Friday Shopping Day at Mile 12 Market Lagos - Pictures that speak to you.

Entrance of Mile 12 market. As you can see only one lane for customers, traders have taken over the whole entrance and car park. Who then are they expecting to shop from them. You fight to get in paying N400 for car park that has been over taken by traders and also  fight to get out. They frustrate the very people you pray to God to send your way so you can earn a living. I don't get it.

The entrance again. There was an SUV parked at the gate with a sign on it, obviously an interstate bus. How can you block a whole lane and turn an entrance spot to a bus park. Yet LASTMA, market officials and all forms of touts are there supposedly controlling it all. and yes they are all holding batons to appear serious....ummmm. I have my work cut out for me.

Easyshop ladies, me in the middle. Here we are doing our thing. The men (carrot traders) all wanted to get in the picture as if they know what I want to use it for. Notice our rain boots, black and rugged,  these are ours, but you can rent at the entrance gate if you need one. You need it to survive in here otherwise your feet are in trouble. I should have bought funky pairs when i travelled ..... note to self, funkify your gear and stand out from the lot. LOL

How it all started.

Hello everyone, this should have been my first post to introduce my self but it is not too late so here it is.
This is me, Saudat Salami, at the Sony shop in Surulere shopping mall. I got my camera there, 28th of November 2013. That week I made up my mind about what I wanted to contribute to in my society.

I started a food supply company about a decade ago and all those times my daily routine takes me to various markets in Lagos. In the course of doing my own thing and minding my business my inner Saudat keeps saying I could do more. More for me then meant more business, more customers, more money, what's wrong in that. Anyway, through twitter I met a friend that invited me over for a free marketing/business strategy session so we can rub minds on how I would plan for 2014 with my more money, more business mindset.

Two short hours later, after he asked me various challenges and my experience on the job, we both realized I can take on my challenge and help the society solve the problem; Food Safety and Hygiene in our market place. That means I have to be an advocate for clean market, NGO. Haba Habatically! What happened to the more money! more business! more customers! strategy session. He said there is something called social entrepreneurship..... long and short, I can still be an advocate of something I believe in and also run a profitable business by the side. Now he is making sense. :) :)

I then realized the inner Saudat that wanted more actually was asking for me to reach more people but not about business but about the good in the society. Turning my frustrations, challenges and irritations into advocacy for change. ummmmm, too much grammar.

I'm new to this but I'll let my interest and passion guide me. I will be visiting various markets and taking pictures of the hygiene situation, interviewing some traders and market leaders and also bring the traders and leaders together to find out how we can clean up the market and make it a hygienic place for all of us........ Goodluck to me! LOL!

It is a challenge and I plan to ace this.

Have fun people and remember Food Safety Rocks, we can achieve this together.

It is time we raise the food safety standards of our domestic market in Nigeria.

The whole Horticultural value chain in Nigeria from farm to table is wrong compared to our international counterparts even in Africa or West Africa. We need to know where our food comes from; traceability, presentation, packaging, labeling. Why should the markets be so disorganized that people are afraid to go there to shop? You need rain boots for Mile 12 market in Lagos when it is not a farm and the place stinks. Parking is crazy because the car park is not well managed and spaces have been given to traders. If customers cannot access the market what use is the trader selling; and this applies to most Lagos markets. This is beyond Thursday sanitation days; which in any case traders use it to sleep in most times.
Raising quality standards, presentation standards, reducing adulteration etc.
What are the different types of palm oil we have and how do we know the difference? Why is there so much adulteration in the open and why should they adulterate when it is available. Smoked prawns has been dyed when you are buying it, it is hard to know the difference, why should we allow dyed prawns in the market. So many questions…….