The diegesis’ setting took place in Lagos, which was then a growing town in the British colony of Nigeria. Nnu Ego, an Ibuza woman from the East, has to survive in Lagos with seven children and a husband who has gone to fight Germans in the World War. In the face of financial privation, Nnu Ego and her children will go to the waterside to buy firewood at a cheap price and later sell it to make a meager profit. As a result, they rely on the proverbial saying that when there’s life, there’s hope. In the morning, they go to school but in the afternoon, Oshia and his junior ones trek the streets of Lagos, selling orange and foodstuffs. This they do every day to help the family and keep life going. It was not a surprise towards the end of the narrative that Oshia got a scholarship to study in USA while Adim was doing great in his studies at home. These young men’s early struggles in life hawking all over the streets of Lagos to make life better and supplement the family’s finance depict the battle for survival in Africa in the face of economic hardship coupled with corruption and bad leadership.
The Bola Tinubu story from grace to grass is not different from what is portrayed in Oshiaju’s tale in Joys of Motherhood. Tinubu is a story of a young ambitious man desperate for survival in the streets of Lagos, helping his mother with her wares after school. When the time beckoned, he moved out of the country in 1975 to search for a greener pasture. President Goodluck Jonathan cannot deny prowling the street for survival. It was not astonishing seeing a young lad in Otuoke walking to school barefooted and to later resume peddling fish after school hour.
In the good old days, young boys and girls move from streets to streets trading and displaying their goods to intending customers. These young traders have various means of announcing their presence in the neighborhood. Some shout what they are selling as the product is being echoed along the way while some sing melodious tune that indicates the type of commodity they’ve got in stock. This manner of trading makes goods available at the door steps of buyers and this has not in any way faded away into oblivion as civilization crept in. These resourceful youths count their profit at the end of the day and channel the money towards their upkeep, perhaps towards financing their education. The trading activity does not in any way disturb them from going to school or alter their dreams. Our people see nothing bad in it since it is an integral part of our culture. So many great men in Nigeria have stories to tell on how they traded in the street to survive the odd. Without mincing words, street trading is a commercial part of our tradition. No wonder the Olu of Ikeja, Oba Raufu Makemi, recently encouraged street traders to return to their work stressing that Lagos State Government lacked the power to displace them. Who knows if the Oba is a product of street trading in Ikeja before he had a breakthrough?
In Lagos State, till now, children are seen amidst traffic jam selling wares, jostling in-between cars and competing in other to outdo each other in other to satisfy their customers. In spite of this gloomy picture, more children still pour into the street to sell one thing or the other. They are children with no future, or so it would seem. But to be sincere, they are children helping out the family. Suffering from inevitabilities of fate, they work hard to make a living.
Governor Babatunde Fashola has spoken harsh words against street trading. He has caused a law to be enacted against it and he has even set up machinery to try those involved. Sometimes ago, he did a good job by modifying the law such that teenagers of school age were barred from hawking during lesson hours when they are supposed to be learning in school. Brightened with enthusiasm, I applauded and welcomed the idea in its totality. These middle-age children should be given the opportunity to be educated while they engage in their trade after school hour. All hands are not equal! Of recent, the governor came up with the State Street Trading law which totally abolished any form of street trading. The new traffic law is neither in favour of it, thus depriving the traders of their daily income. I began to wonder why he didn’t stick to the previous law that restricts the younger ones from being on the streets during school hour while the matured ones trade under conducive and accommodating rules guiding their activities. When it involves children, some tags it child abuse.
This article is not purposely to legislate whether street trading is an abuse or not, especially when it involves teenagers, but its unfair equation with child abuse and the unjust treatment meted to these traders. Child abuse is one thing, street trading is another. While the former is crime, the latter is life. These teenagers are working and not stealing! A normal person with his or her senses will never wish to run helter-skelter in Lagos’ heavy and dangerous traffic selling goods for little profit. No parent wishes to do same for their children. Fate, coupled with economic hardship has driven them to the cliff of a precipice. Consequently, they see no hope in the horizon. So, they have to survive legally without resorting to crime.
Come to think of it, when it’s so apparent that the family is poor and needs help in other to make ends meet, why keep the young lad idle playing around or sleeping away the time that could be converted resourcefully to fetch in money? Would you expect the child to go to bed unfed or rather break into his rich neighbour’s apartment to get some foodstuffs for his lacking family? It’s nothing but an infernal humanitarian abuse and not child abuse if a teenager dies of hunger like those in Somalia. What side effect has hawking got to do with their dream? It doesn’t stop them from going to school or becoming great in life. Most rich guys in Lagos have stories of hawking to tell when they were teenagers until they challenged the status quo. Let me state this clearly, I’m not encouraging parents sending their children to the streets to sell as it is their responsibility to have the children fed and neither am I advocating that children should fend for themselves but the economic condition should be put under consideration.
As I said initially, it’s unfair to associate teenage hawking with street trading. I have seen situations where teenagers were abused even when they were not on the street peddling. This negates the argument that it exposes young girls to all forms of hazards, including sexual abuse. We all know that when a young girl decides to go wayward, she doesn’t have to sell wares on the street before she does that. Albeit, it’s undeniable that these future generation of ours are prone to abuse when hawking but if there’s a strict law against child abuse, street trading will be safe for these teenagers. In that case, they can easily ply their trade without being molested. For goodness sake, teenage hawkers are seldom harassed in Asia. Talk about china, India, Philippines, Vietnam, and Indonesia, teenagers hawk edibles.
I was amazed when I read that street trading is permitted in Auckland, with license to traders to checkmate that they follow guidelines set out in local bye laws in its regions, and a level of protection for consumers. Mind you, it’s a 2008 bye law! All the traders need to do is to apply. For the sake of clarity, Auckland defines street trading as what we generally describe as the sale of goods and services in public places. It includes, but isn’t limited to markets and street stalls. It would interest you to know that Auckland is the largest, most populous urban area and the most cosmopolitan city in New Zealand just like Lagos in Nigeria, yet the Economist World’s Most Livable Cities Index of 2011 ranked Auckland in the 9th place, while Mercer Quality of Living Survey ranked this city of sails 3rd equal place in the world. The best award Lagos got recently was the 3rd worst city to live in the world. Just like Lagos, traffic problems, the lack of good public transport and increasing housing costs have been cited by many Aucklanders as among the strongest negative factors of living there, yet they never outlawed street trading. How come they got those mouth-watering medals? If only Fashola could take a leaf from Auckland administration in relation to Africa setting, Lagos street traders will have every reason to smile. Alternatively, a proactive and safety measure should be put in place in form of street trading guideline to control the activities of the traders and enhance their safety. And this will also make the new traffic law quite attractive to the common people in Lagos.
In his view, Bamidele Aturu, a right activist and constitutional lawyer, argued that it is nearly wrong to be preaching to street traders that they should not engage in their business when jobs have not been created for them. He berated the Lagos State Street Trading Law of lacking understanding of economic crises. On a more serious note, by sending them out of the streets, you are unmistakably making life impossible for them. Upon solemn examination, I imagine after sending the hawkers out of the streets from the business they are accustomed to, which programme does the state have for them to replace their age-long merchandise? Are you telling them to live their lawful business and pick up arms? I quite understand the effort of the Lagos State Government to make the state conducive and healthy to live but since there are no feasible intervention programmes to engage the dislodged traders, they should be allowed to sell their goods. And if the state government thinks setting up an intervention programme for the displaced street traders is a big ask, then the state should be prepared for an accident waiting to happen.
More nauseating about this matter in question are those people who make hue and cry calling for the abolition of street trading. Most of these apologists still stop, at times, to quench their thirst with a bottle of lacasera from a young girl flashing the life retrieving product at them amidst traffic jam. These are bunch of hypocrites!
FACEBOOK COMMENTS
FACEBOOK COMMENTS
- Jessy Brewer Well one way or d other ppl ve lil means of survival dats why dey resolve into street trading .. Dnt see d pt in abolishing it cos of d pathetic state in d country when u even graduate from school u can't get a job also d poverty rate is so high so I say let dem be cos its far way better dan armed robbery . Shikena !
- Maduka Stanley Ugwueze · 2 mutual friendsLet them provide first of all alternatives to the pple bfore taking any step towards abolishing it the street trading millions pays their bills through it, fashola ur taking this issue of rebranding way too far nd witout remourse
