Car washing business: A booming trade among Abuja youths

A visit to Wuse Zone 3, in the heart of Abuja, Nigeria’s federal capital reveals an army of youths who mill around seeking patronage by car owners. Their trade is to wash cars and they loiter around all the major streets of Abuja. Bello Razak, one of the youths in this fast growing business who […]

A visit to Wuse Zone 3, in the heart of Abuja, Nigeria’s federal capital reveals an army of youths who mill around seeking patronage by car owners. Their trade is to wash cars and they loiter around all the major streets of Abuja.

Bello Razak, one of the youths in this fast growing business who claimed to have been in the vocation for four years, told Sunday Trust that, “this is my job and I have been doing this for four years now. With this job, I have been able to put food on my table, pay my house rent in Lugbe and even send some money to my parents in Kwara state.”

Emmanuel Ifer told Sunday Trust that he was initially trained as a fashion designer but because he could not afford the needed capital to start off his own fashion outfit, he decided to venture into the business. In his words, “I am a trained fashion designer but because of some financial problems which made it difficult for me to purchase my sewing equipments, I had to delve into the business of car washing in Abuja,” he said.

Sunday Trust checks reveals that this vocation is getting more and more popular by the day with an increasing number of private and commercial vehicles in the federal capital. Major streets in Abuja have been literally taken over by these aggressive car washers, displaying their tools at strategic locations, and by the roadsides seeking prospective customers.

For instance at Fingessi Street off the busy Obafemi Awolowo way, Jabi, Audu Bala who left his Kogi state hometown in search of the elusive white collar job in Abuja  told this reporter  that, “since I could not get a good job here in the city, I resorted to washing cars for a living and it has really been rewarding.”

Audu explained that on a good day, he makes an average of N2000, adding however that it all boils down to the volume of trade ” I make almost N2000 or more everyday depending on the number of people who bring their cars for washing.”

One of their customers, Jacob Adeleke who shed light on what informed the booming roadside car washing, stated that “these boys are really in business because they always come handy. Especially if you consider the fact that there are no official car wash stands in this city. So for as low as N200, I get to wash my car and if I am washing the engine also, I pay up to N400, which to me is worthwhile.  While they wash my car, I relax at a nearby garden. So it’s like killing two birds with a stone.”

Fortune Okafor, a civil engineer with one of the construction firms in Abuja also told this medium that “on the whole, I think the boys are trying to make a meaning out of their lives especially when you consider the fact that there are no jobs.

So, instead of engaging in anti social behavior like armed robbery and stealing, they decide to make money by washing people’s cars.”

Giving an insight into the capital requirements for the trade, Bilbils Idachaba who washes car at the Wuse, Zone 3 said, “actually, this business does not require so much capital. All you need to have is a bucket, sponge and some detergent and a space. But if you want to offer steam washing services, then you will have to purchase the steam washing engine which in my own case, I bought for five thousand naira.”

However, while Idachaba and his colleagues eke out a living with their trade, other residents think they constitute a nuisance on the streets of Abuja. According to Amos Olukoya who lives on Fingessi Street, Utako, “the activities of these boys are becoming worrisome. They mess up the whole street with water. Besides, I think the government should allocate a particular place for them in the FCT outside residential areas where they can do their job without disturbing the residents.” An official of the Abuja Environmental Protection Agency, (AEPA) Sam Musa, who spoke to this medium also explained that “Car wash operators are meant to be at petrol stations only, for now, anybody operating outside that is doing it illegally.”

Commenting on efforts made by AEPB to regulate their activities, he said, “we have a mobile court where we have made several arrests and have prosecuted many offenders. We carry out regular patrol of these areas to get rid of them permanently. A permanent location from where they will operate is underway and will soon be in full operation.”

But while the authorities see their activities as a threat to the city’s aesthetics, Idachaba and his colleagues are unanimous in their resolve to continue with their business until they are given a specific place by the government.

“We are just trying to make a living within the law. We have not done anything wrong and if they think we are illegal, then let them give us a piece of land to do our work,” pleaded.