• Revealing story of out-of-school-children hawking on Lagos traffic
By Jet Stanley Madu
At an age when children in other climes are busy in classrooms, millions of Nigerian children and youths are schooling on the streets or busy highways. In major cities, they run after fast moving vehicles with their wares, while others sit idly in dingy locations begging for alms. Sadly, about 95 percent of them are of school age, spread across the country.
Sun Education reporter recently took a step into the world of street hawkers and got shocking details. Majority of the street hawkers interviewed dropped out from the primary school.
Usman Aliu as a teenager left his home state, Kebbi, to Lagos without completing his primary school. He sells table water at Marina, Lagos Island, running after commutters on the busy traffic to sell his wares.
He was toiling on the busy road one Monday morning when the Sun Education reporter accosted him.
Aliu looked ruffled and unkempt and shuffled his feet backwards when he saw the voice recorder in the hand of the reporter. His suspicion was quite understable. Since the officials of Kick Against Independence (KAI) in Lagos State launched zero tolerance for street hawking, Aliu and other hawkers had learnt to be vigilante with his wares or risk being arrested.
When the reporter assured him that she meant no harm, Aliu spoke poor English, blending the roadside conversation with his native Hausa language. According to him, he left Kebbi State two years ago for Lagos to work and support his family. According to him, he never went beyond primary school because his parents were too poor to fund his education.
“Ba kudi” “no money,” he responded to why he was not in school. He further explained how he started his street business with N100 and now, makes close to N1000 gain on a good day.
Aliu further explained that his father had four wives and many children. He claimed to have followed his relative selling goods at Idumota to Lagos State.
But when this reporter demanded to see his brother that brought him to Lagos and left him to become a street hawker at a young age, he lowered his eyes. When pressed to take the reporter to his brother in Idumota, Aliu flared up, saying that going to see his brother would hinder the day’s business.
The journey to Idumota later commenced on a cheerful note when the reporter offered to buy off all his wares for the day. Sadly, the story changed when the curious reporter and Aliu got to Idumota. After combing virtually every nook and cranny of Idumota, there was no sight of Aliu’s brother. It was at that point that he revealed that he joined cattle traders in their lorry, as they were bringing their goods to lagos. It was not clear whether Aliu had the courtesy of telling his parents that he was leaving home for the supposed Centre of Excellence. It was in Lagos that he got initiated into street life, and soon learnt how to pick the pieces of hope in the city.
Twelve-year-old Pascaline was busy selling fish at Inner Marina by First Bank, opposite Church House, Pascaline, when the reporter walked up to her. Her face brightened as she quickly beckoned on her to buy the fish at fair price.
Pascaline came from Egun in Seme, a border town between Nigeria and Benin Republic. Communicating with her was tough as the only English word she understands was fish.
Through an interpreter, she said she live with her aunt at Water Side, in Sankokodi, Tapa in Lagos. Every day, she carries a basket of fish by boat from Tapa to Lagos Island for sale. She claimed to have left her education at Primary 3 in Seme and has never been to school ever since she came to live in Lagos. A woman, who admitted buying fish regularly from Pascaline, said the 12-year-old gil was a regular fish seller at that spot.
Lagos is a metropolitan mega city with exploding population. To the satisfaction of street hawkers, the collapsed state of some busy roads encourages their brisk business. The human and vehicular traffic means good business, as they take over the road with assorted wares.
As early as 4.30 am, gridlock takes over some major Lagos roads. The sight of heavy traffic could be distressing to those going to work but it is a prayer answered for street hawkers. In the cause of this investigation, it was gathered that some of these street hawkers set out for their business as early as 5.00 – 6.00am everyday till dusk.
At Ojo Local Government Area, Sunday Nwafor, a bright promising young man, stood on the road with his wares. A native of Ogbala in Izzi Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, Nwafor had his childhood education terminated in Primary 5, the level his parents could afford. With no money for school, he hopped in a bus to Lagos, where he now sells musical CDs on chaotic traffic at Iyana-Iba.
Nwafor, 21, said he never completed his primary school since 2010 he started living in Lagos. His said his brother sold GSM accessories in a wheelbarrow, but life in the city became unbearable that he relocated to his village.
At the moment, Okafor lives in palpable fear of being thrown out of the one room apartment in Shibiri, where his elder brother left him. His meagre savings from hawking could not renew the rent.
When the reporter asked him if he knew that primary and post primary education in Lagos State was free, he expressed surprise. On the possibility of attending school in the morning and trading in the evening, he said, “If I get small money, I will go to school. If I go to school now, who will feed me and clothe me? Who will help my mother cater for my brothers and sister?”
Although Nwafor hopes to go to school when he saves enough money, his colleagues, Monday Nwoba Iboko, 23, and Ogochukwu Nwobasi, 20, think differently. Both of them said they have lost the interest of going back to school.
Nwobasi’s blood-shot eyes caught the attention of the reporter, dripping tears at short intervals. He told this reporter that sand entered his eyes. His difficulty in speaking English was noticeable and his colleague came to his rescue, saying, “Yesterday, while we were hustling, a trailer drove past us and raised dusts that entered his eyes. I helped him blow them off. But, till now, the eyes kept itching him and flowing with tears.”
Both Iboko and Nwobasi were schoolmates in Okalero Primary School, Uzi Local Government Area. Idoko was in JS 3 when he was sent out of school because he couldn’t pay the N3,500 tuition fees.
Idoko was lured to Lagos with promises of greener pasture, but he met hardship on the street. He started selling plantain chips with N1, 500.00 he saved while in the village.
“While I was in JS 2, I begged one of my brothers that I wanted to come to Lagos and spend the holiday with him. He obliged me and I came. He lived in Ajangbadi at that time. After the holiday, I left. I wrote my junior WASSCE, but there was no money to further my education. So I called him again and told him I want to come back to Lagos to hustle and he agreed,” he said.
Idoko claimed to have made seven credits in his junior WASSCE. He has been living in Lagos State since 2015, but he feigned ignorance of free primary and post primary education.
Further conversation with the Idoko, Nwobasi further revealed their reasons for being out of school:
Idoko: Madam (referring to the reporter), it is not possible again to go back to school. Truth is, on my mother’s part, I have seven brothers and sisters to take care of.
Nwobasi: My father is old and does not care about the women and their kids. I’m number three of my mother’s children, my two elder sisters have married. So, I have to hustle to make ends meet and assist my mother train the rest. By Easter period next year, I will travel to my village to help cultivate the farm. Afterwards, I shall return to continue my trading.
Although these street hawkers work from dawn to dusk, they live like paupers in the city. Investigation revealed that they send the fruit of their labour home to support their poor families.
The story of 23- year-old Mayor Obinna Okeke is no different from his colleagues. He hails from Onitsha Ikpeze in Ohozare Local Government Area of Ebonyi State. His sells musical CDs on traffic at the Ojo axis of Iyana-Iba, Ojo Local Council Area. He is a 2007 Junior Secondary School Cerificate holder but admitted that he had lost his certificate.
Further interaction with these street hawkers revealed that many of them were from polygamy families, and lacked support from their parents. Unlike speculations that street kids run away from their parents to the city, majority of those interviewed claimed to have informed their parents before coming to Lagos.
Okeke admitted he couldn’t complete his secondary school because his parents were unable to provide the required financial support. “I can’t even remember how many credits I made in my Junior WAEC, he chirped in. “In fact, you have reminded me. Soon, I will call my mother and tell her to tell my younger sister to check how many credits I got in my junior secondary school”.
Okeke’s father was a polygamist, with five wives that many children. “I’m the first son of my mother. My mother had nine of us. The other woman also had many children. I have younger ones I need to make enough money to feed them and myself. It is not possible to return to school again. So, If I decide to further my education, my siblings will starve in the village,” he explained.
When the reporter asked further whether he would accept scholarship to return to school, he replied, “It will be an agreement between my mother and I. I will let her know that I have got someone who is willing to train me in school. I will explain to her the importance of acquiring education. It’s not as if we do not recognise the gains of being educated. But, it is the condition in which we find ourselves in this country. The leaders are not helping the poor ones,” he explained.
The case of Miss Lillian Ikeagwu was quite different. The 14-year-old girl is in JS 3, Maboro Community High School I Magboro, Ogun State. She hails from Imo State and resides at Ibafo with her parents and siblings. Her father is a mobile policeman, presently out of Lagos.
Ikeagwu said she desires to study Medicine and specialise as a surgeon. She was seen at the National Union of Road Transport Workers motor park, beside the Chattered Institute of Personnel Management (CIPM) premises with her younger brother David, selling table water and snacks.
When the reporter asked why she was selling during school hour, she replied, “Our teachers in public schools in Ogun State are on strike. Government has not paid their salaries.”
Although Lagos State adopted free primary and post primary education to boost literacy level, countless children in the state still lack access to formal education. They roam the streets during school hours with wares on their head, despite the yellow card issued by the state government against parents denying their children access to school.
Aisha Yami, 15, and her sister, Cynthia Benjamin, 14, both Togolese nationals came to Lagos with great expectations. But their hope of making a good living in the city was dashed. They now serve as maids to their aunt and hawk the popular local drink, Kunu, on the streets and at motor parks. In Togo, Yami was in Primary 5 until her father’s demise in 2014. Following her father’s death, Aisha followed her aunt who lives with her husband and child at Ilupeju, Lagos, Nigeria.
Although Yami and Cynthia have lived in Lagos for months, they couldn’t tell their house address when asked by the reporter. However, they admitted that they leave the house at dawn everyday, bearing wares for sale.
Cynthia is just about two months, two weeks old in Nigeria. Her sister told this reporter that she had never been to school and does not wish to enroll.
Findings reveal that some children, who could not afford the money to start their own business, pick up menial jobs on the streets. Some of them do quick washing of car windscreens for a pittance, while others wait endlessly for loads to carry. The load bearers charge between between N50.00 – N100.00, depending on the driver’s generousity. Others position themselves around collapsed portions of the road, mostly in swampy locations to push out cars trapped in the mire. At Agric Busstop, there are lots of young boys who take advantage of the regular gridlock stretching to Volks/Iyana Iba to carry motorcycles across the concrete pavement for N50. Commercial motorcyclists quickly pay them to carry their bike across the wrong lane in order to beat the traffic.