Saturday, September 30, 2006

UTC Market

Imagine a large warehouse, remove the walls but leave the high roof above. Turn your mind to the floor. What do you see? Smooth, level concrete? Hell no – picture it uneven and stony, with muddy puddles and broken storm drains. Add a few pits of varying depths, reached by uneven, eroded staircases.

Begin to fill (and I mean FILL to every last inch) the vast space with crooked stalls and ramshackle shops. Stock these with any and many of the following: stationery items, CDs, DVDs, phones, electronics, pedal powered sewing machines, material, tailoring supplies, computers, picture frames, printers, mugs, crockery, printing presses from the 12th century.

Once you have finished stocking, double it, and fill any remaining space with debris – paper, cloth and packaging.

Now you are almost set with your mental model of UTC covered market, Abuja. Just a couple more things remain.

Power. NEPA, as usual, is scanty, so each and every stall needs its own generator, pumping black fumes and filling the vast space with a thrumming background din. The melody to this constant noise is contributed by the TVs that are played full volume in every stall, and the giant rasping sound systems of music vendors. The cables between appliances and generators and lights are about as organized as a plate of spaghetti.

People: Bring in human resource, predominantly male and put them to work. Each task (no matter how small) must be broken down sufficiently enough so that three men and a small boy are required to do it. Add roaming hawkers of small snacks, drinks, watches and underpants. The children of workers play among the stalls, making toys out of the waste.

UTC is dark, noisy and hard on the lungs. Health and safety officers could have a field day. But you can get a lot done inside; as long as you are patient and have the assurance of a shower and a sweet drink when you reach home.