Apparently oblivious of the risks associated with street trading and its menace to the environment, many people are increasingly participating in roadside merchandise in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
Observers note that in many neighbourhoods of the city, including Eleme Junction, Rumuokoro and the Choba-Ogoni ends of East-West Road, many traders are usually seen on the roads, selling assorted wares.
In the booming roadside trade, which also involves young people running after moving vehicles, the articles of trade include fresh fruits, beverages, wrist watches, phone SIM or recharge cards, handsets and accessories, as well as snacks.
According to Jackson Onugo, a lawyer, street trading in Port Harcourt has spanned over three decades.
“The menace of roadside trading in Port Harcourt is very serious, as most major roads of the city have been converted into make-shift markets.
“The unwholesome practice of street trading and hawking of goods on the highways in Rivers State is very hazardous and it has even been outlawed,” he adds.
Indeed, Section II (xx) and 35(i) of the Environmental Sanitation Authority Law of Rivers State (Cap 52, Laws of Rivers State of Nigeria, 1999) stipulates the penalty for engaging in peddling goods on the roads.
“It is a criminal offence, punishable with three months imprisonment, for any person to sell or offer for sale, any goods or other articles of trade, at traffic light junctions or in any other unauthorised places in Rivers State,” the law stipulates.
However, the practice persists in the state due to the non-enforcement of the law to the letter.
No enforcement of law
Another lawyer, Moses Oha, insists government ought to employ the “stick-and-carrot approach” in enforcing the law for it to achieve any meaningful results.
“For any government to make a positive mark in the attitudinal change of its people, it must be firm in enforcing its laws, while providing needed infrastructure,” he says.
“For instance, the law banning cigarette smoking in public places in Nigeria has never been respected because nobody enforced it. The law prohibiting street trading likewise exists but it is government’s duty to ensure that the people obey it.
“Prior to the coming of the present administration, many people constructed kiosks and shops by the roadside but the government demolished them to give Port Harcourt a befitting look,” Mr Oha says.
However, according to Joseph Ejimadu, a street trader on Ikwerre Road in Port Harcourt, he resorted to hawking goods on the street, not only to fend for his family, but also to raise some money to attend to his daughter’s health challenges.
“I do security work for a company in Port Harcourt but a year ago doctors diagnosed my daughter with cancer. With the series of tests and drugs I buy, my salary alone cannot take care of the problem. That is why I resorted to street trading,” he says.
Another street trader, Edwin Ihekoronye, says he is peddling goods on the streets to eke out a living and provide for his family after several brutish treatments he received from Cameroonian police.
In spite of such sentiments, Silas Osah, Information Officer at Rivers State Ministry of Environment, insists ignorance of the law prohibiting street trading is no excuse, as many culprits have been arrested, cautioned, fined or jailed for contravening the law.
“In a certain month in 2010, 65 persons were arrested and prosecuted. 33 of those apprehended were jailed, 32 were warned and discharged, while some were fined,” he reveals.
Mr Osah says that if street trading is allowed to go on unhindered, it will negate the policy of Governor Chibuike Amaechi’s administration to beautify Port Harcourt through its urban renewal programme, while scaring away potential visitors from the city.
Rufus Godwins, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Environment, offers assurance that the state government will not relent in its efforts to tackle the menace of street trading in Port Harcourt.
“Hawking and street trading are outlawed in Rivers State. The numerous dangers of the trade include criminality, obstruction of the traffic and sales of fake or counterfeit items to unsuspecting public,” he says.
Dangerous hawkers
Mr Godwins recalls two occasions when the ministry officials on the law’s enforcement mission were attacked at the Artillery Junction in Port Harcourt, reiterating that the government has every cause to stop hawking and trading on the roads.
“Government officials discovered that some of the hawkers carry dangerous weapons. On two occasions, members of our task force were attacked by hawkers at Artillery Junction with firearms, just as there are several complaints about pick-pockets and sales of fake products,” he says.
Mr Godwins notes that people who usually patronise street traders are often those in a hurry, adding that they usually end up buying fake products like drugs, beverages, electronics and other consumables.
Why then is street trading particularly booming in Port Harcourt, in spite of efforts to stamp it out?
Observers attribute the increasing practice to the unethical practices of shylock landlords and government officials overseeing allocation of market stalls, as they are always hiking the rents to levels which are often beyond the reach of the average trader.
Mr Ihekoronye says: “Some of us have made several efforts to rent shops, either in the markets or by the streets but the rents demanded are quite excessive.
“It takes over ₦240,000, in addition to the 10 percent agent’s fee, agreement fee, lawyer’s fee and others to secure a shop in Port Harcourt. I don’t have such amount at the moment.
“Nobody likes selling goods on the road; I would have preferred to sell my wares in the market or in a shop elsewhere, as this would end my years of exposure to harsh weather conditions and constant extortion by members of the government task force,” he says.
Mr Oha shares similar sentiments: “Government must provide alternative places for street traders because criminality is one of the alternatives to street trading.