The northern part of Nigeria is known to have large expanse of land which they mostly use for farming and grazing of animals. They are known to be the chief producers of leather items.
But over the years, some of their descent have choose to relocate to Lagos to get another life aside the farming and cattle rearing. You may have noticed some of them in your neighborhood and the kind of jobs they take on.You may wonder if some of those jobs are worth travelling all the way to Lagos for, but really, it’s not for us to judge.
Let's have a peep into some of these jobs
1. Bureau De Change: This should clearly come to mind as the northerners seem to have carved a niche for themselves in this field. You can be sure that in every part of Lagos, there will be a few of them running the business of buying and selling of local/foreign currencies. With them, you can be sure you will always get the currency you need. They strategically position themselves in different areas and call on passerby if they need to change or trade their currency for another.
2. Security Guards: This is another popular job Northerners engage in. An average of 3-5 houses on a street would have a security guard that is a northerner.
In addition to being a security guard, they mostly have a small kiosk where they sell daily needs while performing the task they are employed for. Most times, they tend to take that kiosk as theirs home in which they sleep and cook in order to keep life going.
3. Okada Riding: Some call them ‘Aboki’ (which means ‘my friend’ in English) while others call them ‘mallam’. They have chosen motorcycle business popularly called ‘Okada’ in Lagos as their means of survive in the growing mega city. Even against the rule of no bike below 220cc on some roads, they still find their way to do their business on some of these roads.
4. Fruit Hawking: You might have at one point of the order seen a northerner hawking fruit items with a wheelbarrow . They go around selling fruits like oranges, pineapples, garbage, cucumber etc. some even get a spot and stay there.
5. Mobile Tailor/Shoe Maker: They simply are everywhere. With a small box that contains every tool to get the job done they move around the streets of Lagos in search of their clients. Either to mend your shoes or clothes, they are at your service.
6. Discarded Items: They are very common on the mainland and some parts of the island. Northerners go from place to place requesting to buy condemned items i.e. iron, mattress, buckets, engines etc. They buy these items and take it to a place where it would be weighed and get paid per kilogram. Some use cart for this business while the new ones in the trade that can’t afford a cart carry them on their head.
7. Load Carriers: Have you ever been on a bus that has a passenger with loads too much for him/her to carry? Then you would have come across some of this guys in the trade, though this isn’t independent to the northerners as some other tribe engage in it also .Yoruba people call them ‘Alabaaru’. They simply get paid by helping you carry your load from a point to the other. You would find them at major bus stops close to a market and in the market itself.
8. Selling Suya: You don’t have to be convinced about why suya is on the list as some would agree that it’s one of the major jobs that the northerners do in Lagos.
Suya is a roasted meat that is spiced and garnished with some fruits like garbage, cucumber, tomatoes and onion.
9. Selling Foodstuff: Farming being one of the main things the northerners do has helped sustain the entire country with regards to having basic locally produced food stuff. Some of the farm produce are being brought to Lagos to sell including animals for sale.
People that bring these items to Lagos tend to have a supply chain they supply to, mostly from the same part of the country. Some even use their family members to be their eyes on ground in Lagos.
This explains why you find northerners as the major animal sellers and some specific food stuff like beans, dried pepper etc.
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