The man who led the 'China Must Go' protest at the ASPAMDA Market in Lagos, Obelechukwu, has blamed bloggers for how the public perceived the traders' demonstration.
The traders staged the protest on Wednesday against Chinese businessmen who are now adding retail business to their manufacturing endeavours.
They were seen with placards bearing different inscriptions and chanting solidarity songs with megaphones.
According to Obelechukwu, the protest was to ensure that the Chinese accept a proposal that will save their ventures and keep the market afloat.
He said in a video, "Some social media bloggers don't even know the cause of the problem. So I have come here myself to explain everything. The bloggers misrepresented the matter to the public.
"When we say the Chinese should leave the market, they are manufacturers, and the whole world needs them. If not for them, most traders wouldn't have attained the level they are at. The Chinese help us a lot, me in particular.
"But every good thing has a bad side, and that bad side is what we want to complain about to our market government.
"The Chinese in our market go to their country, manufacture goods there and bring them to our market and sell them right where we sell ours. If you import goods from China based on today's exchange rate... for instance, you import goods for N2,000 and sell them for N2,500 to cover expenses, the Chinese will sell the same goods for N1,000. They don't even sell in cartons. When they started, they sold in quantities. Now, they sell in units. If you want a unit, the Chinese will sell it to you. How do we now sell the same product we imported from China? That's a problem.
"Another issue is that as good recipients of the market, we pay insurance fees and revenues to the government. I'm a registered businessman, and I pay my taxes to the government. The money I pay comes from the same business which the Chinese are spoiling.
"The Chinese go to the places where we do waybills, collect our customers' numbers, and even sell to them on credit."
He reminded Nigerians that the country's laws provide trade boundaries which protect retailers and manufacturers. According to him, there should be a gap between manufacturers and wholesalers, and between wholesalers and retailers and end users.
He said, "We asked the Chinese to create a gap by taking their wares to a place far away from the market so that the business could thrive and have a secret. Today, our business has no secret anymore.
"He said the proposed strategy will enable them to have money to feed their families and also pay their bills, including taxes."
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