An
Exploratory Evaluation of the Employment Role of
Commercial Cart Pushing in Metropolitan Lagos
Charles Asenime
Akinlabi Hamed
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.
JEL. Classification: E24, J24, O15.
Keywords: Cart, Attraction, Unemployed, Migrants, Sustainable, Profits, Generator, Reinjection.
