Fausat Adetayo (Not real name) didn’t anticipate the sudden responsibility that would be on her head, until her husband’s health worsened and forced her into street trading to eke out a living for the family.
Now, she has been a street trader for two years, until few weeks ago when officials of the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation ceased her wares as part of the on-going campaign against street trading in the state. Adetayo was dejected, particularly over how she would get money to help speed up her husband’s health and provide for the whole family. But She was not the only one affected by the recent clampdown on street traders as many recount their ordeals in the hands of the officials of the Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI) in the state.
They accused the officials of KAI for using maximum force and eventually clamping them into a waiting Black Maria. Also, they enforced the seizure of their wares.
During the first week of the enforcement of the ban, hundreds of street traders were arrested by men of the KAI in different parts of the state in furtherance of campaign against street trading in Lagos. Few traders, who managed to escape the long arms of the law, however continued trading with furtive glances over their shoulders.
The traders are always on the lookout for the KAI officials, whenever they carry out their activities in traffic or by the roadside, while some wait till evening when members of the task force have relaxed their activities.
Some of the street traders who spoke to Daily Trust called on the state government to reconsider its decision not to allow them trade on the streets. They lamented that sales have dropped since the enforcement because the number of hours they trade has reduced. Kelechi John, who hawks handkerchiefs and wrist watches in Ojota area, said he is always on the look-out for the task force members. “Telling us not to sell our goods is not possible. How do they want us to survive? We don’t have another means of livelihood other than what we are doing or do they want us to take to crime?” He asked.
Another trader who simply identified himself as Wale said the government is not considerate. “They should be ready to build more prisons for thousands of us, because there is no way street trading can stop,” he added.
But Joseph Emmanuel pleaded with the state government to reconsider its decision and allow them to source for their daily means of survival.
Governor Akinwunmi Ambode had recently announced the enforcement of the law on ban on street trading and hawking and warned that the law stipulates six months jail term or N90, 000 fine for offenders, adding that both buyers and sellers are liable. That the renewed enforcement is in line with Section One of the Lagos State Street Trading and Illegal Market Prohibition Law, 2003 which restricts street trading and hawking in the metropolis.
The ban however did not go down well with many Lagosians, especially the traders who feel that their means of livelihood will be taken away in the midst of economic hardship in the country.
There are mixed feelings on the ban, considering the high rate of unemployment in the country, and some Lagosians feel the governor should have looked for a way of regulating the activities of the hawkers, instead of an outright ban.
Prior to the announcement, a riot broke out in Maryland area of the metropolis after the killing of a hawker by a vehicle after he was chased by men of the KAI. Some Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) belonging to the state government was allegedly destroyed by hoodlums who thought one of the buses killed the hawker. According to the governor, 49 buses worth N139 million were destroyed by hoodlums.
Some residents who spoke to Daily Trust believed that the timing of the announcement on the ban was wrong, owing to the high rate of unemployment in the country, adding that it may lead to increase in crime in the metropolis.
A resident, Akeem Jimoh, advised that, “What government should have done is to regulate their activities, by first taking their data and probably give them uniforms.”
“I wonder why our leaders are so insensitive to the plight of the common man who voted for them, only for them to turn their back on masses they promised to serve. I cannot imagine getting six months jail term or a fine of N90, 000 just because I bought a Gala or table water in traffic,” another resident, Uche Kalu said.
General Secretary of Federation of Informal Workers’ Organization of Nigeria (FIWON) Comrade Gbenga Komolafe, said his union finds it shocking and absolutely reprehensible that at a time that overwhelming numbers of Nigerians are groaning under a biting economic depression occasioned by government’s failure to develop the productive forces of the society through sensitive investment in critical sectors of the economy, Lagos State government is engaged in acts capable of inflicting more pain on the poor and vulnerable members of the society.
“We also find it necessary to emphasize that the 2003 law which is now being viciously implemented violates international law, especially Article 25 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and Sections 14 and 16 of the Nigerian 1999 Constitution.
‘’It is also pertinent to note that the 2016 African Regional Meeting on the UN Habitat 111 which held in Abuja recently under the auspices of the Federal Minister of Housing, Hon. Babatunde Fashola expressly condemns acts that inflict violence on the rights of the poor to access public spaces for the purpose of carrying out their legitimate livelihoods. The Meeting also made far reaching recommendations for equitable and sustainable use of public spaces.’’
The secretary implored Lagos State government to abrogate the so-called 2003 Lagos State Street Trading and Illegal Markets Law immediately and commence a genuinely participatory process of drawing up a new public policy that would regulate the use of public spaces with relevant government investment in the creation of easily accessible modern open markets as we have all over the world.
Comrade Comolafe advised the government to stop forthwith the spate of indiscriminate arrests of traders and the use of the inhuman Black Maria trucks to convey hapless Nigerians to jail, whose only crime is trying to survive on the streets.
