Come Sunday September 17, the Ebonyi State Development Association (ESDA) Lagos will be embarking on a walk to protest the indiscriminate street trading and hawking, especially in Lagos State purported to be carried out mostly by the indigenes of Ebonyi.
With this walk billed to take place this Sunday in Badagry, Lagos, the association is making a clarion call to all well-meaning Nigerians to join hands together to fight against the act of street trading and hawking.
To this end, by Sunday September 17, the train will be moving to Badagry for a show that will change the lives and future of the Nigerian youths as well as the state and the human race. Take off time for the exercise tagged “Street Trading /Hawking Sensitization Awarenessâ€, will be 7:30a.m from Ebonyi House, Mobolaji Bank Anthony Way, Ikeja , Lagos.
A prominent member of the association, Emanuel Ndugo, noted in a press release made available to THISDAY that, “Research conducted about a year ago shows that over 65/70 per cent of hawkers in most cities around Nigeria are from Ebonyi State. And that out of every 10 hawkers on the highway seven are from Ebonyi and this menace in a great measure is causing the state a lot of embarrassment. The Lagos State Government, some time ago, issued a law to commence total enforcement against street trading and street hawkers, saying that the law banning their activities across the metropolis would take its full course. “
Speaking further, he said, “I once went to help bail a victim and what I witnessed was appalling: apart from paying so much to get themselves out, they also lose their wares and sometimes contact different ailment. In fact you need to visit the Lagos State Task Force HQ Alausa or any of their offices to understand what our people are going through.â€
“We are known for farming which happens to be one of the ways the nation is diversifying into and the state government is encouraging and supporting that course. We are therefore calling on every Nigerian to join Ebonyi State Development Association, Lagos to preach the gospel on the sensitisation programme around Lagos and its environs,†Ndugo, noted.
