by Usman Alabi

There is no denying the fact that the city of Lagos has for so long been menaced by the phenomenon of hawking in various shades and manifestations. Virtually every nook and cranny of the city has been desecrated by hawkers who parade and showcase their goods in various forms and styles, and even the hallowed and elitist streets of Victoria island are not left out. The highways, despite the dangers they pose to the lives of the hawkers, are also included. One would have thought that the risks that comes with hawking especially on busy roads, such as accident, robbery, arrest by state authorities would deter the hawkers, but ironically, they are swelling in number. The worrisome nature of this menace has led the state government to clampdown on hawkers. The Lagos State governor, Akinwunmi Ambode in a television show stated that “The issue is we need to enforce our laws because we already have a law in respect of that (hawking) and then there is a clause in it which says the buyer and the seller are both liable and that we are going to fine them either N90,000 or a six-month jail term”

The law on the prohibition of hawking had been on ground before now, and the problem has been implementation. Rather than putting an end to the menace, the law had created a dramatic situation of hunter and the prey. The question that comes to mind is: why is it almost impossible to implement this law despite the resources deployed for that purpose, why does hawking persist? Poverty, unemployment, high cost of renting a space amongst other factors have been adduced as reasons for this menace. The implication is that so long as these conditions remain with us, hawking would also continue.

The issue here is not the hawkers who flout the law but the authorities. The government must understand that they do not necessarily have to pull the trigger before eradicating this menace. Our approach to social issues in this part of the world is usually militaristic and unsystematic. A cursory look at the law that criminalize hawking would reveal a law that is systemically aloof without a forward and backward linkage. They just want to stop hawking and that is all! The state must realize that it is not all social evils that require going to the legislature to promulgate laws, and if it comes to that, such law must be designed in a way to facilitate social engineering as part of the important steps toward institutionalisation of such laws, at this stage the citizens knows that irrespective of their social conditions, they are not supposed to do some things. This is possible because they must have been mobilised in various forms which then create a culture of acceptance and legitimacy not the militaristic approach adopted by the government. The bottom line is that the law must have a human side, it must encourage social engineering and institutionalisation, it must put into consideration the prevailing economic and social conditions of those it is directed at. It is after all these that implementation becomes easier and does not necessarily require force or fine.

Secondly, the State must also understand that there is a difference between good governance and strategic governance. Therefore, to put an end to hawking and others, they must be strategic in their approach and go beyond good governance. Hence, if the Lagos State government is interested in long-term sustainable development, it must avoid being militaristic, spontaneous and fanatical in its approach. There are times when a social menace cannot be eradicated by brute force except they are confronted with systemic and structural antagonists which extinguish and fizzles them out with little or no impact and at bearable costs. The core of this argument is that the government should begin to look at those areas that could have a direct impact on this menace of hawking because of their inefficiency or absence. The schools should be made to work from the primary stage to the secondary stages, it should be accessible, compulsory, affordable and attractive. Attractive in terms of the quality of education, government schools at all stages must either be able to compete with their private counterparts in terms of infrastructure, quality of learning, teacher to student’s ratio or be their standard. This point is emphasized because in recent times government schools especially the primary and secondary have become breeding grounds for social deviants. This is important because a large percentage of those hawking on our roads are children and school dropouts. Also, technical education and training centres not only for regular students but also citizens should be set up, people should be trained strategically in those skills and services bearing in mind the mega city quest of Lagos. Furthermore, the periphery of Lagos could become industrial centres through private public partnership and strategic implementation of Lagos industrial policy. Succinctly speaking, the population of the state should not be seen as its bane, but also as an opportunity, hence the government in partnership with the private sector should implement strategies on how to engage the population thus putting them to work.

It is a fallacy that everyone hawking is driven by poverty, inability to secure paid employment, insufficient funds to secure a rented space amongst others. The truth is that our roads have become attractive markets, a meeting point for a tired, traffic belaboured and burdened buyer and an eager and opportunistic seller. Road congestion and daily gridlock on our roads have turned them into markets. A good example is the 11.8km long Third Mainland bridge reputed to be the second longest in Africa. A journey on a free Third Mainland bridge takes 15minutes, but in the morning rush hour or immediately after 4:30pm, the journey can take close to four hours, an average Lagosian spends up to four hours on the road. If the government is truly interested in putting an end to hawking, it should take the markets off the road. Traffic in Lagos is road-centric, hence other modes and means of transportation should be considered so as to decongest the road and reduce heavy traffic.

The Lagos State government can also adopt a centre periphery approach to put an end to hawking. Clear the hawkers on the island systematically before developing or implementing strategies to put an end to them at the periphery. There is no doubt that Lagos is the smallest state in Nigeria and the most populous, it is also the economic nerve of Nigeria. The reality then is that the increase in its population would continue but the government has to be strategic and thoughtful on how to cope with the social issues such as hawking that comes with this increase.

Unless the government adopts strategic governance, the hawking menace would continue to be a case of the hunter and the prey.

Isime Esene