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by Bola Badmus  

Former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olabode George, has called on Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, to regulate street trading in the state, saying that he avoids subjecting traders to inhuman treatment by security men in the name of enforcing a ban on street trading.

George made this call in an open letter written to Governor Sanwo-Olu, a copy of which was made available to newsmen on Sunday, noting that it was an act of wickedness in the 21st century for government officials to be treating street traders, who were just trying to survive, like bandits, armed robbers, and terrorists in Lagos State.

“Where is our dignity? Why should officials subject them to harrowing experiences on a daily basis? They are not armed robbers, and they should not be treated as such. It is despicable to treat street traders like terrorists. They are just trying to survive, and Lagos is not the only place where we have street traders.

“What your administration needs to do is regulate their activities. You can also set up skill acquisition programmes for some of them so that they don’t become idle.

“Remember that an idle hand is the devil’s workshop,” George said.

The PDP chieftain, while condemning the act, explained that the essence of governance is to alleviate the suffering of the masses, but quickly said it was surprising to hear the government announcing that its Environmental Sanitation Corps arrested no fewer than 63 people for allegedly crossing the highway and engaging in illegal street trading.

“Offenders of highway rule can be reprimanded to discourage others from committing the same offence.

But street traders are respectable members of society who strive every day for their living, irrespective of the difficult times they are facing.

“It is wrong for them to be treated with unimaginable disdain while loafers and urchins are left roaming the streets and our neighbourhoods,” he insisted.

George, who is also the Atona Oodua of Yoruba, said street trading is also in operation in London, New York, and other advanced cities, pointing out that what authorities in those cities do is regulate it and not subject traders to despicable treatment.

He, therefore, pleaded with Governor Sanwo-Olu to revisit the issue of street traders before it gets out of hand, cautioning against the occurrence in Lagos of the Arab Spring in North Africa years ago.

“What authorities in those cities do is to regulate street trading, not to subject traders to despicable treatment.

In Lagos, some of these traders and hawkers, due to the harsh and hostile economy in the land, stay on the roadside, where they pay government officials daily.

“After daily payment, they will be hounded into vans and trucks, their wares confiscated, and they will be locked up.

“What a triple tragedy!

“Locking them up is not the solution to street trading. Some of these traders have children in tertiary institutions today, and it is what they make they use to take care of the educational needs of those who depend on them.

“Mr. Governor, we all know what led to Arab Spring in North Africa years ago. That should not be allowed to happen here at all.

“We should not deceive ourselves that the Nigerian Spring cannot happen here because people are hungry and angry.

I appeal to you to revisit the issue of street traders before it gets out of hand.

“This is because some shops inside markets go for as high as N1 million and more. Where are they going to get such an amount from in this type of economy?” he queried.

Speaking further, Chief George lamented the multiple levies the traders paid to councils, saying notwithstanding this, they were equally subjected “to extortion in a most horrendous manner by some thugs and roughnecks, and they are also harassed and flogged like criminals.”

“I was born in Lagos, and I grew up here. I know street trading has been part of our culture and tradition for decades, even before Independence on October 1, 1960.

“Many professionals today, like lawyers, doctors, engineers, accountants, and others, were financed educationally by what their parents made through street trading,” he recalled. (tribune)