THOUSANDS TURN HUSTLERS ON THE STREET JUST TO MOVE ON

Photo: Pulse.ng

In recent time, the rise of teenagers moving into the street is getting people worried. Probably more than 60  percent of them especially in most poor communities like in Mushin, Ajegunle, Shomolu, Agege etc have lost it totally for drugs, prostitution, thuggery, robbery etc in order to move on with life. 

For hundreds of them both boys and girls, who have resorted to this path, see whatever they have preoccupied themselves with as a means to afford the missing opportunity of life.
Better and affordable life have been locked behind them in many of these communities. Choosing to ride into the street in using all means necessarily to survive, attracts a lot of concern. In many of these poor communities, it is an eye opener seeing teenagers losing themselves to destruction. 

Different analyses and reports on this issue have been published in different publications. The Guardian London (Fri. 24 Nov.  2017) in one documentary: "On the Road" reported the challenges many of these young ladies are forced to go through in order to survive ridiculously. In describing the terrible nature of these women wanting to cut short of the loomed crisis; going by the hard condition of living in mostly undeveloped and developing countries. 

Guardian reported "the nine-mile (15km) road has historically been a place of sex work and has recently seen a massive increase in the number of Nigerian women working alongside it  some of whom have been trafficked into the country and forced into prostitution". Despite Guardian reporting this through a documentary, the domestication of prostitution had has drastically increased especially in neo-colonial backward countries. The speed at which it is growing everyday is in fact terrible. It is something telling the exact mess millions of women are forced to go through.

Photo: Guardian.ng

Concerning the percentage of teenage girls embarking into prostitution and going by the rise of poverty in Nigeria, where the ruling politicians in government have totally shutdown anything which has to do with welfare. In every ten girls between the age of 15 to 21 six have taken into prostitution before they become a professional in the sex industry. 

It has been for many of them an occupation to meet up their basic needs that on daily basis the government policies crush it to ashes. This is the exact reality in many slum communities where life for millions of poor working class families is a harvest of pro-rich bamboos and gorillas on the heads of ants, failing to take the teenagers off the street with adequate policies and program to improve living standard.  

Relatively, comparing twenty years ago and now, the widening gap of poverty has increased geometrically. Although, this is not to applaud to the military regime then in Nigeria. It is to fundamentally point that the street hustlers have increased in a very high speed because of the failure of the successive governments, both military and civilian, to adequately provide for people's need,   

Each passing day continue to reveal this mess the politicians and government contractors representing profit agenda offer to people. Just like Tierre Ford puts it in The Products of the American Ghetto. "The snowball effect was getting bigger and bigger as it rolled through the ghettoes,  making people lose their identity". Poverty in its highest stage has staggered both boys and girls into things they won't in the first place engage themselves with. But failed government has made it so for people. 

Photo: metro.co.uk

This is worrisome especially in the poor communities where poverty is extremely high. A graphic picture of it is pronounced for example in most communities like in Shomolu, Ajegunle, Mushin etc. Everyday the clock ticks most especially weekends, a lot of these girls will flood the street to see what the day will bring for them. They stayed all night away from home to see the day bring them fortune. 

As mentioned earlier, out of every ten teenage girls, six are into such. And majority of them most likely are below either twenty or twenty three of age. And secondary school students whose parents are workers, market women and men, artisan, who can't afford to provide the minimal basic need, will push these teenagers either girls or boys into this path. 

Government officials who on their part want to create society to that can only enhance their businesses and greed without necessarily putting food on the table of the people, have continued to blame the children of the poor that they choose to live such life. But that is a fundamental lie.  The capitalist politicians of APC, PDP etc are the sole creator of crisis. Investing in the private corporations with public money while starving provision of social welfare with bad policies. Apparently, there is no how morality can survive without addressing the nitty-gritty of the bastardized economy which deepens poverty. 

Few months ago,  International Centre for Investigative Reporting gave a heartbreaking story about teenage girls embarking into street hustling just to move on with life in Abuja, Nigeria. The report that interrogated most of the girls mentioned the terrible experience of these women who are now professional prostitutes In fact, the market for prostitution has taken a new direction because of the rise of hotel business all over the country. Both local and national. As the hotel business become an empire itself, the need to recruit more women to become commodity arises. 

International Centre for Investigative Reporting exposed the heartbreaking story of millions of women going through victimization as sex workers in Abuja just to catch up with end needs. Majority of them are now worms in the table of merchants and politicians including government public officeholders who derive satisfaction after terribly abusing the life of these teenagers into destruction: working class children.

Photo: thejapantimes 

The report confirmed that "the patrons of these places (brothel) are the big men or upwardly mobile rich young men  government officials, contractors, estate realtors, politicians, including federal legislators and their hangers on  aides, special assistants, and personal assistants" who come around to ride on them. (International Centre for Investigative Reporting, 24 February, 2018)

All over the world, prostitution worldwide is a big business for a lot of merchants that the banks financially loan on the name of investment to run people's life into demolition. It has been one of the lucrative business. In fact, in many advance capitalist nations. The casino is one classical example of what continue to trigger the rise of sex industry that many teenagers were employed directly or indirectly. 

Women are the biggest commodity to achieve success and progress geometrically and cosmestically for many merchants who are into the business. For them, running on profit agenda, with the aid of government fund and license of operation, women are commodity that promote their business both indigenously and globally. Perhaps, this is the nature of what today is forcing millions of girls who either are dropout from school, or the battling condition of living they are passing through. 

All over the globe curbing the street hustling of teenage girls embarking into harlot, can't be guaranteed under the system of business before better life. Especially the issue of women liberation which has also been in the front burner of working class struggle. Only through a socialist planned economy with programs and policies that are mass oriented in place that efforts to take off the children of the poor away from the street could be realistic. For example, poverty has to be eradicated from the earth.  It must also entail not the kind of human face liberalization but democratic management of public fund and government with direct involvement of the working masses to guarantee a better life. 

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Copyright @ Fidel Davy 

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