We all know who the paper boy is. He’s the newspaper vendor who brings the dailies to your office, or sells to you along the streets or at traffic junctions. But who are the ‘paper girls’? CHRISTIANA ESEBONU writes that in a bid to survive the hard economic times in a legitimate way, many Nigerian girls have now taken to selling newspapers to make a living and fend for their families.
Times are hard, that goes without saying. With the inflation rate at 12.5 per cent, financial experts have warned that the full effects of the hard times will become even more pronounced in the months to come.
In a bid to survive, many Nigerian youths have turned to the business of selling newspapers. At major hotels, motor parks, traffic junctions and other strategic points, they can be seen cajoling people to buy a paper or two; but now not just young men, but women too.
These vibrant Nigerian female newspaper vendors, found in almost every town of the country, are not waiting for things to get worse. They have already figured out a way to beat joblessness and enable them persevere in the face of frustration.
These hardworking paper girls have proven beyond all doubt that the energy of a woman is atomic; it can be used in both destructive ventures – as commercial sex workers do – and productive purposes, as these lady vendors exhibit.
Listening to these female newspapers vendors as they tell their stories, one cannot fail to notice their deep commitment to the wellbeing of their kin, particularly to members of their immediate families.
For some of these female vendors, the basic reason for embracing and for staying in this hazardous business is primarily empowerment, so that they can provide for their loved ones.
The grave poverty these women and their families were facing is responsible for their resolve to embrace the risky trade of having to run between moving vehicles, come rain come shine.
Miss Chinasa Onuaha is an indigene of Imo State and a newspaper vendor at the Imo State Transport Company premises, popularly known as ITC Park, located at MCC Road. She says, “I am not ashamed, because I ventured into this trade for compelling economic reasons. Hawking of newspapers under the sun and in the rain to the best of my knowledge is not an occupation one embarks on as a matter of pure choice. Though some see it as a shameful thing for a woman to do and for all her family too, I do not view it as a lifetime career. I ventured into it, rather than indulging in prostitution, which is very destructive, to enable me cope with the present economic situation.”
Agnes Izama Mbawike is an indigne of Rivers State.
She has been in the newspaper business at the famous Aria-Ria market junction, Aba, Abia State, for four years now. She is highly committed to her family, who live in Rivers State.
“I am from Ekwere in Rivers State. I ventured into this heart and body-aching business to better the lot of my family. I was born into a family of 10 children – seven are still alive. As the fourth child, I grew up to see my parents struggle against the shackles of poverty and I am bent on changing my family’s fortunes. I decided to go to school in order to achieve my goal.
“When I first came here, I took up work as a domestic worker for a meagre salary of N3, 000 a month. On realising that I may not attain my goal of changing my family’s status, I decided to hawk fruits such as bananas, oranges and carrots, but I could not meet up with the demands of school. This led to my inability to stay in the trade for more than two months,” she says.
Agnes, who was dutifully sending all her earnings to her folks, was not making much headway. She could not even buy herself a pair of slippers, not even when she got a better job as a cleaner in a restaurant on a salary of N7, 500.
“I was eventually advised to embrace this result-oriented but hazardous business by a woman who worked with me at the restaurant, who said that her niece was making a lot of money from the trade.
“I took up the trade because I thought I might be able to support my folks. I tell you, I came into this work for the sake of my folks. I am still in it for them. I have tried a number of times to get them out of poverty. My dream is still to see them have a better life. I am prepared to accept a fate even greater than HIV, a fate that might even result in my immediate death, as long as I can help bring succour their way,” she says.
Agnes says her taking to selling newspapers was not in the quest for adventure, but a sacrifice she is making for her family. She says that in the last one year, she has saved her family from starvation and humiliation.
“For me, the worst thing that could happen to a female child is the inability to provide at least minimal support for her immediate family,” she says.
Take a trip to the Mile 1 motor park in Rivers State and you’ll find 23- year- old Miss Vivian Sefa selling newspapers there. She has been in the trade for three years now.
She says, “I leave my house in Diop at 4am every day and by 5.30am, I am at the distribution centre to collect papers. I am a student at the Rivers State University. I’m putting myself through school and prefer this trade to begging for alms in traffic, or engaging in prostitution, like some of my mates do.
“At least, I am getting something reasonable from my daily sales of newspapers. I enjoy doing this because people who patronise me do so with smiles on their faces. Some of them even encourage me by making prophetic utterances and giving me money.”
Narrating how she started out in the business, Vivian explains that she was introduced to it by a friend who has been in it for over two years and has through the proceeds derived from the sales of newspapers put three of her siblings through school.
And Vivian says that rather than try to intimidate them, her male counterparts are very understanding and helpful. “The actions of these male vendors have helped us a lot. They recognise that we are weaker, so they sometimes allow us to sell even when they know that we cannot compete with them in the race to sell newspapers.”