Street trading refers to any form
of buying, selling, hawking or exposing of goods and services to front of
residential building, office buildings, railway line, setbacks, street carriers
beside any road, or pedestrian bridges on vehicle, bridges, bus stops and
railway terminals, , under billboards, in front of churches or mosque. It
precludes any form of buying and selling during the day or at night outside
designated market zone. It forbids shop-extension into the walk ways. It
hinders doing any business on the roads example one mechanics and vulcanizers.
All these have ravaged all the street of Lagos and have become a menace with a
harmful effect at both the inhabitant and habitat in the metropolis.
In ensuring that this menace is curbed the
government of Lagos State considers street trading as a crime and enacted a law
punishable under the edict for the prohibition of street trading and illegal
market in Lagos State (1984 and 1996). Street trading can be traced to the
peculiar nature of Lagos fund with pattern of diffusion of the early of the
city. This pattern evolved gradually as various culture merged, fueled by rural
urban migration. Rural and urban migration brought in an influx of human
resources of skilled, semi-skilled, unskilled, the educated and in educated;
here have to reduce the chances of unemployment. With unemployment, the
emergence of the urban poor became a reality.
Influx of people of Lagos caused
over population, with poverty and unemployment. Many took street trading on a
future or part-time basis for the derelicts, vagrants and areas boys part
street trading provided a window for miscreants to commit crime in the society.
However, urbanization is making the culture of street trading grow by the day,
not only because Lagos has attributed many young entrepreneurs and famous
seeking better lives, but it is also grappling with multi-multiculturalism of people
who want to trade, even when they cannot afford to rent shop in mall or market
paces. Despite the promulgation of street trading prohibition edict of 1984 and
the supplement edict of 1996 by the Lagos state government, street trading is
still causing dis-coherent in the environment in Lagos. There are many
adolescent young hawkers and even adult roadside traders in Lagos who are
ignorant of the edict, as a result they have engaged in street trading. A case in point is where the law
enforcement agent go about on the road to effect their arrest, not minding that
majority of them are unskilled, it means that they don’t understand what the
information is expressing. The laws itself remain a mirage in front of them but
regrettably they are unfortunately cub in the web of these agencies, without
any option of fine. Painfully, all their migral goods that they eke out living are taken to the unknown.
Yet, it impact on the environment has it
effect on traffic congestion, urban squalor's, aesthetic value of buildings,
personal health hazards unorganized results of trading system by policy makers,
city planners and environmentalist. The growing nature of Lagos metropolis with
spatial confusion, disorderliness, being everybody and nobody’s land, has given
rise to a mass culture whose collective conscience encourage, maintain and
sustain street trading. The practitioners are polarized by Lagocians even some
of the local government has contributed to the street trading by building stall
on any available spaces, or the railway set back Yaba, Tejuosho rail market,
Iyana Iba set back along Okokomaiko is a focal point and at most, bus stops
buying and selling thrives. Poverty and inability of the masses to pay the high
prices for lockup shop had pushed many to street trading. But even those who
have legitimate shops between that customers will not come inside so they will
run to exhibit their wares by the roads side taking up a sizable portion of
the road hence causing traffic congestion and accidents. This happens in all
big markets in Lagos: Balogun, Jankara, Oshodi, Tejuosho, Boundary market at
Ajegunle Awodiora, Mile 2 and others. Worse still, is where hawkers drops their
garbage either by the roadside or in the drain blocks gutters and increase
flooding in Lagos. Nights markets which are no properly light up are a nuisance
to the community and an obstruction to the motorist at night. Mechanics do
their own business by the roadside abandoning old vehicles by the roads side.
Vulcanizers and types sellers carry on by the road side causing obstruction and
pollution because their black grease floats on the gutter. Street trading has
attendant prohibition such as increased flooding and traffic congestion on the
environment, creating negative impact instead of advantage. Effort by the Lagos
State Government to stop it seems to yields no results; however, preliminary
investigation into this study showed that many street trader are ignorant of
the edict as expected and need more intensification and vigorous information
dissemination for the unskilled most especially.
especially were the levels remain at micro range effect, and are mostly sited in many
household in the major cities in the country as a whole. The question is how
can this be mitigated on time because of its dangerous effect on the immediate
environment? The legal framework and those that are saddled with the
responsibility of effecting it change must start now. This would in turn lift
its self toward a possible
direction, keeping standard environment, saving the lives of the inhabitant in
the major cities of the country. The network provider would have a direction,
helping the people, impacting changes on the face of the environment and
creating values in our metropolis
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