“The opposite of poverty is not wealth. In too many places, the opposite of poverty is justice.”
― Bryan Stevenson

I am duty-bound to write this open letter to you because of the enormous and utmost regard I have for you as a person. To begin with, I wish to acknowledge that the way you are going about the CONTINUITY agenda in Lagos-State, Tinubu and Fashola's record combined together will not add up to your milestone achievement even if you do just one term in office. The undeniable reality is that some people may not like your approach to governance but as for many of us social crusaders who is conversant with Lagos economy, your style is what fits a state as cosmopolitan as Lagos-State.

To set the record straight, whoever says the government is the biggest employer of labour is naïve and a big joker for that matter, the STREET to me is the biggest employer of skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled labour force. In my almost 4 decades of existence and knowledge about street trading, I have come to realize that countries where inequality is institutionalized, where some people get richer more quickly, while others are getting poorer at a faster pace, where such poor people are increasingly marginalized and debased, there is bound to be the culture of street trading and other social struggle. Street Traders or Hawkers are the very poor, the people who are continuously driven away from their source of livelihood in the name of social transformation and left with little or no option of survival than the street. Ever since I was born in Mushin LGA of Lagos State in 1978, and growing up in Lagos State all through my cradle to adolescents, from school days to career at the bank and ultimately till this present day as a family man, I have never seen a government so insensitive to the plight of the downtrodden and poor masses on the lower rung of the social ladder as the present crop of administrators we have at the various level of governance in Nigeria.

Take for instance the issue of states owing workers salaries for several months while the Governors in such states keep billions in their personal bank accounts, only about 5 states are said to be solvent enough to discharge their financial obligations and one of such state is Lagos State, where opportunity to become a Governor is 8/10, where the prospect of an hawker to become a commissioner in the state government cabinet is not a tall dream, Lagos state is the only multi-cultural capital of AFRICA as continent. A state adjudged the FIRST and BEST in so many ramifications, perhaps, the fastest growing MEGA city in AFRICA and also competing with the fastest in the world at large. My dear Governor Ambode, you are an exception to those administrators I refer to because you promptly pay workers salary, provide social measures to ease the sufferings of the masses and also attract big investment opportunities to Lagos-State as whole but something dangerous is about to happen if not nipped in the bud and that is the issue of ban on street trading and hawking in Lagos-State. STREET TRADING and HAWKING is one of the most significant culture of Lagos State that set it apart from any other cities of the world and for those of us born, bread and buttered in Lagos State, we have imbibed the culture of buying and selling on the street to such an extent that, we stop at any point on the road to buy our favorite Gala, soft-drinks, household items, newspapers, books, phones and accessories and many other items which I am very sure you are guilty of the act too, and this way of life brings smile to the faces of both the buyers and the street hawkers you want to castrate. Abi you no dey dey buy things inside traffic? If your answer is NO, then, you are not a real Lagosian as rumored by your opponents during the Last governorship election.

However, this common culture is set to be wiped out in order to create another class struggle in our DREAM LAND, Lagos-State. My dear Governor Ambode, you are set to incur the wrath of POSTERITY if you carry out your threat to expunge completely the ART of street trading without providing alternative source of LIVING and INCOME to the teeming unemployed members of the STREET HAWKERS UNION in Lagos-State because these were the pool of people on whose mandate you won your election as the governor, these were the set of people who stayed under the sun while the ELITE and UPPER CLASS lounge in their cozy apartments listening and watching the street hawkers/buyers casting that genuine ballot for you as a Governor. These very set of people usually abandons their wares, trek with you on your campaign train in order to show unwaivered support for your candidacy during the gubernatorial election in 2015, and it was not their first time doing so as they have done so for your predecessors Babatunde Raji Fashola and Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu himself, why do you want to pay them back with tears and sorrow?

Mahatma Gandhi said…..” A Nation’s Culture Resides In The Hearts And Soul Of Its People”

Since the beginning of this current CHANGE ERA dispensation, I have watched gleefully how you have turned things around in Lagos-State with your CONTINUITY agenda, the way you have constituted your cabinet shows it is not business as usual, we have witnessed tremendous change in LASTMA, KAI, Government agencies and parastatals, my greatest admiration for you is the launching of OFFICE OF OVERSEAS AFFAIRS AND INVESTMENT (LAGOS GLOBAL), with that move I truly believed Lagos-State is headed for a top spot in the comity of mega cities of the world. However, your laudable policies is set to be dented by one of your social policy about to be set in motion, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, you announced recently that you are set to kick in motion for the enforcement on the ban on street hawking in Lagos-State, why this time when frustration is written all over the people’s face, abi you don't read newspaper ni?

My Governor Sir, you made the announcement during an interview with TVC, a media outfit owned by your political godfather Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu where you stated that anyone caught hawking in the street of Lagos will be prosecuted. The prosecution will extend to the hawkers and their customers who will either get a fine of N90, 000 or a 6-month jail term. Last year, you directed the Task Force on Environmental Sanitation and Other Special Offences to carry out full enforcement of the law restricting street trading in the metropolis, despite the fact that it is not a bad decision but the timing I suppose is not right.
You expressed your concern about the resurgence of street trading in major areas of the state, noting that not only does street trading constitute an environmental nuisance, it also pose a security threat to citizens. And that an existing law in the state prohibits street trading, you therefore urges those interested in doing business to seek for space in the various modern markets redeveloped by the state government to enhance business activities. Where on earth will these peasants get the ‘OVER THE MOON RENTAL FEES’ in the various modern markets in Lagos-State? Let us fear God and be reasonable with the poor people, the only connecting place between the RICH and the POOR is the street, why do you want to drive the poor away from the street?

However, My Governor Sir, you have not stated if there is any plan to alleviate the suffering of the mostly indigent street hawkers, whose daily living depends on hawking along the highways and streets of Lagos. Some days ago, an angry mob of hawkers vandalized several BRT buses in the Maryland area after a female hawker was crushed to death by one of the buses. The hawker was killed while she was running away from KAI (Kick Against Indiscipline) officials who were enforcing the no hawking rule. This unfortunate incident is a pointer to the fact that the survival instinct is very active in these class of people in the society, the level of frustration being witnessed by people is better imagined than desired, the anger you saw by the vandals is depression, frustration and resentment from the downtrodden.
Your current stand on the subject matter is what a researcher termed ‘democratization’ of capitalism, where we now have the FEW very wealthy and LARGELY poverty ridden masses. Most inhabitants of Lagos-State, with a few exceptions, belong to the poor group, though, No one is guilty, but everyone is responsible. And the consequences of this social injustice could be addressed via:

1. EQUAL OPPORTUNITY: Lagos-State should devise and set up machineries which can provide equal opportunities to both the rich and the poor in getting employment or getting a start in trade and industry. Many of the street hawkers if given a chance in employment would jump at such offer.
2. REVIEW OF MINIMUM WAGE IN LAGOS-STATE: Minimum wage in Lagos-State needs be reviewed as soon as possible because many of the street hawkers are children of civil-servants and uniform men in the employment of the state.
3. SOCIAL SECURITY: Lagos State should also improve on the social security welfare package scheme that will guarantee a minimum standard economic welfare for Lagos-State residents.
4. REGULARIZATION OF STREET HAWKING: Activities of street hawkers can be regularized by regulating their operations through constant orientation and awareness creation on the need to reduce the activities of street trading.
5. MAP OUT AREAS OF OPERATION: Lagos-State can map out areas of operations for street hawking as was done in the case of Okada.
6. CREATION OF MORE TRAINING AND SKILL ACQUISITION CENTERS: More skill acquisition centers needs to be created in all the local government of the state in order to reduce the menace of street hawking and trading.
My able Governor Ambode, I have always trusted your sense of judgment in matters like this and I believed you will go back to the drawing board and review this social policy that is about to create another set of monsters in Lagos-State, accept my highest regards as you compassionately look into the matter once again.

Long Live Governor Akinwunmi Ambode
Long Live Lagos-State
Long Live Federal Republic Of Nigeria

“Striving For Social Justice Is The Most Valuable Thing To Do In Life”……Albert Einstein

Olanite Lekan
Lekanolanite@gmail.com
www.hollalaycan.com

U go fit space this thing so? Hard to concentrate while reading

true talk.