Labourers in Lagos queen at home

They are visible in most big markets across Lagos. Clutching the tools of their trade- a large tray, a pair of rain booths and a piece of cloth- the women of varying ages and sizes eke their livings carrying loads for people who buy goods in large quantities.

At the popular Mile 12 Market in Lagos, the women, popularly known as Alabo, are unmistakable. Comprising women of different ages, but mostly older women, the Alabo at the market have different tales behind their decisions to make their living carrying loads at the market.

While their tales differ in most cases, the common denominator is poverty. For them, it is more honourable to engage in such seemingly demeaning jobs than begging on the streets or resort to stealing.

With a rare ability to spot a potential customer from the distance, an Alabo would approach the customer with a promise to assist him or her to ferry the goods to where the customer may have parked his or her car.

How much is charged is determined by the size of the load, distance and most times, the magnanimity of the customer to pay ‘good’ money. Interestingly, a large number of the women, who in most cases are the breadwinner of their individual families, come from as far as Oyo and Osun States to ‘come and hustle’ in Lagos.

But while they prefer to carry loads at the market to begging or stealing, most of them, if not all, don’t disclose their profession to their families back home. The little their family members know of them is that they are in Lagos to ‘hustle’.

A source at the market who spoke with The Nation said: “These women don’t disclose their professions to their families back home. All they disclosed would be that they are coming to Lagos to hustle. But the truth is that the women are very hard working. And when they travel home during any festival, you could mistake them for very successful business women in Lagos.”

On this day, amidst the hustling, buying and selling at the Mile 12 market, Madam Asake stood at an isolated spot watching her mates struggle for business. Even if she loved to join in the struggle, her strength would allow her. For her, such scenario has become the regular feature of her life as a load carrier.

Her story of total plunge from state of relative grace to grass started long ago as a young woman. According to her, she was born into an averagely well-to-do family in Saki area of Oyo State. But today, she lives a miserable and despondent life. The challenges of life and all the comfort she previously enjoyed have combined to push her to the point of a reclusive life. At the age of 68, she should ordinarily have disengaged from hard labour and retired into less strenuous activities to continue to make both ends meet. 

Unfortunately, it is at this critical age that she is deeply involved in the neck-breaking job of load carrying at Mile 12 market in Lagos State. With her wrinkled body and fragile look, she competed with able bodied men to get customers. And most often, she lost out because many believe that asking her to carry heavy loads was tantamount to planning to commit murder. For all her toils in a whole day, she hardly smiles home with more than N300 out of which she buys pain relieving drugs and balm to massage her body.

Tears rolled her eyes uncontrollably as if her eye balls were punctured when our correspondents cornered her for a chat. Initially, she shunned all entreaties to speak about her life. But after much persuasion, she caved in and narrated the heart-rending story of how at old age she continues to beg to carry load to make both ends meet.

"You are trying to open an old would by asking me to tell you the story of how I became a load carrier" began Madam Asake.

She said: "I was born into a fairly well to do home in Saki area of Oyo State. My father developed a strange illness that made the family sell off virtually all we had to save his life, but at the end of it all he did not survive. After his death our family members rose against us and made serious problems with my mother. Some of my father's remaining properties were forcefully taken from us. I later dropped out of school and went into business. As time went on, my business grew very well and I thought the best thing I could do was to get married.

"My husband was also a trader. He was very caring and reliable. He filled the vacuum created by my father's death, such that my mother often described him as God sent. The only challenge we had was that we had no issue throughout the years the marriage lasted.

"Problem started when he too developed a strange illness. We spent all the money we had but at the end of the day, he died. His business had closed down before his death while mine was not booming as it used to be. After some years of being alone, my mum advised that I should try and re-marry. I agreed and got engaged to another man.

“Few weeks to the time we would formalise our marriage, people advised him to run away from me if he didn't want to die prematurely. While I was joyfully looking up to the day of our union, he stopped talking about it and would not even come to my house again. That was home the second marital life journey crashed like a pack of cards. The shame and stigma caused untold pains for my mum. She later died of heart attack. My business suffered a serious setback in the course of taking care of my mum.

 "I subsequently ran to a neighbouring community close to the Nigerian border with Benin Reublic where I got married to another man.  This man was grossly irresponsible. He drank alcohol like a fish would drink water. He beat me almost every day and ended up ruining my business. I eventually ran away from his house empty handed to hustle here in Lagos.

"Life has been very cruel to me. I am only living because it is not good for one to commit suicide. I have been here for many years without going home. I can't even think of going home because of the stigma that is hanging on me. I make so little everyday because customers don't like giving me heavy loads to carry. Most of them fear that I may collapse and die if they give me heavy loads to carry. It is only few people that take pity on me that allow me to carry their goods for them. I hardly make N500 in a day. My regular income per day is N300 out of which I buy pain relieving drugs and balm to massage my body."  

25-year old Joke appears to be the youngest of the load carriers. Clutching her large tray with the left hand, she dashed forward, hoping to seal a deal. But her expression suddenly changed the moment she realized that target was not a prospective customer but inquisitive men who wanted to ask her some questions.

As she turned to go, she changed her mind and said: “You want ask me some questions, okay let me hear you.” She soon revealed that her desire for a better future forced her to take the near-humiliating path of a load carrier.

The Iseyin, Osun State-born woman confessed that she dropped her pride in order to ensure a more robust future for herself and her family. She told The Nation that she came to Lagos to hustle for money to start her tailoring business.

According to her, she was compelled to come to Lagos when she could not raise money to buy her tools after she had completed her apprentice in fashion designing in Osun State about three years ago. She said she has no reason to be ashamed of what she is doing because all she wants is money. After realizing the amount of money she wants, she said she would return to Iseyin to start her fashion designing business.

Joke is determined to make enough money that would enable her to purchase a sewing machine and other tools of her trade before she goes back home. She added that she would be quitting the job in a couple of weeks because she had acquired most of the things she needs to start off her dream job.

She said: “I came to Lagos to hustle for money to start my fashion designing business. I went for apprenticeship in fashion designing after I dropped out of school. After completing my apprenticeship, my father could not provide me with the capital to buy sewing machines and other tools that I need to start my own business let alone give me money to rent a shop.   My financial challenges were compounded when I was impregnated by a young man that does not have the means to take care of me and my baby.

“I was left with no other decision than to come to Lagos to come and hustle for money, first to survive, and second to raise money to buy the tools I need to start my fashion business. I have no particular reason to be ashamed doing this job because nobody knows me here. My people back at home don’t know what I am doing here in Lagos. They only know that I am living and working in Lagos. Nothing would ever tell them that I am a load in Lagos because when I am going home, I will buy many things that will make them proud of my achievement. They may even think that I am a big business woman in Lagos.

“So far, I have bought some of the tools that I need to start my business. By the time I finish buying all of them, I will try and get other things that would make me stand out when I get back home. I make about N1, 000 on daily basis.”

Yemi’s story is not too different from that of Joke. Although she looks a bit older than her age, she too confessed that she was forced into the trade by biting poverty. Osun State-born Yemi said she came to hustle in Lagos in order to do away with the label of a village girl placed on her by some of her friends that left their village many years before her to live and work in Lagos.  Prior to the time she came to Lagos, she narrated that her friends who came to Lagos before her always oppressed and looked down on her as a village girl.

“I came to Lagos to hustle because my friends that came to Lagos before me always oppressed me each time they returned to the village.  After they left our home town in Osun State, they started behaving like super stars. They looked down on the rest of us that were still in the village. I was forced to come  here to prevent further oppression and contempt from them.

“Some of them were surprised when they saw me here in Lagos. When I came here, I was shocked to see that most of the ‘big girls’ at home  were either carrying loads at markets, hawk bread or herbal concoction here in Lagos. It is only a few of them that are engaged in buying and selling. We have thereafter become equals. The people at home do not know what we are doing. It is a top secret among us. We look dirty here making money, but when we go home to enjoy it nobody knows the secret.

“We have challenges like every other woman. And since nobody is ready to help you, the lot then falls on you to help yourself or you may be ruined for life. We live inside shops and most of the men in the market often come around to harass us sexually. It is not that they force us to sleep with them, but because they know that we have nowhere else to go, every Tom, Dick and Harry comes around to woo us.”         

For Silifat Olalekan, coming to Lagos to hustle is beyond going home to flaunt her ‘wealth’. Silifat, a grandmother, told our correspondents that she was forced into carrying loads to pay her children’s school fees after losing her husband and business.

For life, life’s essence is what you make of it irrespective of whatever difficulties. She was once a happy and prosperous business woman in her home town in Oyo State. But she lost her business and life became tough for her. But rather than sit down and sulk, the mother of five said she took the decision to relocate to Lagos to start a new life.

She said “I came all the way from Iseyin to hustle in Lagos. I never imagined that I would ever do this kind of job because I was doing a good business before. I was involved in the business of travelling to different communities to buy food and sell food stuff. My journey into the business of carrying load started after I lost my husband. Shortly after his death, the burden of taking care of our children fell solely on me. This led to the total collapse of my business. When I could not provide for my children again, I ran down here in Lagos to eke out a living for me and my kids.

“I go back home every three months to give money to my children for the payment of their school fees and other needs. I make about N1000 on daily basis. I live in lock up shops with my colleagues. About five or seven of us live in a room. Each of us pays between N500 and N1000 every month as rent. It is quite challenging, but we are used to the situation. What matters is the money we want to make and not the stress. But I would appreciate if the government could come to my help. No matter how much I make from this job, it can never be compared to personal business. The insults and the pains are enormous and not good for people of my age and others that are far older than us. When I see such older people, I pity them and pray not remain in this hard labour at their age. 

Ajayi Ojo’s has similar story. She explained that she came into the business when all avenues of earning a living closed down. She said “It is not anybody’s wish to be doing this kind of business. I am above 50 years and at this age, it is not healthy for me to be doing this kind of hard labour.

“I make about N500 when there is business. When there is no business, I could make less than that. As I am talking to you now, I have not made any money and it is getting late.  I was into business before I came into the job of carrying load. My business collapsed after some hoodlums carried my goods and money away. I would quickly go back to my business if I see anybody that can give me reasonable capital.”  

Interestingly, load carriers at the Mile 12 market are registered by the market association as a way of curbing the activities of crooks who under the guise of working as load carriers run away with the customers’ goods.

Speaking on behalf of the Chairman of the Food Stuff Market Association, Alhaji, Haruna Mohammed Shehu Usman, the financial secretary of the association told The Nation that the association started registering every load carrier in the market to curb the activities of hoodlums who run away with people’s goods in the guise of carrying goods for them.

He said “We began to register and give numbered tags to every load carrier in the market to prevent the hoodlums from further stealing people’s goods under the guise of assisting them to carry their goods for an agreed fee.  The males wear bibs for easy identification, while the women only wear numbered tags. We arrested many of such people in the past and handed them over to the police because we don’t want anything that would tarnish our image. 

  
“Every customer is informed by the traders in the market to take the number of the load carrier helping him to carry goods. If a case of theft arises, we would use the number to trace the load carrier. But I can tell you that we have not recorded such since we came up with this. If anybody that does not have our tag comes here to work as a load carrier, he or she would not be allowed to work because he does not have our tag.