Mando Market: A Point For Business Attractions

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By; FUNMI ADERINTO, Kaduna

Mando market, popularly known as “Kasuwar Mando”is a local convergent point for buyers and sellers located at Mando, a suburban settlement along Kaduna-Lagos Highway in Sabon Afaka, Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State with virtually everything being brought from neighbouring villages with close proximities to the area.

It is a weekly market that opens every Wednesday with traders displaying and showcasing their wares for prospective customers.

One can get food stuff at whole or retail prices depending on who you make your first contact with.

The expansion of the market was gradual until it became a point of business attraction, not only to the residents of the neighbourhood but to people from; Buruku, Udawa, Birnin Gwari, Mararaba Jos, Rigachuku, Kawo, Birnin Yero all in Kaduna state. people from Kaduna South also,are not left out in the weekly trade interface.

Our correspondent who visited the market gathered that Kasuwar Mando is an all-comodity center and everyone who does business there makes cool money as neighbouring villagers brought fresh vegetables, tomatoes, pepper, carrots, oranges, watermelon, sugarcane among other perishable goods.

In the market, one could see sellers of grains, palm oil, groundnut oil, crayfish, ginger, handbags, plates, fishes of all sorts, meat, foot wears, soaps, onions, buckets, pots, stoves, kitchen utensils, baby products, mortar and pestle, mats, soft drinks, second hand clothes, curtains, books, ice and many other consumer essentials sold in wholesale prices to retailers.

Also in the market one could fix faulty mobile phones and electronics at several outlets operated by young boys, mainly secondary school leavers and probably graduates. A primary healthcare centre(PHC) located at the centre of the market provides several medical needs of the community and neighbouring villages, including nursing mothers with their babies strapped on their backs, captured by the camera lens of our reporter, queuing for periodic vaccines for infants and toddlers.

Apart from people who buy goods for their personal consumption, others buy to resell. Hajiya Hajara, one of the buyers at the market in an interview said, “I buy local rice there at N750 and N800 respectively, depending on the quality to resell in my neighborhood for N1000 and N1,050. “I also trade in groundnuts and other edible food items, a business I have been doing for many years now, “she explained.

Alhaji Musa Haruna “Mai Wake”is a beans seller from Buruku, a town located about 44 kilometers from Kaduna. He disclosed that he had been selling the product considered by many households as the cheapest source of protein in large scale for over 20 years, affirming to have made so much fortune out of it which he noted was the reason he was consistently in the market every Wednesday.

“I married two wives with this business, I have eight children, two of whom are married while others are in school,” he added.

Another seller of rice, beans and millet who simply identified herself as Mrs. Roseline Odey, a mother of four and a widow who lost her husband few years ago, confided in our correspondent that she paid her house rent and saw her children through school with proceeds accrued from the trade.

A lot of people throng Mrs Veronica’s popularly known as (Mama Gidi) stall with kegs of all sizes to buy palm oil and groundnut oil. According to one of the buyers, Mrs Adewale, who said Mama Gidi sold palm oil at N900 per bottle while others sold for N1000 and N1,100 per bottle. Mama Gidi attributed the high customer traffic she records on the premium quality of palm oil which she brings all the way from southeast and south-south regions of Nigeria, adding that she had been in the business for 15 years.

“I used to travel to the east on my own when the security issue in this country had not deteriorated but now I make arrangements for my goods which usually arrive here after three days, “she said.

However, Mrs Lydia on her own part, buys food stuff and every other things she needs for her domestic consumption in Kasuwar Mando market. She commended traders in the market for selling their items without maximizing profits. “Maize is sold for N350 in Kasuwar Mando market but at home or in town it sells for N400 – N450, so every month end when I collect my salary, I come here to do all my shoppings. I thank God for people who come from far and near to sell goods,” she stressed.

Kasuwar Mando market, according to the district head Luka, had been in existence about 30 years ago. “It was agreed by the communities to set up a mini market there, at that time, there was no market in Mando, people had to go down to Kawo Market to purchase goods.

“From the mini market, people started coming with their goods to sell, and thus expansion began until it became a big market and after then, people started coming from other places for their businesses,” he said.

He added that presently, Kasuwar Mando market attracts sellers from different parts of the local government areas in the State.

“Also, at the initial stage, there was low patronage in the market but the people due to their ingenuity and resilience were able to overcome such challenge and build customer base to a satisfactorily level because they don’t make excessive profits which is the surest way to keep your buyers, “he insisted.

Commenting on how the traders get the space they use for selling, Malam Luka said the local authorities usually take N30 to N50 depending on the space as weekly revenue from the traders, stressing that people throng the market because goods are cheap and the market is close to the people and buyers can always get variety of items.

“There is nothing you want to buy that you cannot get in this market especially food stuff, yam and cassava,” he added.

Considering the proximity of the market to the community, a busy settlement, a few kilometers to Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) permanent site which he said had made the market secure thus, assisted in boosting the number of people patronizing it.

“Because of high volume of people in the weekly market,We have had cases of pickpockets who cash in on the busy nature to try and dispossess unsuspecting individuals of their money but are usually caught and taken to the police station located at the centre of the market, “he assured.

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