‘I want to go to school like other children’
They can be found practically everywhere on the streets. Some can be found wearing tattered clothes that have seen better times, others still with sweat streaming down their faces and with forlorn faces chase residents in a mad bid to sell their wares which range from sachet water (pure water), boiled eggs, groundnuts, cashew nuts, […]
They can be found practically everywhere on the streets. Some can be found wearing tattered clothes that have seen better times, others still with sweat streaming down their faces and with forlorn faces chase residents in a mad bid to sell their wares which range from sachet water (pure water), boiled eggs, groundnuts, cashew nuts, fried plantain, beef rolls, potato chips and a variety of other edibles.
Victor Onabule’8, is one of such underage hawkers. On a typical day he can be found anywhere from the bustling Berger bus stop, right up to the major traffic light that demarcates the Jabi motor garage and the Jabi middle class area. His daily mission is to sell, at least, five bags of ‘pure water’ to principally motorists and commuters that ply the area. The boy who interestingly speaks good English, says he lives with his maternal aunt in another less affluent part of the Jabi area. According to him, his parents live in Abeokuta in Ogun State and are farmers by profession. Their inability to send him to school necessitated their decision to give him out to his aunt who had promised to send him to school.
He noted with a woebegone expression on his face: “I just want to go to school like other children that I see. Whenever I see children of my age in school uniforms going to school all I feel is like crying. My aunt says that I can still go to school if I can be able to raise enough money through the sale of pure water. She says that the money needed to send me to school can only be sourced from the profit that I make out of the sales. It is now about one year since I left Abeokuta but there seems to be no hope that I will go to school one day.”
On the dangers he faces every day that he tries to sell his goods amidst the traffic, he said, “God has been helping me. The other day, as I tried to collect the money for a sachet of pure water I sold to a conductor, the bus zoomed off. As I chased after it, I fell. It was by the grace of God that I was not hit by a vehicle that was right behind the bus. Some people who saw me fall quickly rushed into the traffic and dragged me from the road. The driver of the bus that I was chasing did not even wait to see what happened. On other occasions, I have had similar experiences but God has been helping me. I thank God.”
Little Hajara’s case is quite similar. Although she is not as confident as Victor, the girl manages a few words in Pidgin English when asked why she is on the streets selling roasted groundnuts instead of being at school. “Na my Mama get the groundnut. I just dey help am sell am. After I come back from school, she go allow me rest small then after I rest, I go carry the groundnut come sell until around 5 o clock before I go home.” she said.
Hajara and Victor’s cases are just a tip of the iceberg. Findings have revealed that the number of teenage and underage hawkers is virtually on the increase in the nation’s capital city. They can be found mostly during traffic hold ups brashly thrusting their wares through the windows of motorists and harried commuters. On their faces can be seen pain and agony as they endeavour to persuade people to patronize their wares.
Halima Musa, a mother of two, who works as a clerical staff in one of the nation’s numerous government parastatals, notes, however, that child-hawking should not be totally condemned as it has some merits. “While we were children, we sold goods for our mothers in villages and it was accepted as a normal growing up experience, our parents had to make ends meet and we the children had to support them so that they could pay our school fees. After we come back from school we would be allowed to rest and do our assignments. It was only after this that we were sent out on the streets to sell our wares and we were always told to come back before the sunset. When we came back our food was already prepared and all we had to do was wash, eat and play after which we would be told to go and sleep so that we would be ready to go to school the next day. There was nothing wrong with this then so why now?! she queries
She, however, conceded to the fact that many parents nowadays are not as caring as those of yesteryears. “It is an accepted fact that some parents do not consider the welfare, health and education of their children and wards. That may account for why there is so much outcry against the issue of child hawking nowadays.”
Mrs Esther Abolarinwa, a psychologist who works as a Guidance Counselor at the College of Education, Zuba, says that the ravaging effects of hawking on the child is best left to the imagination. According to her, the girl-child is most affected in the long run. “The girl child faces several dangers whenever she goes outside her home to hawk. The young girl is open to sexual abuse in form of rape, harassment and molestation. This may cause her to lose her virginity and dignity. On the other side of the coin she may become streetwise and start peddling her body for sex. This ultimately leads her to criminal and anti-social activities which may mar her future.” She also adds: “Findings have revealed that the underage street hawkers exhibit inadequate moral development and experiences low-self esteem compared to her peers in saner environments This low self-esteem manifests throughout her relationships in life even after leaving the hawking business. These findings are no less in application to her male counterpart too who has to fend for himself on the streets.’
Many have criticized the police for not picking up these children from the streets. Public Relations Officer of the FCT Police command, Jimoh Moshood, however, believes that until the leadership of the Federal Capital Development Agency, FCDA, pulls its acts together there is little the police can do to check the menace. He notes: “There is actually little the police can do about the issue of underage traders on the streets of Abuja. The onus of the responsibility lies on the FCT administration. You will agree with me that hawking on the streets is actually not a criminal activity that will warrant the police to arrest the hawkers. It is only when the authorities see it as an hazard or criminal activity and go out to arrest the situation that the police can give them security cover to carry out raids on these hawkers be they underage or otherwise. Without this the police cannot do anything. Maybe when the authorities take the bull by the horns and of course under a suitable legal cover can the police assist them in curtailing the activities of the hawkers. For now, there is nothing the police can do to address the situation.’
The arm of the FCDA charged with ensuring the social welfare of the city’s citizenry, the Social Development Secretariat however appears unprepared for the challenges posed by underage hawking in the nation’s capital. Attempts to speak with the secretary of the secretariat were stalled by a bureaucratic wall at the Protocol and Public Relations office. A staff of the secretariat however confessed that the secretariat was aware of the trend but there was little that can be done to pick the children off the streets.