From Jonas Ike, Abuja
Many traders who sell motor spare parts and its accessories at the popular Auto Spare Parts Market Apo (ASPAMA) Abuja may not be in the best state of health due largely to the prevalence of food vendors who ply this trade with open food trucks in the automotive market.
The spare parts market located about 4 or 5 kilometres away from the popular Apo Round About near Area 1 in Abuja metropolis is one of the biggest markets in the Abuja Municipal Area Council AMAC since the relocation of the Federal Capital Territory from Lagos to Abuja.
It is worrisome to notice however, the prevalence of food vendors who ply their trade in open trucks and other locomotives as they move about in and around the market selling food to the people who mostly are traders in the market.
They showcase their food items in open trucks, wheel barrows and plastic buckets in their efforts to attract customers who usually buy their food for breakfast, lunch and at other times for crucial meetings.
Upon investigation, this reporter was told that many of these food vendors which cut across various ethnic nationalities are registered as a corporate entities with the Corporate Affairs Commission CAC.
They move from one end of the market to the other dishing out food to these traders upon request and usually give them time to finish eating the food before taking back their plates for the continuation of their businesses.
It is however noteworthy that most of these food vendors may not have been subjected through the fundamental hygiene tests that are need to ensure the health, safety and environmental protection of the citizenry.
An average Abuja trader does not necessarily inquire where and how a food vendor came to the market to sell food but would quickly call the menu upon sighting one of these food hawkers.
It has therefore become imperative for the relevant authorities in the Abuja Municipal Area Council AMAC to regulate the trade of food selling at Apo market with a view to ensuring that every citizen is protected from diseases.
It is possible that some of these food vendors are in the habit of preparing their food items in areas very close to culverts, drainages and other dirty environments that can cause the spread of communicable diseases.
There is no gainsaying that many incidences of death and obituary posters that were seen in and around the precincts of the market is as a result of contamination of food from food sources that were not certified free of disease by relevant the government agencies in Abuja.
In the days of our ancestors, they lived longer and healthier lives because they consumed things that match genetic constitution but that is no longer obtainable in the present days due to this anormaly.
The worrisome cases of cancer, heart disease, waist pain, poor eye sight, piles, body weakness, rheumatism, arthritis and other diseases that are life threatening can be traced to non-higeniec food eaten by the suffers of these diseases in an unsafe environment.