Night roadside trading, a money spinner in Lagos

JULIUS JOHN

For those who engage in buying and selling, especially of clothing items and shoes, the evening and night period of the day has become the peak periods of trading.

When Hallmark visited the Obafemi Awolowo Way in Ikeja Lagos, it discovered that night trading has become big business. The road is usually busy in the evening. Right from 6pm when most markets in Lagos are closed or about to be closed for business, a makeshift market on the road is just coming alive. Traders were seen freely displaying their wares for passersby to purchase. The number of people that patronized these night traders who have by Lagos state standards, fallen short of the law, is baffling.

Along the street right from the new garage, different items of merchandise are on display. Here, people from all works of life do their shopping. It is handy for housewives and bachelors who need foodstuff after the close of work, while many others flood the area to buy many items they need. A young man who needs a shirt, a pair of trousers and shoes can easily shop for the items here.

Some clothing items, shoes, meat, pepper, Onions, rice, second hand clothes, recharge cards, bags baby toys, kitchen wares and other household items that are found in the day markets are all on display in this market.

Some buyers believe that the night markets are places where items can be bought at very cheap and affordable prices. Here, traders sell their wares without much harassment from government officials who go after street traders.

Some of the traders who spoke to Hallmark cited the ban on street trading in Lagos state as the reason why they changed their business hours from day to night to avoid the long arm of the law. Others say it is because a lot of those who patronize them feel comfortable doing so at night when they will not be easily seen by their friends and acquaintances making such purchases at such places.

Dada Abimbola who sells men’s trousers told Hallmark that he cannot afford to shed his wares in the day time because of the harassment he will get from government officials who want to extort money from them.

“I cannot afford to shed my wares either in the morning or early afternoon because of these Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI) people who use to harass us and collect money from us,” he said.

For another trader whose goes by the nickname Baller, he sells at night because that is the only time he can get the full attention of his customers.

“I sell along the rail at night because that is the only time I can get the full attention of my customers. In the morning, they are usually in a hurry to go to work. They are most times, calmer when they are on their way home, coupled with the fact that some of them are shy and do not want their colleagues to see them buying roadside dresses popularly called “bend down select.”

One of the traders, Mrs. Ikedieze who sells women’s scarf told Hallmark that she makes an average of ten thousand naira per day. This is something that Hallmark reporter found very interesting because each of the scarfs is sold for N200, an amount that is considered meager by every standard.

For Mrs. Ikedieze and her colleagues in the business, doing business has never been this good because what they make is enough incentive to do business. She simply could not hide her joy when she was interviewed by Hallmark. For her, she would always be grateful to the man who introduced her to night selling along the railway.

“Each time I remember that man wey God use to introduce me to this business and bring me to this place, I go just dey thank God because the money wey I dey make, no be small,” she said.

For Paul Akabueze, real trading begin from 5pm when people close from work and they are on their way home. According to him, many of them, particularly women cannot resist the temptation of spending their money to buy one thing or the other around that area.

“I sell women’s shoes and each day, I sell an average of twenty shoes to people. Sometimes before 8pm, I pack up and get on my way home because I have made enough sales for the day,” he said.

When asked if traders do not consider the risk of breaking the law in Lagos which prohibits roadside selling, especially on a major road as that, as well as the risks of selling along the railway, Akabueze gave a very interesting response.

“You dey there dey talk of breaking the law or dangers of selling on the railway when people dey make money big time. You funny oh. Na money bring me come Lagos and I gas make that money no matter the price I have to pay for it,” he said.

Chika Oduma, who sells made-in-Aba shoes at the night market, said that proximity and reach to his target consumers were the reasons why he left the confines of the regular market to the road to sell at night.

“I sell my wares at Ikeja Computer Village in the afternoon but come down here to sell at night because of the heavy human traffic along the street at night. This is Lagos where people do all sorts of trading to make ends meet.

However, the night market has provided convenience for some Lagosians. Take for instance, Augusta Udah, a banker who does not have time to go to the regular market because of her job.

“I am a banker and as such, do not have time to go to the day market. So whenever I am going home from work, I prefer to buy foodstuff here because of the busy nature of my work. It is very convenient for me,” she said.

However, not everybody is enjoying the night market. Eunice Nkem, a civil Servant said that some of the night seller sometimes take advantage of the informality of the market to offer counterfeit, pirated or bad products.