Street Hawking

Street hawking is the act of selling goods on the road in order to generate income for the sustenance of the needs of one’s family. In Nigeria, street hawking is very common among teenagers. This is as a result of various causes. One of the major causes of street hawking is poverty. Families that are poor normally seek means of sustaining their family members. As a result, the children from such families are forced into hawking as a source of income for the family.

Street hawking can also be as a result of the nature of a person’s job. Teenagers who are employed to market products are sometimes required to hawk their employer’s products on the streets for people to patronise them. This usually applies to food and household items.

One of the effects of street hawking is road traffic and congestion. When teenagers hawk on the streets, they often obstruct movement of cars and vehicles as they move around. This usually contributes to the obstruction in the flow of traffic along that area. It can also lead to congestion as drivers will not have enough space to navigate through because of the obstruction caused by the street hawkers. As a result, commuters, and even pedestrians, may end up going late for important appointments, meetings, work or school.

Another effect of street hawking is road accidents. This occurs when teenagers hawking on the roads are less careful in their quest to advertise their products or persuade people to buy from them. More often, they end up getting hit by a vehicle moving at a high speed. These accidents can sometimes lead to the death of the hawker, the driver or both. Vehicles may also end up colliding because there is little or no space for the drivers to move their vehicles through. Because of the road accidents, roads in Nigeria have become less safe for both the drivers and the pedestrians.

Teenagers who hawk do not have the opportunity to be well educated and this puts them at a disadvantage compared to their peers who do not engage in street hawking. As a result, they may not be able to engage themselves positively in the economic advancement and development of the country.

Although street hawking has negative effects, there are some positive aspect of it. Street hawking helps make products readily available for road users. Road users on long journeys may decide to buy snacks or food items from the hawkers along the street, which can help give them more energy to continue the journey. Items like paintings, clothing accessories, jewelries, foot wears and other useful products can be purchased easily along the road as a result of the street hawking.

Street hawking, in some cases, makes products more affordable for road users. Instead of spending money on fuel to go to shops to buy certain items, one can decide to buy them on the road at a lower price than what it costs in the stores.

As already shown, street hawking has its positive and negative effects. However, teenagers who hawk should still be given a chance to be well educated in order for them to learn to be good citizens of the country as well as engage themselves positively to the economic growth and development of the country. It is also important for the hawkers to be careful when they are hawking their goods to prevent serious or fatal road accidents.

Chukwuzitelu Kamyoluchukwu EZEDINMA

Class of 2025

EZEDINMA Chukwuzitelu