, the Owode Scrap Market Association collects the tax and pays in bulk to the local government authority. Thus, the authority does not collect the levy shop by shop. The state government too appears not to interfere with the activity going on here. One sometimes wonders whether Owode Scrap Market exemplifies the usefulness of discarded items. Most people will tell you that unwanted items are wastes that are of no more use. But at Owode, the “wastes” are of great value. The dealers receive high patronage and as a result, they would be regularly smiling to the banks. Through interaction with some of the dealers one finds that the secret behind their business is that old items are better, stronger and more durable than new ones. As a result, they prefer to deal on old items rather than new ones. Could it be that scrap dealers are cashing in on the concept of waste re-defined?
The Economy of ‘The Promise Land’
Promise Land! You probably may flash back to the Biblical land of eldorado, peace and tranquility. However, this ‘promise land’ is far from being quiet and, there is no milk and honey flowing here.
This Promise Land is nestled in Ladipo, a hustling and bustling commercial district in Mushin Local government area of Lagos state. Ladipo market or simply Ladipo as it is popularly called, is renowned as the largest auto spare parts market in Nigeria dating back to many decades. In recent times, it has also become associated with imported secondhand four-wheel drive vehicles and associated secondhand hardware
The Promise Land section of Ladipo market, barricaded with a high walled fence, has special business activities going on there. As one goes past the entrance gate, one finds that it is divided into different sections or business lines where various motor spare parts are sold. For example, there are the tyre and wheel business line, vehicle stereo line, vehicle engine line, the radiator business line, generator line and even the motorbike and electronics business shops, all second hand. A flurry of business activities was at its peak when we visited this market; the human population surging in this market space is simply unbelievable because of the sheer number.
The second hand parts and materials sold here are usually imported from Japan, some European countries and sometimes Malaysia and China. There are about five hundred shops in Promise Land. The auto shops are basically sole proprietorship, peopled mainly by Igbo traders. The technicians who work on the vehicles and hardware are mainly Yoruba. It was gathered that the ‘promise land’ section of Ladipo is actually owned by one Mr. Dave who built the shops and leased them out to the traders. Free space that has no structure on it is also rented out to traders to display their wares – vehicles, spare parts or just about anything.
Our chart with one Mr. Eze Dominic, popularly called EZ, a motor spare parts dealer and technician revealed that a large volume of trade is taking place there. On the average he said business transactions worth hundreds of millions of Naira take place daily. When asked about the lawfulness of their business, EZ explained that they pay duties and royalty to government during clearing of the goods at the Apapa port. The vehicle line was filled with recently imported secondhand Toyota Hiace buses, Jeeps and other cars. It’s breathtaking to see the ingenuity of the traders who usually cut their imported vehicles in two to conserve space in the container. The windscreen is usually sacrificed for many of the vehicles to fit in one container. The cut vehicles are thereafter welded together again on arrival at their warehouse in Promise Land.
Such ingenuity develops skill in the tradesman. The panel beaters and auto painters were busy putting these vehicles in order for sale. The Japanese Hiace buses, according to EZ, are millennium (manufactured in Year 2000) buses and thus are not prohibited by the immigration laws. Recall that the last civilian administration proscribed certain over-aged vehicles from being imported into Nigeria. Many of the vehicles, DDH gathered, come in six months after their manufacture date and have expected life span of about twenty years. They sell for about N1.3 million (about $8,600) if bought as a ‘scrap’ from the container. When worked upon and made roadworthy, they go for between N1.7million and N1.8million (about $12,000 or under).
Another spare part dealer at the Promise Land who did not give his name said that he deals on fuel pumps parts because it was in high demand in Nigeria. He said that the problem of inefficient fuel pumping devices in vehicles was regularly encountered by car owners in Nigeria, thereby creating business for them.
DDH also chatted with one Chinonso Chiufo, a unit116 executive chairman of Ladipo Auto Central Executive Committee (LACEC). He deals on Mercedes-Benz engines, vehicle body parts and radiators. According to him, Promise Land is mainly a warehouse where imported vehicles and spare parts are offloaded for onward transportation to the shops scattered within Ladipo, Lagos and other parts of the country. The second hand engines, depending on vehicle type, cost N400,000 for the AC buses, N250,000 for Jeeps and N35,000 for Bluebird cars.
But not all shops at Promise Land deal in auto parts. There are also GSM phone shops, generator shops and boutique shops and, even provision shops. All are teeming with customers and the noise level from the business activity is very high. But the auto market that is generating huge sums of money has come to stay and expand at the Promise Land. So the next time you hear ‘welcome to Promise Land, pause a little and observe. It just might not be the Middle East but a bustling spare parts commercial district of Ladipo in Mushin local government area of Lagos state, Nigeria.
