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The Mushin leather market (MLM) in Lagos is an important node in the leather industry value chain. It is a pool of raw material resources for manufacturers and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) dealing with leather and leather goods. Since the 1970s, the market has transformed from an inconsequential trading spot of shoe-making materials into a sprawling informal leather market dominated by Igbo traders.
Today, the MLM has grown and expanded with a structure of interdependent leather goods trade. How did ethnicity shape the path and transformation of the MLM at the heart of Lagos megacity? This question was central to my recently published research in Africa.
The MLM is the second major leather market in Nigeria, after the Ariari market in Aba, Abia State. As an atypical market, it operates in a residential neighbourhood and extends from a main road into several adjoining streets in Mushin area of Lagos, Nigeria (see map above). The expansion of the MLM can be linked to the land (re)development activities in the form of expansive trading spaces in the area. Landlords and developers saw to the erection of shops and plazas. More critical and enduring, however, is the structure of governance and diversification in place, and the socialisation, networking and mentorship relationships of Igbo traders who dominate the market.
Market governance and diversification
The government and host community place a minimal role on the administration of the MLM while trade associations provide the most effective structure of control and management.
The government's relationship with the market focused on public order, accommodation and revenue generation. As businesses using public spaces and infrastructure to earn a living, traders pay levies, (un)officially or (in)formally. The host community plays a minimal role, mainly around sanitation and coordination to enforce payment of levies attached to security and offloading and loading.
However, trade associations, with their ethnic and gender differentiations, lead in the administration of the market. Three associations, presiding over three main sections of the market, ensure cohesiveness and representation of traders: Shoe Tailoring Materials Dealers, Upholstery Materials Dealers, and Gum Sellers Association. The first two are formally registered while the third, i.e. the Gum Sellers Association, is not formally registered.
The principal officers of these associations preside over the affairs of the market and administer members according to the provisions of their constitutions and other norms. The composition of the association reflects the gender and ethnic dynamics of the market. The association of shoe tailoring and upholstery materials dealers has a higher Igbo ethnicity membership as well as a higher proportion of male-to-female representation, while members of the Gum Sellers Association are exclusively Yoruba women.
Ethnicity, mentoring and market socialisation
The acquisition of space to do business is a precondition for trading in the MLM. However, proper integration is ensured through two training types; trade mentoring and master-servant hierarchy.
Trade mentoring takes between one and eighteen months. The path is usually followed by adults, those who have prior business experience (females especially) and Yoruba traders. Females and adults are trained through mentoring because of the flexibility involved, as mentees are not expected to live with mentors. The contract in this process is only to teach about the trade, with no entitlement to any form of settlement in the form of cash or goods from the mentors. However, some kind-hearted mentors go the extra mile to aid in the process of acquiring space or they loan goods to mentees.
is ingrained in the traditional Igbo business model (see Adeola 2020; Oyewunmi et al. 2020). In this path, teenage boys (Nwa-boyi) live with and assist established traders (Oga) for five to ten years while learning the trade. At the expiration of the agreed time, the Oga settles the Nwa-boyi by setting them up to thrive in the same trade and market space. This mode of socialisation is predominant in the MLM and is a major factor in why Igbo traders and men dominate the market.
Nonetheless, trainees of both routes are introduced to and registered with trade associations during their training period for proper integration and stability in the market space.
Network of actors
Networks of actors in the MLM are mainly business and personal/group (ethnicity and association membership). Business networks involve formal and informal transactions that facilitate trading and enable businesses to thrive. This network engages interactions between interdependent actors including traders, truck pushers, off-loaders and loaders, transporters, and customers. While the business network is mostly transactional, affiliations with personal/group networks facilitate access to tangible and intangible opportunities and benefits. Such early access to procurement of leather materials involves the interfacing with suppliers to supply goods at cheaper rates to members during meetings, and negotiating with agents and landlords to acquire space respectively. Both distinct networks are open to all and their interconnectedness influences business and relationship outcomes in the MLM.
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Conclusion
The MLM has endured the same path of business since the 1970s despite ethnic, cultural, and sentimental cleavages, which traders are required to navigate. Through a unique structure, Igbo traders have strategically positioned themselves to advance economically and navigate with success in intra-ethnic business. Further expansion, all-inclusive competitiveness and economic robustness will require Yoruba and Hausa traders to improve their businesses through inter-ethnic learning, cultural exchanges, and collaboration. Collaborative exchanges and interactions between actors within the market will allow the continuous provision of opportunities for business exchange, making leather materials accessible, and creating jobs for SMEs to compete in the finished leather goods sector.
Ayomide Oluwakemi Adebayo is a doctoral researcher in the Department of Sociology, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. She is a development sociologist and community development worker with research interests covering sociology of development, transformations and contexts, informality and community development.
