Nigeria: The War On Street Trading in Lagos

editorial

Last week the Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, revisited the 2010 environmental law that prohibits street trading and begging when he directed the State's Task Force on Environmental Sanitation and other Special Offences, to carry out full enforcement of the law in the metropolis. In a statement signed by the Secretary to the State government, Mr Tunji Bello, he noted that not only did the traders constitute environmental nuisance, but posed security threat to citizens.

Street trading and begging, as the State Government rightly pointed out, are hazardous, because they constitute a risk, since they make pedestrians stop on the road for the wrong reasons, while traffic is moving. However, considering the harsh economic climate prevalent in the country presently, we believe that the government should have a human face while executing the law.

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