Shoprite in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital today, shut its doors to hundreds of shoppers who flooded the place for the Eid celebration.
According to shoppers, this is not the first time this is happening, as it has almost become a norm for the supermarket to do so on days that are marked for celebration.
It is believed that the essence of this is to control the untrackable crowd that show up and to also be able to address irregularities inside the shopping mall.
What people are saying about the situation
Commenting on this, some social media commenters blame the state government for not providing enough fun centres for people to visit during celebrations.
@Bpops13 on Twitter said the situation isn’t a good one as children would need to visit fun places during the celebration period. She said, “This is sad because they don’t have so many fun places to hang out and sallah is incomplete without taking these kids out.”
Another user, Opeyemi Ademola, lamented the situation, admitting the city does not have that many fun centres hence the crowd of people that arrived at Shoprite.
Ahan! What are they buying gaan sef?
This is sad tho cos they don’t have so many fun places to hang out and sallah is incomplete without taking these kids out. 🤦🏾♀️— Opeyemi Ademola ⚙️ (@OpShe) May 2, 2022
Also, Adam Adesoji who is an Ilorin resident told Nairametrics that Kwara state (government) needs to come up with innovative solutions that would attract investors, adding that the state lacks exciting centres, tech hubs and development centres which is adding to youth unemployment in the state.
Last year, it was reported that several shoplifting activities took place in the mall following the high population that flooded the mall during one of the holiday celebrations.
What you should know
- Every year, citizens flood the city’s shopping mall with family and friends hoping to get the feel of the excitement on the days of celebration like Christmas, Easter and Sallah.
- Asides from its shopping mall which allows people to shop for groceries, household items amongst other items, Ilorin Shoprite also has other exciting centres like a cinema, a KFC eatery and others where family and friends can have fun.
- The city of Ilorin boasts of tourist centres like the Ilorin central mosque, Owu waterfall, National museum, and Sobi Hills, but the same cannot be said of fun places in the city.
- Apart from Shoprite, only a few fun places are available in the city such as the Unilorin zoo, Succoth valley garden, Ilorin Metropolitan Park and a few eateries.
Only in Nigeria is a shopping mall treated as an amusement park (with people riding up and the escalators)…LOL!
Anyway, the foot traffic could be advantageous if not the reported proliferation of shoplifting on these occasions. Meanwhile, if there is such a lack of “fun places”, why are local private investors not taking advantage of the huge demand instead of everyone seemingly waiting for government. SMH