Risking it all

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Every day in Nigeria across major cities and towns you find people in various market who help convey goods from one point to the other, either through the market or to a point where the goods would be loaded for transportation. In a city like Lagos were you find very big markets were commercial activities takes place daily you find these people either referred to as "job men" or could have other local names people in the market refer to them as.

 

They range from very old men to young children, they perambulate the market looking for customers who have purchased goods in large quantity and would require assistance in moving such goods. One of such market visited in Lagos revealed the tough and risky lives these "job men" live on a daily basis. Goods sold in this particular market are mainly building materials such as tiles, plumbing materials cement etc. The location of the market and construction of new multiple lane road across this market have necessitated people carrying heavy loads on their head or in trucks or wheel barrow across major highway with high volume of traffic. Most of these people can be seen carrying goods on their head or on their shoulders and running across the express from one end of the road to the other.

As dangerous as it looks and sound these ‘job men’ have gotten used to this life style as most of them are not even aware of the safety risk involved in the nature of work they do and they see nothing wrong with it, on the other hand they have to survive and to most of them this is the only way they can for now.