Intra-Urban Distribution of Child Hawking in Southeast Nigeria

Abstract

This article investigated the intra-urban distribution of child hawking in Enugu Municipality, Nigeria. The study first enumerated child hawkers across three residential areas (core, transition and sub-urban) simultaneously on different weekdays and at different locations (activity-nuclei) in Enugu municipality. A questionnaire was then employed to obtain information from 95 incidentally selected child hawkers, comprising 49, 21 and 25, respectively. Information sourced was their socio-economic characteristics and factors influencing their taking to the street to hawk. The data were analysed using percentages, cross tabulation and standard scores. Results showed that 58.9% were males, 53.7% were out-of-school and 47.4% realized ₦501.00–₦1000.00 ($1.4USD–$2.78USD) per day. Factors influencing child hawking, measured through an index tagged ‘Child Hawkers’ Factor Index’ (CHFI) on a 5-point Likert-type scale, showed that poverty was the most prevalent factor in the core, transition and sub-urban areas of the municipality, respectively, with (CHFI = 3.67), (CHFI = 3.64) and (CHFI = 3.37). The study further showed that there was a relationship between child hawking incidence and land use activities. It observed that the core residential area, junction, Motor Park and market land uses were generators of child hawkers. The study suggested effective urban planning and policy measures in addressing the menace of child hawking.

Keywords

Child hawking street children models residential areas intra-urban

Introduction

Oyinye et al. (2002) define the term ‘street hawking’ as a form of trading that entails the act of moving round the streets and other areas not designated as markets to sell essential products. Street hawking also refers to the act of canvassing for the sale of items by a hawker along the street, from house to house or in public places within an urban milieu (Abisoye, 2013). Hawking activity usually takes place where pedestrian traffic is heavy, along major roads and streets and at corners where they can be easily seen by pedestrians and motorists (Owusu et al., 2013).

Street hawking has assumed an alarming proportion in many Nigerian cities, including Enugu. What makes the situation more worrisome is the fact that street hawking is dominated by under-aged children who are neither mindful of their safety nor have the opportunity to turn down their parents’, guardians’ or masters’ directives to hawk (Ayodele and Olubayo-Fatiregun, 2014; Okafor, 2010). These children, mostly between 5 and 17 years of age, are seen in their numbers moving across streets in different public spheres and darting in-between cars in heavy traffic all in the name of selling their wares to motorists and passersby (Johnson and Ihesie, 2015; Okpukpara and Odurukwe, 2003; Owasanoye and Wermham 2004). They sell different wares, such as sachet pure water, canned drinks, fish and meat products, processed food products, fruits and vegetables, cosmetics, second-hand clothes, handkerchiefs, plastic products and mobile phone accessories, among others.

The seemingly untameable hazards associated with child street hawking have attracted the attention of different stakeholders over the years. These include sexual assault, which increases the susceptibility of the child hawkers to diseases, like HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections; increased risk of unwanted pregnancies and risky abortion among the female hawkers (Kwankye et al., 2007; Lee, 2004 Lu, 2011). Other hazards are involvement in road traffic accidents, physical assaults, abduction and ritual killings. Child hawking results in increased exposure to anti-social activities, such as drug abuse, smoking, cultism and crime. Child hawkers are exposed to harsh weather conditions, insect and reptile bites and hunger (Ashimolowo et al., 2010; Ekpenyong and Sibiri, 2011; Ugochukwu et al., 2012). Indiscriminate dumping of waste by people who buy wares from the hawkers along the streets, inside gutters and drainages is another problem associated with child street hawking. This increases environmental pollution when the gutters and drainages are blocked, thus causing flooding and increased breeding of vectors, especially during the rainy season (Solomon-Ayeh, Sylvana and Decardi-Nelson, 2011). This poses great health challenges to the children and other categories of people living around these areas as a result of the occurrence of infectious diseases.

Recognizing the problems associated with child hawking, various stakeholders in city management matters have advocated for their evacuation from the street. For instance, Owusu et al. (2013) recommend that city authorities should decongest city centres, carry out reassessment and enforcement of land use plan and code to send away children from the street. However, the practical experience, as obtained in the efforts of these city authorities, has shown that when child hawkers are made to vacate a particular space either through reassessment and enforcement of land use plan or forceful means, it does not take long that most of these children resurface. The reason for this may not be far-fetched. While child hawkers’ socio-economic characteristics may vary, factors influencing their taking to the street to hawk may also differ. Thus, any attempt aimed at evacuating them from the streets may only work for those who are part-time hawkers among them. Furthermore, the intra-urban or locational distribution of child hawking may vary as well. It should be noted that it is only when all these are unravelled that effective policy measures can be formulated to address the menace of child hawking. It is against this backdrop that this article attempts to examine the intra-urban distribution of child hawking in Enugu Municipality, Nigeria. Specifically, the objectives of the study are to provide policy-makers and urban planners with information on child hawkers’ socio-economic characteristics, factors influencing their taking to the street to hawk and their spatial distribution pattern.

Theoretical perspective of the study

Child hawking is a common phenomenon, especially in most African countries (Alebiosu, 2007; Anarfi, 1997; International Labour Organisation [ILO], 2006; Okafor, 2010). For instance, ILO (2006) observes that approximately 111 million children under 15 are involved in hazardous work on the street in African cities. According to Anarfi (1997), there are about 36% of children in Ghana who engage in street hawking. In Nigeria, it is estimated that more than 4 million children are involved in one activity or the other on the street for an average of 12 hr per day in poor and unhealthy conditions (Okafor, 2010). Alebiosu (2007) confirms that street hawking is the most commonly observed child abuse and is dominated by children in Nigeria. On a comparative basis, Ekpenyong and Sibiri (2011) observe that most child hawkers are females. Aliyu (2006) reports that males between 11 and 13 years comprise the largest group of children in child hawking activity in Nigeria. However, does not see any variation between male and female representation in child hawking as they are observed in their large numbers.

The increasing number of children hawking on the streets has been linked to several factors in Nigeria. These include poverty, unstable families, large family size, high rates of unemployment, inflation, peer group influence, non-enforcement of city authority bye-laws and poor parental care (Ekpenyong and Sibiri, 2011; Israt and Adam, 2017). Nmom (2003) states that while poverty is often suggested as the main reason why children are forced into child labour, lack of good housing, lack of social services at home, inadequate food and healthcare service combine to induce parents to send their children into the street to hawk. Cultural beliefs in handling the child may as well influence child hawking. This is because, in some cultures, children are seen more as mere properties of their parents (Fawole et al., 2003). Without unfairness to these factors, the fact remains that for an individual child hawker, one of the factors may be the most significant for taking to the street to hawk.

The proliferation of child hawkers has been observed as a social menace and environmental nuisance plaguing Nigerian urban centres (Abisoye, 2013; Dada, 2013 Taiwo et al., 2021). The phenomenon is yet to receive meaningful attention other than unsustainable forceful evacuation approach adopted sometimes in cities such as Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja, among others, to get the children off the streets. While this study is not against the general campaign for rehabilitation strategy as suggested by some scholars (Faloore, 2009; Salisu, 2012), it likewise calls for investigation into the socio-economic attributes of the children, the factors responsible for their hawking activity and their distribution pattern within the city of Enugu.

As forceful eviction of child street hawkers fails to achieve the significant success of permanently sending the children off the street, the menace continues to increase. For example, in Enugu municipality, children are seen on nearly all major roads, especially where there are traffic congestions and high-density informal economic activities moving with their goods in a tray. This is usually accompanied by some form of advertisements, such as shouting the name of the article on sale, using special mannerism to attract the attention or interest of passengers and passersby, among others. They are equally found around markets, motor parks, religious centres and at times moving from house to house and at places of public functions.

It should be noted that child hawking in Enugu, as in other urban centres in Nigeria, tends to have interrelationship with the urban physical environment. That is to say, while child hawkers, as a result of waste generation and disposal, obstruction of traffic flow and creation of ugly urban scene, constitute an environmental nuisance, they are equally attracted by certain urban environmental conditions that provide convenient abode or suitable locations for them to carry out their hawking activity. Thus, all these call for the need to examine the intra-urban distribution of child hawking in Enugu municipality, Nigeria.

Several models have been formulated by researchers from diverse disciplinary backgrounds to analyse urban social issues. This article is anchored on two of those models to explain the concentration of child hawkers in urban space. These are models based on conceptualization of cities as a monocentric spatial structure and those based on explaining the polycentric pattern of urban change.

The conceptualization of the urban spatial structure was typically based on monocentric model, which was tested largely on case studies in America (Davoudi, 2003). The model is based on the supposition that the average density of development decreases steadily with increasing distance from the city centre. The model also envisages the city as a spherical residential zone surrounding a Central Business District (CBD) in which all employments are located, and population density is at its maximum (Veneri, 2015). This is the scenario in most traditional urban centres in Nigeria where the population is concentrated in the city centre as a result of easy accessibility to the CBD. From a time perspective, as technological development occurs and income rises, the relative costs being far from the city centre decline and people can move further away from the CBD, where land is cheaper, congestion lower and housing size higher (Veneri, 2015). Subsequently, the original monocentric (a single node) structure of large municipalities tends to dissolve increasingly into a polycentric (multiple nodes) structure with time. According to Bertaud (2002), the CBD loses its predominance, and collections of activities generating trips are spreading within the built-up area. In a similar vein, traditional cities in Nigeria have been expanding functionally and physically with people and economic activities spreading out from the existing major centres such that urban growth pattern undergoes a qualitative change, representing a polycentric rather than monocentric form. It should be noted, however, that although the cities have progressed into a polycentric pattern, they are still generally connected to city centres. Thus, most traditional cities in Nigeria are mono-polycentric as the internal mobility pattern involves concurrent radial and random movements. As appositely submitted by Taiwo (2018a), this structure has a great influence on child hawkers as they are not only found in the city centre but also in other parts of the city. One may, therefore, hypothesize that there is a relationship between child hawking and urban spatial structure.

The study area

Enugu, Nigeria

Enugu is located between Latitudes 5^o 56’N and 6^o 52’N and Longitudes 7^o 6’E and 7^o 54’E. The state shares borders with Abia and Imo States to the south, Ebonyi State to the east, Benue State to the north-east, Kogi State to the northwest and Anambra State to the west (See Figure 1). It is 2545 m above the mean sea level, with an area of about 79.25 km².

Figure 1.

Map of Enugu showing Enugu municipality (study area).

Enugu, which literally means hilltop, derives its name from its position among the Udi Hills, which is at an altitude of 689.8 feet above sea level. It is an important administrative, industrial and commercial centre in the eastern part of Nigeria. These led to its population growth primarily through immigration from the surrounding rural areas. The indigenous people of the city are the Nike, the Awkunanaw and the Enugwu Ngwo people. Other people found in Enugu are mostly migrants from different parts of Igbo land; and other significant ethnic groups in Nigeria, such as the Yoruba, Hausa and Fulani. Enugu is a city that covers an area of 85 km² with a population of about 500,000 in 1991. This grew to over 722,664 people in 2006 (Population Censure Figure). With the population growth, physical and political expansion, development possibilities and urban problems of different forms and diverse complexities started to raise their ugly heads. One of such problems is the increasing phenomenon of child hawking. Children involved in this activity are observed to have created serious and varying socio-economic and environmental problems, which constitute major threats to the health, safety and well-being of the urban poor. They occupy different spaces in the urban centre after appraising the socio-economic opportunities that such spaces provide.

The morphology of Enugu

Enugu, like other traditional urban centres in Nigeria, is known to have been in existence before the advent of colonialism. Previous studies show that traditional urban centres have three major areas with distinct social, economic and physical characteristics (Badiora, 2016; Taiwo, 2018b). These are core, transition and sub-urban.

The core area, which is also referred to as the high-density zone, is a pre-colonial development occupied by the indigenous population or the early settlers. According to Coker, Awokola, Olomolaiye, and Booth (2007), the area is with a density of more than 300 people per hectare. The core area is characterized by untarred access roads. It is not largely planned, and houses are closely built together. Most parts of the area lack state-of-the-art physical environment facilities and services. The majority of the inhabitants in the core belong to the low socio-economic group. This includes low western education, low income as a result of being engaged in low-paid occupations. Most of them are working as gatemen, house servants, messengers, petty traders, craftsmen, labourers and mechanics, among others (Abodunrin, 2004). The core residential areas sampled in Enugu were Ogui, Asata, Abakpa and Ogbete.

The transition, intermediate or medium-density zone is developed in response to the housing need of the increasing middle-grade income households who are working in the formal sector of the urban economies. It usually comprises a population density of between 100 and 300 persons per hectare (Efe and Eyefia, 2014). In some parts of the transition area, evidence of Western or contemporary day planning standards is shown in the organization of building types and materials, road layouts, provision of in-house facilities and other facilities. The houses in this area are occupied by indigenes or other immigrants who may be tenants or landlords. The area accommodates largely the middle-income earners, although there are few numbers of lower- and upper-income groups. Residents occupying the transition area are teachers, middle-level technical officials, higher clerical officers in government and private establishments and policemen, among others. Residential areas selected for survey in this zone were Achara Layout, Umuenwene, Ihewuzi and Federal low-cost housing.

The sub-urban or low-density area comprises the Government Reservation Areas (GRAs) and newly laid out housing estates, government and private layouts. The density has less than 100 persons per hectare and the cultural composition is heterogeneous (Oherein, 2004). The housing environment here is in sharp contrast to the core and transition areas. The buildings are well organized, suitably connected with roads and appropriately landscaped, with neat environments and adequate facilities. The residents are the upper socio-economic group with high income and educational qualifications. They are highly placed people, such as professionals in different fields, higher clerical officers, lecturers, business tycoons, top officials in government and private establishments, among others. The ethnic composition of the residents is heterogeneous, including foreigners. Residential areas with these attributes and where the survey was carried out were New Haven, Ugwuogo Nike, Independence Layout and Trans Ekulu Layout.

Generally, in urban centres of this nature, socio-economic attributes, such as income, educational level and occupation, as well as environmental characteristics are considered to vary inversely with density. It is expected that since the attributes of the residential areas of Enugu vary, there is the likelihood that the influence each of the areas has on child hawkers will vary as well.

Method

Primary data were obtained through a multi-stage sampling technique. The first stage involved stratification of the city into three residential areas: core, transition and sub-urban. In each of the residential areas, activity-nuclei where child hawkers were mostly concentrated were identified. To have an effective and objective comparison among the residential areas in the city, five different categories of activity-nuclei (church, mosque, junction, Motor Park and market) were selected in each residential area. Hence, fifteen (15) activity-nuclei were selected in the city.

The second stage was the collection of data on the incidence of child hawkers through direct enumeration. This was to establish the intra-urban or locational distribution of child hawkers. The enumeration was carried out on all the days of the week (Monday to Sunday) and at various periods, namely: morning (7 am–9 am), afternoon (1 pm–3 pm) and evening (5 pm–7 pm). This was conducted with the help of trained research assistants. The periods were considered to be peak as a result of the experience from the preliminary survey. The average figure of the 7 days enumeration exercise across the three residential areas was 545 child hawkers. As the survey progressed, direct observations were also conducted on the field for the researcher to get first-hand information and witness live some of what the children engaged in to survive, and how they responded to customers.

The third stage was the administration of a questionnaire on the child hawkers. The incidental (a family of non-probability) sampling technique was employed to select a total of 95 child hawkers from the residential areas, comprising 49, 21 and 25, respectively. This method was adopted in selecting the children because they were usually very enthusiastic to sell their wares. The preliminary survey carried out beforehand showed that the survey was best conducted around 4:00 pm, when the children were taking shelter. It is important to note that the questionnaire was administered to child hawkers between 7 and 17 years of age who were able to respond satisfactorily based on the earlier direct observations. Before the administration of the questionnaire, ethical consent was first sought from the children or their guardians. The children were informed that participation was voluntary and that they could pull out at any time if they felt uncomfortable responding to questions. More so, no identifying information was collected from them. Details of the number of the child hawkers sampled are presented in Table 1. While the questionnaire was originally developed in English, it was translated into local dialects (Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba) using forward and backward translation. The children were questioned in any language they felt comfortable using. The research assistants who carried out the enumeration were also used in the questionnaire administration. They were residents of the target areas and held at least a bachelor’s degree in Spatial Planning or Social Science. The research assistants were trained on how to use the questionnaire in English and the local dialects. Thereafter, the research instrument was pre-tested on some child hawkers at some locations different from the targeted study area to ascertain their understanding and eliminate any form of ambiguity. The questionnaire was very simple and well understood by the children in either English or the local dialect they were most proficient at. The researcher personally supervised the data collection process so as to ascertain reliability. The questionnaire captured such issues as socio-economic characteristics (gender, age, level of school attendance, religion and daily income) of the child hawkers and factors responsible for their taking to the streets to hawk.

Table 1.

Child hawkers enumerated and sampled in the identified activity-nuclei of the different residential areas of Enugu municipality.

Activity-nuclei	Core		Transition		Sub-urban		Enugu
Activity-nuclei	Enumeration	Sampled	Enumeration	Sampled	Enumeration	Sampled	Enumeration	Sampled
Churches	55	5	3	1	35	2	93	8
Mosques	30	8	20	3	24	2	74	13
Junctions	63	15	11	6	19	5	93	26
Motor Parks	70	9	11	4	20	7	101	20
Markets	73	12	46	7	65	9	184	28
Total	291	49	91	21	163	25	545	95

The number of child hawkers enumerated was subjected to z–score (standard score). The z-score was used to compare the intensity of the incidence of child hawking in each of the activity nuclei. Adeyemi (2011) points out that z-score is a derived score that expresses how far a raw score is from some reference point such as the mean in terms of standard deviation units. It is used to compare raw scores that are taken from different tests, particularly when the data are at the interval level of measurement. The z-scores generated for the raw scores were used in this study to analyse the incidence of child hawking in the different residential areas. The z-scores indicate that with positive values, there is a high incidence of child hawking and with negative values; there is a low incidence of child hawking.

Thus, z-score is calculated mathematically as: $Z = \frac{\bar{X} - X}{O^{,}},$

where:

X = Individual score

X– = Population mean

Ơ = Population standard deviation

Ơ is derived by the formula:

O^{,} = {\frac{\sum_{i = 1}^{n} (X i - \bar{X})}{N}}^{2} .

Statistics used for the socio-economic characteristics of the child hawkers were frequency counts, percentages and cross-tabulation. On the factors influencing child hawking, 17 variables were identified, which the hawkers were requested to rate using a 5-point Likert-type’ scale of: ‘Very Important’, ‘Important’, ‘Just Important’, ‘Not Important’, and ‘Not at all Important’.

To arrive at Child Hawkers’ Factor Index (CHFI) on each factor responsible for child hawking, a weight value of 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 was, respectively, assigned to each rating above. The Index for each specific factor was arrived at by dividing the ‘Total Weight Value’ (TWV) by the total number of responses to every rating for a variable. The TWV for each variable was obtained through the addition of the product of the number of responses to each aspect and the respective weight value attached to each rating. The CHFI was finally obtained by dividing TWV by the total respondents that rated each factor. Therefore, for factor i–j

C H F I_{i - j} = \frac{T W V_{i j /}}{N_{i j}},

where:

CHFI_ij = Child Hawkers Factor Index for variable i–j

TWV_ij = Total Weight Value of variable i–j

N_ij = Child Hawkers’ rating of each variable i–j

It should be noted that the mean indices of the core, transition and sub-urban residential areas were denoted, respectively, by CHFI_a, CHFI_b, and CHFI_c while that of Enugu was represented by CHFI_d.

Findings and discussion

The research findings are discussed below. Unless otherwise stated, the information summarized in the tables emanated from the authors’ field survey of 2018.

Socio-economic characteristics of child hawkers

The summary presented in Table 2 is the socio-economic characteristics of the child hawkers surveyed in the study area. Findings revealed that 58.9% of the child hawkers were males while 41.1% were females. The smaller proportion of girl hawkers compared to their boy counterparts may be attributed to a number of reasons. One, female children are useful around the house, participating in chores, such as cooking, washing and taking care of younger ones. Two, in line with the traditional role of the male as household head in a typical Nigerian urban centre, female children are obliged to stay at home, while the males go to the street in search of opportunities. Three, female children may not be as strong as their male counterparts to compete with the harsh and hazardous nature of street life. It was in the core residential area that the highest male child hawkers was recorded with 61.2%. Similarly, the highest (44.0%) female child hawkers was observed in the sub-urban area. This showed that it was in the sub-urban that the lowest male child hawkers were found in the study area. Furthermore, the least of the female child hawkers when compared with other residential areas was recorded in the core.

Table 2.

Socio-economic characteristics of child hawkers in different residential areas of Enugu municipality.

Gender	Residential Area			Enugu
Gender	Core	Transition	Sub-urban	Enugu
Male	30(61.2%)	12(57.1%)	14(56.0%)	56(58.9%)
Female	19(38.8%)	9(42.9%)	11(44.0%)	39(41.1%)
Total	49(100.0)	21(100.0)	25(100.0)	95(100.0)
Age
7–12 yrs (Younger Children)	20(40.8%)	8(38.1%)	7(28.0%)	35(36.8%)
13–17 yrs (Teenagers)	29 (59.2%)	13(61.9%)	18(72%)	60(63.2%)
Total	49(100.0)	21(100.0)	25(100.0)	95(100.0)
Level of School Attendance
Not attending or dropped out of school	24(49.0%)	12(57.1%)	15(60.0%)	51(53.7%)
Primary School	5(10.2%)	1(4.8%)	0(0.0%)	6(6.3%)
Junior secondary school	8(16.3%)	4(19.0%)	6(24.0%)	18(18.9%)
Senior Secondary School	12(24.5%)	4 (19.0%)	4(16.0%)	20(21.1%)
Total	49(100.0)	21(100.0)	25(100.0)	95(100.0)
Religion
Christianity	42(85.7%)	19(90.5%)	18(72.0%)	79(83.2%)
Islamic	5(10.2%)	2(9.5%)	7(28.0%)	14(14.7%)
Traditional	2(4.1%)	0(0.0%)	0(0.0%)	2(2.1%)
Total	49(100.0)	21(100.0)	25(100.0)	95(100.0)
Daily income
< ₦200	1(2.0%)	1(4.8%)	2(8.0%)	4(4.3%)
₦200- ₦500	17(34.7%)	5(23.8%)	4(16.0%)	26(27.4%)
₦501- ₦1000	23(46.9%)	10(47.6%)	12(48.0%)	45(47.4%)
₦1001- ₦1500	6(12.2%)	3(14.3%)	4(16.0%)	13(13.7%)
> ₦1500	2(4.1%)	2(9.5%)	3(12.0%)	7(7.4%)
Total	49(100.0)	21(100.0)	25(100.0)	95(100.0)

The study established that 63.2% of the child hawkers were in the age bracket of 13 to 17 years, while 36.8% were between 7 and 12 years. The mean age for the study area was 13.5 years. This showed that children involved in street hawking in the study area were indeed very young. This calls for concern as children in their teen age ought to still be under tutelage of parents and guardians and not left absolutely unsupervised. This has several implications on their well-being. First, it has been noted that carrying heavy loads or sitting for a long period of time in unnatural positions can permanently disable children’s bodies when developing as these children are less mature for the laborious work they engage in (Asamu, 2015). Second, as noted by ILO (2005), children within this teenage year can effortlessly yield to negative peer pressure and acquire many anti-social tendencies. Hughes (2009) reports that child labourers (including child hawkers) tend to keep bad company and are adversely pressured by peers to engage in delinquent behaviours. Third, the children are also susceptible to several hazards which they may be inept to cope with based on their young age.

It was further established that child hawkers in the age bracket of 13 to 17 years represented 59.2% in the core; 61.9% in the transition and 72.0% in the sub-urban. Thus, as distance increased from the core to the sub-urban area, the ages of the child hawkers were also on the increase. In other words, the ages of the child hawkers were directly related to an increase in distance from the core to the sub-urban area. Findings also showed that the core area had the highest number of child hawkers that were between 7 and 12 years of age.

Results showed that the majority (53.7%) of the child hawkers were either not attending school or had dropped out of school. This represented proportions of 49.0%, 57.1% and 60.0% of the child hawkers, respectively, in the core, transition and sub-urban residential areas. In line with this finding Abisoye (2013) in his study in Ibadan reports that 25% dropout rate is recorded among child hawkers. Similarly, the Ministry of Education in Nigeria documents that of the 42.1 million children eligible for primary education, only 22.3 million are in school. The remaining 19.8 million are out of school engaging in one income-generating activity or the other. In addition, the observation on secondary school enrolment shows that of the 33.9 million eligible children, only 6.4 million are in school. While child hawkers attending senior secondary school represented 21.1%, those in junior secondary school accounted for 18.9%. The least proportion of 6.3% was attending primary school.

Results on the religious affiliation of child hawkers showed that those practicing Islam accounted for 14.7%, while 83.2% were of the Christianity faith. Traditional adherents represented just 2.1%. Analysis across the different residential areas showed that 85.7%, 90.5% and 72.0% of the child hawkers, respectively, in the core, transition and sub-urban areas were of the Christian faith.

The minimum daily income of the child hawkers in the core, transition and sub-urban areas was ₦150.00k ($0.42USD) each while the maximum was, respectively, ₦2,000.00k ($5.56USD), ₦2,500.00k ($6.94USD) and ₦2,500.00k ($6.94USD) (in that order). It should be noted that $1USD was equivalent to ₦360.00k at the time of data collection. The daily mean income of the child hawkers in Enugu was ₦900.21k. Using this established daily mean income, it was estimated that a child hawker will be realizing a monthly income of between ₦22505.25k ($62.51USD) and ₦23,405.46k ($65.02USD) depending on whether the child hawks for 25 or 26 days in the month. If this is compared to what is being earned in the civil service, it then follows that someone with no formal educational background or at best attending senior secondary school will be earning more than a school leaver who enters the service on Grade Level (GL) 04 Step (S) 1. It should be noted that the national minimum monthly wage in the civil service as at the time of data collection was ₦18,000.00k ($50USD). This simple reason explains why child hawkers are found in different public spheres in Nigerian urban centres. This may also account for the reason why it is difficult for the government to get rid of the children from the streets. It is to be noted at this point that child hawking will continue on the streets unless very drastic measures are taken to get rid of them. However, regardless of the huge income, the child hawkers are not excluded from the larger group of the urban poor. This is because poverty is not only measurable in terms of income, but must also be seen in terms of social exclusion, hopelessness and stigmatization (Schmidt, 2003).

Having examined the socio-economic variables of the child hawkers, it is imperative that factors influencing their taking to the streets to hawk are also investigated. This is the focus of the next section.

Factors influencing child hawking

As presented in Table 3, it can be observed that the most important factor influencing child hawking in the core residential area was poverty. The CHFI for the variable was 3.67. Other important factors were: lack of food (3.48), family breakdown (3.48), peer pressure (3.48), lack of parental care (3.33), inadequate family income (3.33), being disowned (3.29), unemployment of parents (3.24), housing difficulties (3.19), being abandoned (3.19) and dislocation through migration (3.14). The indices of each factor were higher than the zone’s index (CHFI_a = 3.05).

Table 3.

Child hawkers’ perceptions of factors influencing their involvement in hawking activity in different residential areas of Enugu municipality.

Core		Transition		Sub-urban		Enugu
Factors	CHFI	Factors	CHFI	Factors	CHFI	Factors	CHFI
A	3.67	A	3.64	A	3.37	A	3.51
G	3.48	D	3.40	B	3.06	D	3.20
J	3.48	B	3.36	C	3.00	B	3.20
D	3.48	G	3.24	D	2.98	G	3.06
H	3.33	F	3.24	E	2.86	F	3.05
B	3.33	E	3.24	F	2.86	E	3.03
F	3.29	N	3.20	G	2.80	H	2.98
K	3.24	J	3.12	H	2.78	C	2.98
L	3.19	H	3.08	I	2.73	J	2.97
E	3.19	I	3.04	J	2.67	K	2.88
N	3.14	K	3.00	K	2.67	N	2.86
C	2.95	C	2.96	L	2.63	L	2.78
M	2.67	M	2.92	M	2.63	I	2.78
I	2.57	L	2.72	N	2.57	M	2.72
O	2.48	P	2.52	O	2.39	O	2.43
Q	2.29	Q	2.52	P	2.37	P	2.36
P	2.14	O	2.48	Q	2.27	Q	2.34
Total	51.92		51.68		46.64		49.13
CHFI_a = 3.05		CHFI_b = 3.04		CHFI_c = 2.74		CHFI_d = 2.89

Note: A, Poverty; B, Inadequate family income; C, Being orphaned; D, Peer pressure; E, Being abandoned; F, Being disowned; G, Lack of food; H, Lack of parental care; I, Lack interest in schooling; J, Family breakdown; K, Unemployment of parents; L, Housing difficulties; M, To use drug or smoke; N, Dislocation through migration; O, Religion; P, Societal response; Q, Sensation seeking. CHFI: Child Hawkers’ Factor Index.

With an index of 3.64, poverty was also the most important factor responsible for children taking to the streets to hawk in the transition residential area. Other important factors were peer pressure, inadequate family income, lack of food, being disowned, being abandoned, dislocation through migration, family breakdown and lack of parental care. The CHFI computed for each of the factors were: 3.40, 3.36, 3.24, 3.24, 3.24, 3.20, 3.12 and 3.08, respectively.

As obtainable in the core and transition residential area, poverty was also viewed by the children as the most important factor in the sub-urban. This was with a mean index of 3.37. Next in order of importance were: inadequate family income (3.06), being orphaned (3.00), peer pressure (2.98), being abandoned (2.86), being disowned (2.86), lack of food (2.80) and lack of parental care (2.78). From the factors mentioned above, it can, thus, be established that the most important reason why children hawked in the core was poverty.

From the above analysis, it can be concluded that poverty was the major factor responsible for child hawking in the study area, even though it was with varying intensity. In support of this finding, Admassie (2002) in his study points out that poverty is the main contributor to child labour (including child street hawking) in sub-Saharan African countries generally.

Child hawkers’ views of the factors responsible for their taking to the street to hawk in each of the residential areas were similar but different in magnitude as denoted by their average indices. The mean index (CHFI_d) for the study area was 2.89, while the average indices for the core, transition and sub-urban residential areas were 3.05, 3.04 and 2.74, respectively. This pattern suggested that the intensity of perceptions of the factors was on the decrease along the line of residential areas. In other words, as distance increased from the core towards the sub-urban residential area, the factors influencing child hawking was on the decrease. Findings of this study indicated that the variation was attributed to the varying socio-economic circumstances of the children’s parents who were probably residing in the residential areas, and the environmental attributes of the residential areas. For instance, conspicuous evidence of high socio-economic class, reflected in terms of the income and educational qualifications of residents, and adequate provision of environmental services in the sub-urban residential area are possibly the reasons for the low perceptions in the area.

The factors were also observed to have social, economic and cultural attributes. The social aspect involved factors, such as being orphaned, peer pressure, being abandoned, being disowned, lack of parental care, lack of interest in schooling, family breakdown, to use drug or smoke, dislocation through migration, societal response and sensation seeking. The economic aspect was poverty, inadequate family income, lack of food, unemployment of parents and housing difficulties, while the cultural element only involved the religious factor (see Table 3). This shows that child hawking generally cannot be related to a single causal factor.

Locational distribution of child hawking

As obtained from z-scores in Table 4, the incidence of child hawking attracted by various activity-nuclei varied across the three residential areas. For instance, the incidence of child hawking around the church was quite low in the core (−0.18578) and sub-urban (−0.91213) residential areas; however, it was high in the transition (0.12506). The incidence of child hawking fascinated by mosques was relatively low in the core and transition, respectively, with z-scores of −1.63716 and −0.44812, while it was high in the sub-urban (0.10802) area. For junction, child hawking incidence was more pronounced in the core than in the transition and sub-urban residential areas. This was because while the z-score computed for the core was 0.27867, it was, respectively, −0.70866 and −0.43206 for the transition and sub-urban areas. The incidence of child hawking in and around Motor Park was high in the core with 0.68505; however, it was somewhat low in transition (−0.65655) and sub-urban (−0.43206) areas. The market recorded a significant incidence of child hawkers in the three residential areas. While the z-score in the core was 0.85922, it was 1.68828 and 1.66823, respectively, in the transition and sub-urban residential areas.

Table 4.

Spatial distribution of child hawkers in different residential areas of Enugu municipality.

Activity-nuclei	Core		Transition		Sub-urban		Enugu
Activity-nuclei	Enumeration	z-score	Enumeration	z-score	Enumeration	z-score	Enumeration	z-score
Church	55	−.18578	35	.12506	3	−.91213	93	−.37134
Mosque	30	−1.63716	24	−.44812	20	.10802	74	−.81231
Junction	63	.27867	19	−.70866	11	−.43206	93	−.37134
Motor Park	70	.68505	20	−.65655	11	−.43206	101	−.18567
Market	73	.85922	65	1.68828	46	1.66823	184	1.74066
Total	291	1.07932	163	−.18427	91	−.89505	545

The overall distribution of child hawkers across the different residential areas indicated that the highest number (291), with a z-score of 1.07932, was found in the core. This was followed by the transition and sub-urban, respectively, with 163 (−0.18427) and 91 (−0.89505). This pattern emphasizes the influence of the varying socio-economic and environmental circumstances of the residential areas on the incidence of child hawking.

The observable pattern of child hawking in Enugu, to a great extent, follows the mono-polycentric structure of the city. The intra-urban structure of Enugu has it that the city comprises a large centre as well as a number of concentrated sub-centres with high population and economic activities to reflect the pattern of mono-polycentric structure of the city. The pattern of child hawking was influenced by this structure as the incidence of child hawking was observed to be concentrated mostly in the core (city centre), followed by the transition and sub-urban areas. There is also no refuting the fact that Enugu is dominantly a polycentric city, but the prevailing intra-urban structure of the city suggests it operates in mixed mode and is only polycentric by degree. This is evident in the fact that the city is still noticeably linked to the city centre. Ogui, Asata, Abakpa and Ogbete are major areas in the centre of Enugu. The economic resilience of this centre is possibly motivated by geographical, cultural and economic factors. Thus, the economic activities are usually concentrated in these areas and decline with distance from them. In conformity to this pattern, the population of child hawkers was observed to be more concentrated in the central area and declined with distance from the centre. This is more obvious in junction, Motor Park and market located at the city centre where child hawkers were observed to be highly concentrated and low incidence around such activity-nuclei located at the suburb of the city.

Conclusion: summary, implications and suggestions

This study has examined the intra-urban distribution of child hawking in Enugu municipality, Nigeria. It confirmed the socio-economic characteristics of child hawkers, reasons for child hawking and the locational distribution of child hawking. The study on the socio-economic attributes of the child hawkers showed that the majority of the children were either not attending school or had dropped out of school. This situation does not portray the country well in terms of educational attainment for children who will become adults tomorrow. The implication of this is that the children will grow up to be uneducated and illiterate adults, who are unemployable and may not be employed or would be underemployed in organized sectors with no power to bargain for fair wages. As the parents of the child hawkers who are unable to support their children’s education, so the child hawkers would, in turn, send their own children to the street, thus repeating the cycle of child hawking and poverty. It is, therefore, strongly suggested that the government should come up with policy measures to make sure that all children of relevant ages are included in mandatory education and that education is provided, at least up to the secondary school level, free of charge. This becomes important because education is a fundamental right of children that they must not be denied.

The factors influencing child hawking across the three different residential areas included poverty, peer pressure, inadequate family income, lack of food and being disowned. Others were being abandoned, lack of parental care and being orphaned. Of these factors, poverty, although with varying degrees of intensity across the areas, was the most important. The impact of this factor on child hawking is not a pushover at all. The government should, therefore, introduce a policy measure to enhance the socio-economic security of low-income families, especially in the core and transition residential areas of the city, by transferring resources to them through direct assistance programme. This is also important because the majority of the children hawk due to inadequate family income. It is believed that if this policy measure is initiated, families will not be depending on their children to help their poverty-stricken situations or supplement their income by engaging them in hawking activity. Such a programme will help families to be able to cater for their basic needs as well as those of their children.

Child hawking has also been observed not to be equally distributed in the city. Two distribution patterns were observable. One, there was a high concentration of child hawkers in the core (city centre) and low concentration in the transition and sub-urban residential areas to make it follow the monocentric model. Two, child hawking was observed to be more pronounced at the junction, motor park and market in the core residential area when compared with similar activity-nuclei in other residential areas, making it likened to mono-policentric model. The spatial implication of this is that central areas, road junctions, motor parks and markets in urban centres require adequate attention. This is because child hawkers are found in these places not because there is no legislation against child hawking, but mainly because of two reasons. One, the land use activities coupled with informal sector enterprises that are predominant in those locations provided an avenue for child hawking to thrive. Two, the unwanted traffic hold-ups and delays in such areas make it easy for child hawkers to ‘pitch their tents’ there to woo their customers. This suggests the need for effective traffic management system and regulation of the locations of informal economic enterprises, especially at junctions, motor parks and markets in the core residential area.

While it could be averred that the above-mentioned suggestions are absolutely not comprehensive and far-reaching, it is very much advocated that they can go a long way in addressing the menace of child hawking in Nigerian urban centres.

Footnotes

Funding

The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iD

Amos Oluwole Taiwo

Author biography

Amos Oluwole Taiwo (PhD) is a Lecturer in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Faculty of Environmental Studies, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Nigeria

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