The compassionate side of Soludo

Remember the February 2024 video where some overzealous officials were seen enforcing the ban on street trading in what seemed like a ‘forced eviction’ at the newly constructed Club Road in Awka? (The street traders were encouraged to move to other allocated locations a year before the actions of the officials). Despite the fact that these women were given ample notice for this eviction and to remove their makeshift shanties from the newly constructed road, some commentators argued the eviction should have been done in a different way. Some suggested that the women would have been tried on a mobile court while others asked why the removal of the shanties was not done at night, when the street traders were not in the shanties.

Opposition political elements tried to make a political capital from the online video. Unfortunately, the noise at that time overshadowed the explanations from those who knew Governor Chukwuma Soludo and who argued that he was not only a stickler for law and order, his ‘activist nature’ makes him detest any injustice to the poor and less-privileged. Governor Soludo uses every opportunity to inform his audience that he himself was not born rich and that in most cases he shares the pain of struggling citizens.

The governor has also shared his personal philosophy in many occasions. In many fora, the governor has always made it clear that his personal philosophy was to be his brothers’ keeper and this philosophy, he argues, is shared with the political party that brought him into office as governor.

Last week, Governor Soludo walked the talk by truly being his brother’s keeper. He showed his compassionate side. The women who were seen in that February 2024 eviction video have all been given free shops along the road where they engaged in illegal street trading. Their joy knew no bounds when they were presented these free shops.

The new shops, located along the very busy Club Road in Awka, provides a decent environment where these women would be able to sell their grills, vegetables, fruits and other wares. It has shared parking spaces, litter bins, greenery, solar energy generated electricity and well-planned sewage system.

This gesture by Governor Soludo not only gave these women a sense of belonging, it also presented a prototype of Anambra’s street trading model. Yes, it will cost money to maintain these free shops but it is expected that the women who have been shown this love will care for these shops the way a mother cares for her baby. It will not take anything to always keep these shops clean.

The rising cost of renting decent shops has been argued to be one of the reasons why people engage in street trading and the building of shanties along busy roads. Some also engage in street trading because it brings them closer to potential customers who might be too busy to enter into markets to shop. Street trading causes road congestion, littering of streets, blocking of drainages and even exposes the street trader to accidents and other harms. Illegal shanties used by street vendors deface communities.

With these in mind, Governor Soludo’s model of encouraging residents, investors and even government to build decent and beautiful ultra-low-cost street shops on strategic locations presents a panacea for the menace of street trading in Anambra. New masterplans in Anambra would have strategic locations for these ultra-low-cost street shops in busy roads. Aggregating street traders in the model presented makes the model able to cater for large numbers of traders.

The model presented by Governor Soludo makes it easy for petty traders – who would have engaged in street trading – to easily reach their potential customers and also sell their wares in decent environments in busy streets. It makes it easy for poor citizens to comply with the ban on street trading in Anambra.

Enforcing any law on street trading is not easy and as a government, Anambra believes in making it easy for its citizens to obey extant laws or policies. A few years ago, a young trader fleeing from officials of the Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI), which metamorphized into the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps, (LAGESC), was crushed to death by a moving BRT vehicle during a hot pursuit. The whole process of enforcing a street trading law in a third world country could be messy.

The socio-economic condition in the country has forced many into street trading as many consider it a lucrative venture. Selling wares at bus-stops at pick hours is considered a lucrative venture for some citizens. It does not occur to them how this might be a risky venture. There are many cases where street traders have been crushed to death by drivers who lost control of their vehicles in busy streets.

Sometimes it is not easy to even impose legal fines on these poor people in states where street trading attracts a fine. It is even more difficult to send these poor defaulters- who are struggling to make a living – to prison for breaking the law on street trading.

There are other ways the government of Anambra has used to address the menace of street trading. Anambra has used barricades to prevent traders from moving their kiosks into roads in some markets in Anambra. This singular gesture has not only reduced accidents on our streets it has reduced traffic congestion in markets. The Eke Awka is a perfect example where this has worked.

With Governor Soludo’s model of these decent ultra-low-cost shops in strategic positions on busy roads, Anambra makes the plight of street traders easy. This model is akin to the provision of council flats in the UK to residents who cannot afford to live in some neighborhoods.

States – from Abia to Lagos – who are desirous of stopping the menace of street trading can look into Anambra’s model.

Nwankwo is the special adviser to Soludo on special projects.