THE move by the Lagos State Government to rid Lagos of street trading and bring sanity to the metropolis is a step in the right direction. The painful reality is that hawkers have turned the city’s major highways into markets. There is even no clear separation between residential and commercial areas. All over the city, residential houses are built with small shops attached to them. This has become the norm and the authorities see nothing wrong in granting approval to such buildings, which violate existing regulations.
Even in designated markets, traders prefer to display their wares on the main streets. There is unbridled buying and selling of goods and services on the roads amidst traffic. Traders thus constitute a nuisance; they block the traffic and thereby cause endless traffic hold-ups and harrowing trauma for commuters. Invariably, certain manufacturers of goods and consumer items exploit the situation by producing sachets and other miniature packs of their products, which are hawked as the traffic crawls by young boys and girls who should be in school.
The street trading phenomenon and the failure of the market system have exposed the planlessness that characterises most parts of metropolitan Lagos. Throughout the city, markets have sprung up indiscriminately along the major highways. For instance, at Oshodi, Agege, Ikeja round about and Mile 12, mini-markets have taken over the roads. Furthermore, the Yaba, Oshodi and Oyingbo rail lines have also been turned into illegal street markets. This has no doubt created an urban development crisis.
The Lagos State Commissioner for Environment, Mr. Tunji Bello, has now announced that the state government is committed to chasing traders off the roads in the metropolis. According to the commissioner, the move is part of a project tagged “Clean up Lagos”, which is designed to improve aesthetics and boost the economy and tourism potential of the state. The Ministry of Environment in collaboration with the local councils is planning to provide alternative stalls and space for traders.
There is no doubt that the chaotic situation in Lagos has made it more of a jungle city. There is general indiscipline in every aspect. Traffic moves in all directions on the expressways! Bullion vans, police escorts and other official vehicles blatantly disobey traffic rules. Government officials drive in whatever direction they choose at any time with impunity. A visitor to the city would be amazed by the prevailing anomie.
In planned cities around the world, provision is made for open markets to operate at designated places and at appointed times. Citizens and visitors alike have the opportunity to transact business in such markets under an atmosphere of relative serenity. Traders don’t block traffic, neither is the environment messed up. When the market closes, city authorities immediately clean up the space and nothing on other days would suggest that the particular place serves as a market.
Street trading in Lagos is a reflection of the state of affairs in the country. Undoubtedly, it is a fairly recent development. In the past, the city used to have big departmental stores like Leventis and Kingsway in addition to the main open markets. Unfortunately, following the economic downturn, big departmental stores began to close shop and the population of itinerant traders increased.
Nevertheless, organised trading in designated markets in the city can be enforced. It is possible to create markets for particular brands of goods in certain areas. The chaos on the streets of Lagos is rooted in the failure of governance.
The authorities in Lagos must wake up to the challenge of a mega city, which Lagos has become. Concerted efforts should be made to plan the city and its services, more creatively. Obviously, Lagos is not as complex as New York or London where order and sanity still prevail. It is not enough for Bello to bemoan the recalcitrant attitude of the traders. Something must be done to address the problem.
Bello had directed markets along the highways to construct perimeter fences to prevent the spillage of traders onto the roads. While the support he is seeking from the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) to effect this could be useful, the authorities should strive to enforce relevant urban planning rules and regulations for the desirable objectives to be achieved.