Saturday, July 18, 2015

turning most citizens into criminals

Now that he's governor of Nigeria's Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai, the former chief administrator of Abuja, is leading a drive against street vendors.

So far, the vendors are bravely resisting, reports The Daily Independent.

As Mansur Abdulhamid, a young Kaduna vendor, tells the paper, "Will driving away traders from the streets solve the security and economic situation in the state? Look at me, I have to hustle daily to meet with demands at home from my aged parents, rent and feeding and this include saving something little for my education."

The governor must know that street vending and hawking and other System D activities are the dominant way that people in all over Nigeria survive. It has been estimated that more than two-thirds of the working-age people in Nigeria earn their money off the books. That makes System D the majority economy. It's time for politicians to understand that, if they outlaw street trading, they make criminals of most citizens.

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