By Emmanuel Elebeke

A VISIT to Computer Village last week revealed that traders at the popular Otigba market, Ikeja were not smiling home at the end of each trading day.

This is as Vanguard Hi-Tech investigation revealed that the number of patronage by customers has reduced following inability of customers to raise more fund to do their shopping at the ICT market, as occasioned by the recent withdrawal of fuel subsidy by the federal government.

For instance, at some of the popular sales outlets like Slot, RevRev Technologies, Mitsbeach Hi-tech gathered that unlike before, customers troop in their numbers to see the latest products on display but could not afford to pay.

Some of them, who spoke to this reporter lamented their experience since the removal of the oil subsidy, saying that the policy was not only ill-timed but has inflicted untold hardship and pains on them.

One of the traders who spoke on anonimity said “it is quite unfortunate and sadening that President Goodluck Jonaathan upon all the trust and confiodence Nigerias had for him, could afford to take this anti-people policy that had not only added to the already pains of the peaople but has made life more difficult. You can see for yourself that our sales volume has reduced drastically, just because peoples’purchasing power is no longer there.”

He appealed to the government to commence immediate reversal of the policy in the best interest of the masses.

For him, governmnet should be concerned about the welfair and survival of the people ratyher than how much it makes from oil proceeds.

Also, another trader who spoke to this reporter said business is expected to worsen if nothing is not done by the government to address the ongoing problem facing the nation.

He reminded government that the removal of the fuel subsidy would not only affect the cost of transportation and food stuff but would affect the cost of services in the telecom sector, which it had always cited as an example of its deregulation policy.