LASGIDI HUSTLERS – An Emotional Story Of Lagos Street Hawkers

Lasgidi Hustlers

They call themselves hustlers…. Lasgidi Hustlers

One sunny afternoon, I was returning from work, by foot. The traffic was slow as bus drivers occupied the road with their yellow danfo buses. At the other side of the road, I saw a group of hawkers surround a young boy, whom by the look of it would not be up to 14 years of age. He was injured severely, there was blood on the left side of his face. I couldn’t stop to ask what was wrong because, obviously, the group was angry, but I slowed down my pace to pick a few words.

One of the youths who was hawking bread said, “God punish am, Shey na because him be big man” (meaning – God punish him, is he because he’s a big man?), another lady who was carrying a bowl of drinks on her head said in Yoruba “they won’t let us go to school, yet they want to kill us on the road, they want to spoil our means of survival, wicked people”. They were all pained, angry, bitter, just because one of their kind was injured.

Lasgidi Hustlers… They are hungry….

It’s surprising how you always see them on the road, no matter the weather. Even we, are now used to them. When we’re going out, we’ll take extra money with us, we’ll say, “to buy gala”. These young people are the leaders of our country, yet they are on the road, hawking.

The little they gain from their sales, they use to buy food to eat. They can’t even afford three-square meal per day, and they hardly get to wear good clothes. Most of them are managing their three shirts and two jeans, what they’ll wear for years. They can’t take a proper bath, they can’t watch TV. They are busy, but not gaining. They can’t go to school, they can’t live the life they want to live.

Lasgidi Hustlers… They want to be in the government….

I took my time to talk with one young lady selling roasted corn one day, I asked her “what do you want?” of course, I did not expect her to understand what I meant, but she understood perfectly and she replied in fluent English, she said,

“I want to have a voice in my country, I want to change the system, I want to change the way the government is run, I want to help my fellow youths get to the top, I want to be a leader, not just a leader, but one who is concerned about the youths, the hardworking ones, the ones that are ready to go to the higher institution, the ones that are ready to back up their entrepreneurial skills with quality education. I want my country to be a better place, I want to have children in a conducive Nigeria, where education is given not fought for. I want to help my fellow youths gain a feeling of importance”

And with tears in her eyes, she said,

“I want to die with a name”.

They may be hustlers in Lagos (or Lasgidi Hustlers) who don’t mind the hazards involved, but…. they have dreams, they have goals, they know who they are, all they need is a little hand of help stretched out to them.

#StartSomethingChallenge