Hawking at highway security checkpoints in Northern Nigeria: A critical analysis

As a country, Nigeria faces an unemployment crisis, numerous security problems and several episodes of recurrent violent conflicts across each geopolitical zone of the country. In several parts of northern Nigeria where recurrent violence remains a constant, increasing militarization to deal with the challenges has brought about increasing military and armed police presence in society, and typically, on busy roads. However, the combination of these challenges has created a trading opportunity for many unemployed Nigerians who trade at security checkpoints as a means to a legitimate livelihood. This study examines this phenomenon of hawking at highway security checkpoints, the factors that has compelled some Nigerians to hawk at security checkpoints, and the security risks it evokes. Data for the study is generated from seventy one-on-one qualitative interviews with participants who hawk at highway checkpoints as their primary or alternative source of income. The study explains the decision to hawk at highway security checkpoints from structuralist and modernist perspectives showing the contribution of hawking at these critical spaces on the livelihood of hawkers. It concludes with practical recommendations that could help mitigate the security risks the trade evokes.