Odd self employment: The gains, the pains

By SUNDAY ANI (nichsunny@yahoo.com)

Before the present unacceptable level of unemployment in Nigeria, people engaged in self employment; not necessarily because they could not find paid employment but just because many of them wanted to be masters unto themselves. Even then, when we talk about self employment, what readily comes to mind are the artisans – the auto mechanics, vulcanizers, painters, hairdressers, barbers, shoemakers, drivers, tailors, traders and carpenters among others.

But today, survival instincts and existential imperatives have thrown up another group of self employed individuals, who have invaded the employment market like plague. They take up the most difficult, mean and dishonourable jobs, as it were, to make ends meet. They are masters of their own just like the artisans but the society looks down on them. They are seen to be at the lowest rung of employment ladder because they toil every day, under the sun and in the rain. They neither enjoy the comfort of air-conditioner nor that of fan. They earn their living by sweating profusely before they can make a penny.

They include cart pushers, scavengers at refuse dumpsites, iron mongers, barrow pushers, carriers and house-to-house launderers among others.

When Sunday Sun prodded into the closets of these classes of self employed Nigerians, it was discovered that contrary to what people think about their jobs, they earn more money than most people in paid employment. They are seen everywhere – residential areas, along the roads, motor garages and market places among other areas.

A visit to major markets like Ojo Alaba International Market in Ojo Local Government Area and Mile 12 Market in Ikosi-Isheri Local Council Development Authority, both in Lagos State revealed that cart pushing as a form of self employment is very lucrative and seems to dominate others. Cart pushing is divided into many parts; there are those who collect refuse from different households and dispose them off at the refuse dumpsites, there are those who convey goods from one point to the other, there are those who fetch water and sell to small scale caterers and various small unit households among others.

At Ojo Alaba, investigation revealed that cart pushing is a money spinner. It was gathered that to operate inside the market, one has to register the cart with the sum of N8,000 at the task force office. Those who cannot afford the registration, it was learnt, would only be allowed to operate along the road. Speaking on how handsome the rewards of cart pushing has become, a man who simply identified himself as Ozoemena, informed that one of his friends had about 25 carts which he hires out to pushers at N500 each per day.

When Sunday Sun approached Kabiru Nuhu, who ekes out a living by pushing the cart along the road; not inside the market, he corroborated Ozo’s revelation when he said: “Haba, I dey make N4,500 or N5,000 every day. The business dey good small but I dey rent am for N500 every day.” On further interaction, the Katsina State-born Kabiru regretted that since he could not go into the market to bring out goods because he had not registered, he was limited to the maximum N5000 per day. He informed that those who operate inside the market make more money than the people who operate only along the road.

However, attempt to speak to the ones inside the market who were mainly Igbos, met a brick wall as one of them who volunteered to speak said he was terribly annoyed over a matter he would not disclose. He however asked our reporter to come back in a week’s time when he would be in the right frame of mind to speak; an indication that he was not ready to share his business secret with any stranger without adequate compensation for that. Others were not willing to talk as they would say they were working even when it was evident that they were resting.

Checks also revealed that only few cart pushers actually own the carts they work with; the rest hire from rich businessmen who have veered into cart renting business as a secret money spinner.

But, at Mile 12 Market, it is a different ball game. Much as cart pushers still make brisk business, their impact is not felt as much as tomato carriers. These are people who carry baskets of tomatoes from the point of purchase to the evacuation point on their heads or shoulders. All they need is a healthy, energetic body and local hand woven hat-like round object made from the raffia palm and they are set for the day’s business. When you see them running with the baskets on their heads or shoulders, you don’t need anybody to tell you to give way because the water from the tomato is enough warning sign that you should stay off the road except you want your own share of the water. The water from the tomato coupled with sweat would drench them so much that people avoid body contacts with them as much as possible. Moving tomatoes from point of sale to the points where vehicles are waiting to evacuate them could have been better handled by cart pushers but the nature of the market is such that there is no space for any cart to meander through into the tomato market. And going into the tomato market at Mile 12 is not for the lily-livered; if you are not prepared, you will turn back once you catch a glimpse of the place. The ground is muddy, dirty and waterlogged so much that only those who wear rain boots freely move about. That has also provided business for some people at the entrance who rent rain boots for only N50 after which, the hirer returns them to the owners.

Speaking on the profitability of the business amidst profuse sweat, a carrier, Mohammed Kabiru said he earns N4,000 every day but lamented that he pays N2,000 as tax every month. He said: “We dey collect N100 or N150 to carry one basket from inside the market to this place. I dey make N4,000 or more every day but I dey pay N2,000 for tax every month. E dey too much now; make government help us because this job no dey easy,” he pleaded.

Further checks revealed that the price to convey basket of tomatoes from inside the market to bus terminal, depends on the size of the basket. The bigger ones go for N150 while the smaller ones go for N100.

Then, the barrow pushers who are mainly found in the yam market compete with women and some Hausa boys who just use their bare heads supported with folded rags to convey the yam from point of purchase to the waiting vehicles. For this group of carriers also, the price ranges from N100 to N200 or more depending on the negotiation ability of the hirer. Aside the two groups, there are many other self employed people who are involved in conveying different goods from the point of sale to the waiting vehicle in the two markets visited.

However, for people who scavenge for discarded aluminum and lead home appliances at the refuse disposal sites, it is a business they have come to love over the years. Although, some of them took to it as a last resort having searched for job endlessly without success, they now enjoy the proceeds. With just a sac and an iron rod of about three feet, the scavenger is off to the site where he burrows into refuse dump in search of discarded home appliances made of aluminum or lead. The stinks from the site makes some people to nauseate but not the scavengers whose nasal cavities have become accustomed to such odour. They effortlessly burrow into the refuse and exhume discarded but still useful lead and aluminum materials as well as other reusable items they could lay their hands on.

Speaking about the business, Bright Osewele said: “All I can tell you is that we make good money in what we do, if not we won’t be taking all these risks. Do you know the level of risks, we are exposed to? There are so many other menial jobs which we could easily switch over to but what we make here is mouth watering and I am not going to tell you. Just know that we are not joking here. Although people may see us as mad people; we are not mad,” he said.

All efforts to get an idea of how much he makes that would encourage him to wade through the stinking sites defying all health dangers proved abortive as he kept to his chest the benefits accruing to him from the business.

We still have the people who go from house to house washing people’s compound. This is obtainable in the face-me-I-face-you kinds of apartment. Members of the compound would contribute and the washer man or woman is paid for his or her services. Some are paid on weekly basis while others are paid at the end of the month. The good thing about it also is that some of them handle so many compounds at the same time, so that at the end of the month, they could coast home with a lump sum that is even more than what some paid employees earn. The tools for the job are just a plastic bucket, a brush, a detergent, a disinfectant (dettol or izal) sometimes and a broom; so to get the working tools is no big deal for those who want to go into the business.

When Sunday Sun spoke to Mama Ejiro who washes compounds on Casco, Balogun, Moradeyo, Murtala, Baruwa Streets within Old Ojo Road, she said that she still does her petty trading after washing the compounds in her care. With about four mouths to feed, Mama Ejiro, who said she was introduced into the self employed job by one of her friends some five years back, has been enjoying the proceeds from the job and she is not even thinking of quitting in a hurry.

The woman who handles about six compounds said: “I dey wash six compounds twice every week. Na my friend show me this business that time when things dey very hard for me and my children. Them dey pay me at the end of the month. Na only two compounds dey pay me N4,000, the other four compounds dey pay me N5,000 when month end. I dey start early in the morning around 6:00am but before 12:00, I don finish. But I wan increase the money this year because things don cost well well now for market. Some times when I finish I dey go sell Okro and bitter leaf for Ilo-Oba.”

Then, if you go to Jakande Estate, Mile 2, you see another group of self employed people who wash people’s clothes as well as fetch water for different households and get their pay. The people involved in washing clothes are mainly women while men mostly from the northern part of the country dominate the water fetching business. With a stick and a rope, they connect two tins with each tied to the two ends of the stick, which they hang on their shoulders after filling them with water. As the Mallam hurries to empty the tins, they dangle on their shoulders. They usually have a field day when the taps are not running. They would either fetch from the borehole or from the well. These are the ones who cannot rent cart otherwise there is another group that do the fetching with cart, which accommodates as many as 10 gerry cans. Each container is sold for N30 but the tin goes for N25 each.

Checks revealed that contrary to the general belief that these are menial jobs that can hardly sustain somebody who has ambition in life, they are actually raking in money that some of them invest in capital projects.