C’ River may legalise street hawking

Cross River State Governor, Prof. Ben Ayade, has sent a Hawkers’ Right Bill to the House of Assembly in the bid to legalise hawking in the state.

Ayade, who disclosed this on Thursday during a quarterly interaction with journalists in Calabar, said it was insensitive for any state government to ban hawking without providing an alternative.

He said any decision to ban hawking amounted to infringement of the right of the hawker.

Ayade said, “I have just sent the Hawkers’ Right Bill to the House of Assembly, to provide a right for hawking. You cannot tell a man not to sell his goods because he does not have money to rent a store. And you tell the man not to steal?

“Just provide a regulatory framework. There should be reflective outfits and there should be a minimum age of 18 to hawk. You will have a time frame when you come out so that you don’t constitute nuisance.

“But to prohibit hawking is to tell a man, ‘I don’t want to give you food and I want you to steal. It is unfair.

“They have the right to seek and determine how they choose to live within the ambits of the law.

“Cross River would be the first state that would officially recognise hawking.