Ben Ayade, governor of Cross River State, while signing the Homeland Security Bill and eight other bills into law in Calabar on Thursday, August 25, 2016, revealed that he is proposing a bill to legalise street hawking and protect street hawkers within the state.
The governor said that the harsh economic situation in the country has prompted his decision, adding that it would be insensitive for any governor to put ban on street hawking.
Professor Ayade said that he would rather regulate street hawking and its activities rather than ban it and
deny the poor the right to earn a living.
“The Hawkers’ Protection Bill is one bill after my heart, which I must ensure its enactment and implementation within the shortest possible time.
“The supremacy of government does not allow it to know the agony of the downtrodden which is why hawking is being prohibited and hawkers subjected to merciless whips at all times by law enforcement agents.
“Why must we deny a man or woman the right to earn a living simply because he or she does not have money to rent a shop?
“We want a law that will make hawking legal and provide clear terms and conditions under which you can hawk. I will provide specific hawking corridors to protect the rights of the downtrodden.
“The hawkers’ rights bill is key to Cross River State government. All I need to do is just to regulate it. Hawking is an African thing and we cannot shy away from the fact that at some point in our lives, we have been at our lowest levels. Personally, I have hawked before.”
Saying that he was conscious of the United Nations Convention on the Right of the Child, which he observed had since been utilized in Cross River State, he declared that the bill which would be known as Hawkers Protection Bill, would allow adults of not less than 18 years of age to hawk as certain times and locations, wearing reflective vests, in order to guarantee survival devoid of violation.
