Chief (Mrs.) Lucy Ajayi is the Director General and Chief Executive Officer of the Lagos International Trade Fair Complex (LITFC). In this interview, she told NEW DAWN’s team of TUNDE ABATAN, CHARLES OKOGENE and ADEDAYO EMMANUEL how the complex was able to remit N1bn to the Federal Government’s coffers within one year while the former handler remitted nothing in nine years. She also spoke on sundry issues concerning the running of the complex and the Federal Government’s plan to reshape the facility for maximum benefit to the country. Excerpts:
Don’t you think accessibility to this facility would enhance profitability? More so, there was a demonstration here this morning, what was the bone of contention?
That is not the problem we are facing now. They are fighting against the concession. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government did the concession; it was going to be for 30 years. The new government aborted it after nine years without anything to show for it. But in one year we have given the Federal Government about N1bn. There was a protest here this morning, it was a demonstration. The whole market people came out, I got a wind of it earlier and I had to come very early as early as 5:55am so as to prevent a breakdown of law and order. I had to come out to address the crowd. I went to cool them down. I had to tell them what they wanted to hear
I had to beg them, I told them I would be in Abuja tomorrow and that calmed them down. They raised so many issues. One was that they said Lagos State Government wants to take over the place and be collecting fees from them while they were already paying to the Federal Government. They also raised issues about the consessioning of the place. Those were the two major issues. And I calmed them down that there is no cause for alarm and that I will talk to my bosses. I told them Buhari’s government is a friendly government and they will look into it and they should be calm and go back to their business premises that I would go to Abuja tomorrow morning.
Throughout the time the last concession lasted, what was the reason for the discontinuation?
He breached all the contractual agreement, the first thing was a developmental concession. The revenue was the case, he didn’t develop anything. Secondly, he made lives unbearable for he stakeholders here and thirdly, he didn’t remit a dime to the Federal Government. So they had to revoke the contract after nine years.
Then after nine years it was revoked, can you tell us what difference that has been made that the stakeholders won’t want another concession?
Well, I won’t say there shouldn’t be a concession. What I would say is that there should be the presence of the government in this place which we gave the concessioner to do but he didn’t so we had to revoke the agreement in August. The management took over in November of 2017, so that means we have been here for one year and four months. If I’m not mistaking the first thing we did was to call a meeting of the stakeholders and to tell them the state of things and to tell them that Buhari means well for them and that we are here to find out what went wrong. The government has no much money to put into it, maybe they think they can make money by promising something they don’t have money to put in and they tried it. But let me let you be privy to the directive I was given. Immediately the revocation of the concession and reconsessioning of the place, within six months, that was the decision of the MPC, why they took the decision. I don’t know but I had to carry it out. So we came in here, we actually threw him out. He was forcefully ejected because he didn’t want to leave. That took a while trying to settle down and we couldn’t immediately take another consessioning because they just came out of a bad concessioning. So I had to advise the BPE to make the people know our mission that we mean good and not bad. Before the renovation, the management had made it anyway such that they were dealing with other things that had nothing to do with them and ordinarily be would have things we should continue with that system because they already had agreement with the Federal Government some spanning through 90, 50, 20 years. So that will outlive my staying here but we wanted peace, development and we wanted the government to make money we want them to make money too and have harmony. That was my first assignment here. I had also told BPE we have a 100 room hotel here I don’t know how to bring that to a five star standard, we could outsource or do concession or whatever they want to do with it, we have the mini stadium. I felt with all these we could make money and since they have been paying their dues, when I came in I had to make some of them pay their arrears, it may not be exact because it wasn’t their fault that they were owing. They came together, reconciled account and they have been paying regularly until this year that this consesioning thing came up again and they felt taken aback. I told them it is not going to be immediate. The BPE DG told me I should show them the place for concession and they got a transaction adviser who will advise the government. I told them and they just nodded their heads and said madam not now. When the transaction advisor came in I showed him the arrears under me, I don’t go into their clusters. I am in between the government and them. They are called feedback consortium. They did that and what I saw was a court summon suing me personally as Lucy Ajayi suing the minister, BPE, Feedback, let’s see what they want in court. I told Feedback if you can call them and have a meeting with them. They had the meeting and gave me a feedback. The president of the stakeholders refused to go for the meeting. The secretary went. Some people were saying Tinubu or Iyaloja are coming to take over the place. So many rumour.
So I am going to Abuja with their petitions to the honourable minister, Feedback, DG etc. They are easy to deal with, just be truthful to them, just tell them the truth, they have been deceived in the past so they appreciate when you tell them the truth. They have said if they don’t get result in one week they would still protest.
When they gave him, the conscessionnaire, this place to manage, he started selling land. He gave some land for 25 years, so when I came I was supposed to revoke them but it won’t be fair after paying the government so much. Some N100m etc. so what I did was to tell them to revalidate. I told them I will not revalidate without them paying something because the man paid nothing to the FG. So I took all of them to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commissions (EFCC) to show the EFCC their receipts. He said they did not pay him so I took their names and took them to the EFCC with their receipts because he told EFCC they didn’t pay him. I had to come with a human face and asked them to pay some percentage to the FG as a revalidation fee. We calculated what he was to pay to the FG and it went to N6.5bn for the nine years. So I told them to just pay something. So that when the new concessionnair comes they would be protected. They were fine that way. They are now not stakeholders of the concessionnaire but of the FG.
Going down memory lane, they had to go to Lagos to beg these people to come to the Trade Fair Complex and develop the place. It was all bush then and den of robbers in the past. So you cannot now beg them to come and treat them badly. It is not their fault; you now want to send them away. They had paid so much and I want to put myself in their shoes.
All the money made here goes into the TSA they only bring their tellers, yet I still have overhead to pay.
But you have subvention from the Federal Government?
Yes. The only thing that comes here is that entrance fee and when they come they remove it and take it to TSA we can’t touch the money. I can’t go to TSA and collect money. I run overhead here and within one month debt have taken everything and you have to look for money. Last year, we only had overhead of six months. Since November we didn’t have. From January we had no dine but I have to run this office or I resign.
But there is FG subvention, what happens to that?
Yes there is supposed to be 20% or 30% for those generating revenue but they didn’t approve it for me because they want to do concession for the place.
What do you think made Mr. President to single you out for this appointment?
You should probably ask what made him single me out as the only female to be at the merger talk. If you can answer that then you have answered what made him to single me out for this job or appointment. Out of the 18 member committee of the CPC I was the only woman on the merger talks that formed APC. So I am sure he had made up his mind that whatever thing he is doing, Lucy Ajayi, must be there, I don’t know.
What has been the reactions of your peers towards your appointment?
Most people didn’t know this is a Federal parastatal, this position is equivalence to a DG, they didn’t look at it as that, they were thinking I was given a job of the secretary of a market. They now think differently. Mine is ED/CEO, meaning I can defend a budget. I have the last say here. Some of my colleagues are just ED and not CEO. They now see things differently. They now know I am not market secretary. They see me in meetings of CEOs. In my appointment they see Executive Secretary. They are now happy for me, we were together all through the campaign period. They are wishing me well. That is why you don’t pay evil for evil.
Are you expecting something better?
Everybody would expect something better but I’m not complaining about where I am now. I think Mr. President know I can do it that is why he put me here. I didn’t lobby for it, so I’m not complaining, I have always loved challenges anyway, I have always been in challenging environment. May be they think I can cope and may be they know too this place is like this.
During the election campaign, you played a very active part. I know your campaign in Mile 12, the question is how were you able to galvanize so many people in a market that so many people dread?
Yes, I played an active role during the campaign and I should. Your good work will speak well for you, there are things I do and go away with. I don’t think other EDs would do that. You can see I am an advocate for women now, but you see I want women may be because I am a woman, I want them to be in positions like this. We massage the male ego, I got here not being a super woman but being their sister, their mother, I feel their pains, bringing warmth into their hearts. Somebody actually told me you think you will just tell us to sit down and we sit down? They don’t know what we went through. People just listen to a woman because of her disposition the warmth you bring to the table, they just want to make them assistant to the men, just to tell him calm down, that is the way God has made it. There is the ego thing. They abuse me, I beg them, I more or less beg the money out of their pockets, I tell them if you cannot pay the 1m today why don’t you split it. We are their mothers we know how to do it, we pity them we know they need to take money back home, so I think they need to put more women in positions where there is challenges. When they come and they see it’s a woman there they would say if not that you are a woman…if they met a man there they would flex muscles. I use more of petting them that is why they can’t hurt me. I beg them; don’t let me take this action. I think women know how to do it, we have that resilient. I think it’s more of a relationship thing, family thing and we will get there.
Given an opportunity to stay longer here what impact do you think you will leave?
I have already left some, I have been able to bring the complex back to the Federal Government. I think they have tried to do that several years back. The management spent nine years in Abuja. They tried to send the man out, even after the revocation. It has to go to the National Assembly. Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola Yayi tried, his committee tried a lot in helping, I must say this. They have tied to do this for nine years. We are still jubilating. They are still jubilating for 10 years they have not gone to defend the budget. And they have not had renovation like this. Including the road, now see what is happening, they have been doing palliative measure, the stakeholders have been trying pouring sand so it can be motorable but now the road is going to be fixed. We want to do a permanent thing, I’m trying to do interlocking which is better and easier to maintain. The money we have can only do 850metres, not up to a kilometer. It’s a continuous job. At least if we spend the next money the government would give us on it, knowing the money is safe. The Buhari government has tried. You can see the change.
Haa your effort brought back the LCCI to organis the trade fair here?
When I look at the facts on ground, I held a meeting with NACIMA, I told them no, I thought the hall would be outsourced. The hall is in a bad shape, there are about eight halls, I wouldn’t want to give out the main arena because of when we would need it. It’s not just doing the road; I need to fix where they would put their wares. But we have to look at the next one year. If we are not going to do concession, doing concession would bring more money to the purse. This year, I told them to rule it out. By next year we might be able to embark on it and by that time the major road too would have been fixed.
I read somewhere last year when you said the outfit made about N500m within the first quarter. Should we expect such feat again this year or something even higher?
I wasn’t at full capacity then. Let me tell you how it happened. That money was as a result of debt drive, arrears of about nine years. That was how we got the money it wasn’t from the actual lease. They cannot pay, they had issues they were in court. Stakeholders were paying to him. There were about five stakeholders when he came and I inherited over 30 stakeholders now. I don’t want to throw them away, that time they had five major stakeholders before.
This man that remitted nothing to the Federal Government for nine years, what has been done about him?
I think BPE can answer that. When I came I took him to EFCC, he was detained for three weeks and they left him on health ground. Mine was to take him there; I am not a debt collector. Since they have successfully taken him out of my way, mine is to remain focus. BPE was given the assignment to make him pay the N6.5bn he owed. May be when you get to the DG of BPE you can ask him what he has done on that and I couldn’t hold him more than what I have done. He was even actually charged to court, but this same person has taken me to court after he came out, walking freely. He just mustn’t come near my complex.
Is he not dangerous to the system?
He is but that is why I pay policemen money every day to keep this complex secured.
From your subvention?
Not from my subvention, from goodwill, from overhead too, when I run out of my overheads I beg the stakeholders, help your sister. They come and give the management; they would say they know we don’t have money. And they help us. We are like family and that is why I can’t throw them out. They would have done this protest and I would have gone to sleep in my house but I can’t afford to do that.
Can you tell us more about your chieftaincy title? Have you been installed?
I have one already and another one is coming. Do you know I forget I’m a chief? They forced me to be wearing the hand bead; sometime they call me chief I don’t even know. This one is from Isolo. The Yeye Oge the other one is from Trade Fair area. Abule Ado, the man said I have done well for the community. It is the Yeye Mesho, almost like the other one, it means Beautiful Mother of the kingdom.
Recently it was International Women’s Day did you celebrate it?
I didn’t because I was in Daura, I missed it.
With your involvement in politics how have you touched the women especially with the publication of Pulse that you are one of the 35 female appointees in the Buhari government?
I don’t know how they got that one, I was happy somebody is seeing what I am doing. I saw it in the Pulse. I stared my political career as a grass rooter. I’m a grassroots parson, I’m not just a politician, I am a grass rooter in Koshofe. The whole of Koshofe and I have the women under me too. I started in CPC, I was fighting PDP and ACAN and it wasn’t easy, it was tough. Now we are in the same boat. We still see ourselves as different stepmothers and one father. So we still keep our structure. We still have our CPC structure, we still know ourselves. What has they given CPC? But it’s okay it is marriage of convenience.
So after now are we expecting you back in the field?
I’m still in the field, I just came back. You didn’t come during campaign; I was right in the field. That field gave me this position. It brought me to this place. If it was PDP in power do you think I would be here today? They would beat me out of here. By 2018 November I had made a billion Naira in one year one month I got here. Pre and post I don’t think they have ever made a billion in Trade Fair, since 1976. I’m not at full capacity. The halls are there, the mini stadium is there, the 100 room hotel is there, not being used. Side B is there, nothing is happening there and the guy vandalized everything. It is better to outsource it or concession it out and the person pays the government. This place is too big to be run by one person. It was concession for 40 billion; I read it somewhere that if it is to be on concession it would cost about 300billion. It would be easier to concession it in parts. The whole of side B we don’t collect a dime. If you have money in your TSA and it is not in your Consolidated Revenue Account the government won’t have access to it. So out of my N1bn then I transferred N840m. as at two weeks ago I have transferred N190m. so I just asked them to check my TSA now, I think I have about N72m. they are still paying, every day they pay.
