Kobojunkie:

Well, here is what I don't see you telling us. Were these three girls exposed to the men while hawking or were they reduced to hawking as a result of their situation ie. being pregnant and having no other way to support self due to one reason or another.

I can categorically say that the former is more likely.

If U are a 15 yr old kid and U got put in the family way, hawking would be the last thing on your mind.

Uche2nna:

I can categorically say that the former is more likely.

If U are a 15 yr old kid and U got put in the family way, hawking would be the last thing on your mind.

What do you mean by that?

You mean if you were a 15 year old girl, found yourself pregnant and with no man, if hawking oranges turned out to be the only job you could get to raise money, you would not take it?

If your mother told you that since you are out of school because of the pregnancy, you could help out by hawking, you would not?

I really do not get your point.

Kobojunkie:

What do you mean by that?

You mean if you were a 15 year old girl, found yourself pregnant and with no man, if hawking oranges turned out to be the only job you could get to raise money, you would not take it?

If your mother told you that since you are out of school because of the pregnancy, you could help out by hawking, you would not?

I really do not get your point.

YOU ARE BECOMING AN ARGUMENT JUNKIE

well done fash, if only you were in abuja the over 2 trillion budgeted in 2008 would have had some effect on the masses, education will secure their future, shape their character and build a better nation, those hawkers might be threat to the society in years to come when they are being exposed to the under and hardworld early in life, well they have to feed today to work tommorrow, so i support them working to support themselves until poverty is reduced in nigeria

JJYOU:

YOU ARE BECOMING AN ARGUMENT JUNKIE

I am only trying to get you to think, rather than have you continue to praise decisions without actually analysing the good and bad of it and considering the benefits, IF ANY. Let us assume Yar Adua had been the initiator of this ban. Yar Adua bans Child hawking between the hours of 8 am and 3 Pm. Here are a couple of simple questions for you.

1) How does this ban help the nation in general?

2) How does this ban help the Children involved?

3) Of What benefit is such a ban to the Nigerian people as a whole, 


Now go,  impress me by giving me intelligent answers to these simple and STRAIGHTFORWARD questions. Notice We are no longer speaking of the person of Fashola here, as I am trying to get you to see how this may go. Please do not come back attacking my PERSON or even thinking you can read my life and mind. All I am asking is for answers to tha above questions posed considering the above scenarios.

kobojunkie, i amazed at the level of your reasoning?

You are? How so? Please explain yourself by actually confronting those questions and not stooping to attack my person thinking that somehow lifts you up in some way.

u kidding right

Why is it hard  to get simple answers to direct questions asked??  I really don't care for anyone's opinion of the questions just answer's to the freaking darn thing, is that too much to ask?

Kobojunkie:

I am only trying to get you to think, rather than have you continue to praise decisions without actually analysing the good and bad of it and considering the benefits, IF ANY. Let us assume Yar Adua had been the initiator of this ban. Yar Adua bans Child hawking between the hours of 8 am and 3 Pm. Here are a couple of simple questions for you.

1) How does this ban help the nation in general?

2) How does this ban help the Children involved?

3) Of What benefit is such a ban to the Nigerian people as a whole, 


Now go,  impress me by giving me intelligent answers to these simple and STRAIGHTFORWARD questions. Notice We are no longer speaking of the person of Fashola here, as I am trying to get you to see how this may go. Please do not come back attacking my PERSON or even thinking you can read my life and mind. All I am asking is for answers to tha above questions posed considering the above scenarios.

Why are you asking questions you already know answers to,
will you let your child to hawk during sch hours?

Why is it hard to get simple answers to direct questions asked?? I really don't care for anyone's opinion of the questions just answer's to the freaking darn thing, is that too much to ask?

ok,please let me ask you 1 question,

Is it good for children to be hawking during sch hours?

Is it better for children to hawk after school hours then?? Or is it even better that they sit at home during school hours and then go out to hawk after school hours? 

Kobojunkie:

I am only trying to get you to think, rather than have you continue to praise decisions without actually analysing the good and bad of it and considering the benefits, IF ANY. Let us assume Yar Adua had been the initiator of this ban. Yar Adua bans Child hawking between the hours of 8 am and 3 Pm. Here are a couple of simple questions for you.

1) How does this ban help the nation in general?

2) How does this ban help the Children involved?

3) Of What benefit is such a ban to the Nigerian people as a whole,


Now go, impress me by giving me intelligent answers to these simple and STRAIGHTFORWARD questions. Notice We are no longer speaking of the person of Fashola here, as I am trying to get you to see how this may go. Please do not come back attacking my PERSON or even thinking you can read my life and mind. All I am asking is for answers to tha above questions posed considering the above scenarios.

If you are not going to give answers, what is the point to this?

Kobojunkie:

Is it better for children to hawk after school hours then?? Or is it even better that they sit at home during school hours and then go out to hawk after school hours? If you are not going to give answers, what is the point to this?

Actually this is hilarious

But seriously wat i think the govt should do is too ban children completely from hawking.

There should be a minimum age above which a child should hawk,lets say 18,thats if he/she must.

Muza:

Actually this is hilarious

But seriously what i think the govt should do is too ban children completely from hawking.

There should be a minimum age above which a child should hawk,lets say 18,thats if he/she must.

But that is not what he did. He simply banned hawking during School hours, from 8 am to about 2Pm ( No provision made to ensure the kids actually go to school instead), but you have people applauding him for it, and I am wondering why. Am I missing something here? Does it really change anything?

I mean I can see people saying something like " Oh, thank God I do not see those Child hawkers on my way to work so I no longer feel bad for them"  OR

"As long as I don't see them during my morning commute, that is fine with me"  . Roflmao!!

gaskiya the Gov is trying,there is no gov in Naija that has so much zeal.
but sha still he needs to improve.
Hawking needs to be stopped,provision for shops should be made.

I never said the governor is not trying or that he is not doing good work elsewhere. I have NEVER EVEN SAID  the man is not doing a good job as a governor. NEVER SAID LAGOS has FAILED. NEVER SAID HE IS NOT a better Governor. NEVER SAID HE IS a TERRIBLE GOVERNOR. NEVER SAID HE IS EVIL. NEVER SAID Nigeria has FAILED. NEVER SAID Nigeria is a terrible country.

All I am responding to is this particular ban and what it really means to average lagosians, including the children involved and their parents. I only wish people LEARNED to remove sentiments from debates on issues. Makes one wonder if there is hope with those sort of minds around.

Imagine a sane human being posting this in response to my questions

sartorius:

kobojunkie, i amazed at the level of your reasoning?

Doesn't this reveal why we continue to exist in the state that we do? Most likely would have had me beheaded for questioning the actions of his lord and master, roflmao!!

Hi all,
Well, we could give kudos to the government for taking this step but I believe other reasons why parents ask their children to hawk should be addresed. As a matter of facts, only few parents could be happy seeing their kids hawking goods on the streets. But what could they do? People have got to find a means of livelihood.

Talking from experience, I had hawked before for my mother, not because she wanted it but because I saw it as a means to assist in the business and helped her eke out better livelihood for the family. Started hawking from primary 4 till my SS3. I Didnt stop till I became the assistant head boy of my school. This never debarred me from going to school and I never joined any bad group or indulge in any way. The fact that I had to hawk after school hours was enough motivation for me to study at night and meet up with my peers in school who probably attended evening classes.

Well this may not be the general situation for people but for me, despite hawking in primary school, I finished as the overall best student in my primary school common entrance examination. I proceeded to the secondary school and was always in the top 3 in my class, became a prefect in SS2 and assistant headboy in SS3 ( while still hawking after school hours). I learnt to study after school lessons because I had to represent my school in science and JETS competition. I proceeded to the University to study Mechanical Engineering, bagged a degree and currently on a federal government schorlarship for my M.Sc in the United Kingdom.

I am not just blowing any trumpet, but driving home the point that government should address issues objectively. While it was difficult for the family to feed then, it would have been hell had I not hawked. I always told my mother then at age10 that I could sell and she should not bother and God saw me through. By this act of hawking, I learnt a lot about life; business acumen at tender age, marketing, leadership, focus, accountability and above all responsibility; which are pretty difficult to learn in the class room.

Now, what would happen to people that could not afford to feed? Someone like me would have found it difficult to go through seconadary school because of financial incapacity. By the way, not everyone lives in Ikeja or VGC or Lekki. It is easy to stay in those places and enact law that would not put food on the masses' table.

Also, does free education mean free feeding, clothing and shelter for the kids? Most parents are retired civil servants, pensioners etc that are yet to be paid for years. How would they cater for their children?

I hope the government should answer some of these questions and not just try to use some policy to further strangle the seemingly breathless populace!

Regards
Adebayo

I have to thank you for that nice contribution@adebayo . Good to know that there are people out there willing to ask the questions no matter who the governor is.

adebayo you are a true hero. i recommend you for CNN hero awards, at least for next yr

beewhyfocs:

Hi all,
Well, we could give kudos to the government for taking this step but I believe other reasons why parents ask their children to hawk should be addresed. As a matter of facts, only few parents could be happy seeing their kids hawking goods on the streets. But what could they do? People have got to find a means of livelihood.

i made this argument in Cardiff University child labor seminar in 2006. Doctors cannot treat headache without tackling the cause of the headache. unfortunately people dont look deep b4 taking decisions. while u are a hero for not letting the difficulties weigh you down, i will still say it is unfortunate that the problems u had are still here with the next generation of poor nigerians and may remain so for more than a century.

u were different though. you knew you were not supposed to be doing that but you had to do it for a reason. the bad news now is that many children do not know that they aint supposed to be hawking. they have accepted it as a way of life.

abuja doesnt care

@ toshmann
Thank you for your commendation. I felt an inexplicable drive during those days. Its hard for me to believe that I had been through such life before. And like u mentioned, the cause of the headache should be addressed rather than the vicious circle of treating the headache.

@beewhyfocs,
You really hit the nail on the head by pointing out that extreme poverty drives some parents to send their under-aged children to hawk on the streets, though there are some people who out of greed are involved in trafficking other people's children for purely profit making purposes.

The govt. I believe should set up a welfare state where the following amenities should be provided for children and thus give succour to poverty-stricken parents who may not be able to cater adequately for their children:

1. Free compulsory education up to the secondary school level for all children.

2. Social Security allowance for up to 4 children for each family that is in need of financial support.

3. Unemployment benefits for parents who have lost their Jobs.

4. Tax refunds for parents who are living below the poverty level, so that all citizens can be guaranteed a minimum standard of living.

5. Subsidy on foodstuff so that food items can be within the reach of all and sundry.

6. National health Insurance for all and sundry, whether employed or not.

7. Adequate housing for all through provision of council flats,as done in Britain, for the unemployed or indigent citizens.

The above welfare packages can be funded through the introduction of Social Security tax for those in employment or business; this, I believe, will help prevent the society from becoming one where life is nasty, brutish and short (Thomas Hobbes) through the reduction, or total elimination, of the issue of child hawkers, robbery and other societal vices presently plaguing our country.

where are these people shouting "nice job and good job governor"? they should come and respond to adebayo abeg.

somebody say 'alleluyah!!!!!!!!!!'

Well done Fashola. Good job Fashola. Nice job Fashola. Children have no bussiness hawking on the streets during school hours.