An Exploratory Evaluation of the Employment Role of Commercial Cart Pushing in Metropolitan Lagos

Authors

  • Charles Asenime
  • Akinlabi Hamed

Keywords:

Cart, Attraction, Unemployed, Migrants, Sustainable, Profits, Generator, Reinjection

Abstract

This paper is an evaluation of the employment role of Cart Pushing in Metropolitan Lagos and
how it sustains the operators and by extension family members. Currently, Lagos
accommodates 65% of industries in Nigeria, which account for the attraction of people from
every part of Nigeria in search of jobs. The consequence could be daily observed in the ever
growing number of unemployed people aimlessly roaming the streets of Lagos. The reality of
not having a job by these migrants has stimulated so many innovations; one of such is the ever
growing number of commercial cart pushers with various types and designs meant for different
purposes. Data used for this paper was collected through the use of structured questionnaires
administered on commercial cart pushers that operate within the Okokomaiko/Mile2 traffic
corridor. The paper evaluated some of the factors that significantly influence the profit profile
of operators through Pearson Correlation Coefficient. The paper has captured the various types
of carts, their designs, volumes and the different wares they move and their modes of
operations. The paper revealed the ethnic dimension of this business and observed that most of
the operators are of northern extraction. The paper examined its contribution to the GDP of the
state through payment of taxes and other levies. Finally the paper posits that improved
management of this line of business could take the form of increased availability of carts
through reinjection of profit into operations, improved finances through soft loans from the
various micro finance banks.

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Published

31-12-2013