ANALYSIS OF THE ACTIVITIES OF STREET TRADING ON UYO METROPOLIS, AKWA IBOM STATE, NIGERIA

In many cities all over the world, urban public space has become the place of work of the urban poor. In the study by Ekpenyong and Sibiri (2011), street trading and child labour, reflected on chronic urban poverty which can compel parents/guardian to send their children/wards of school age to work to boost family income for many hours each day. The study shows that 64% of the tradeers are females while 36% of them are males. This work aimed at Analyzing the Activities of Street Trading on Uyo Metropolis, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria with the objectives of  Identifying the socio-economic variables influencing street trading, examining the pattern of street trading in the study area and assessing the environmental implication of street trading activities.

The research is anchored on Marxian theory, waste hierarchy, central place theory and Maslow hierarchy of needs theory which is cardinal to this study. The study adopted purposive sampling technique.The research was carried out in Uyo metropolis, a nodal commercial center, with proliferation of street trading activities. The study employed a variety of approaches in gathering the data, including personal observation, focus group discussions and a field survey with a sample of 384 respondents; 184 (48%) were males and 200 (52%) females. Prior to the marital status of the street tradeers, 20% were widowed, while only 5% were married. While 359 (93%) of the street traders are educated, only 25 (7%) had no formal education. The results show under-unemployment as the basic socio-economic factor responsible for street trading.The findings show that the modus operandi of street tradeers induce impulse buying and that has been one main catalyst for the sustenance of the sector despite official efforts in relocating them. The study also revealed that the decision of street traders regarding locations in which they operate was mainly influenced by population congestion and convergence of economic activities, and so regardless of the number of times the street traders are evicted from their location by the city authorities, they would still remain on the streets and open spaces. This work proposes that the spatial dynamics of the activity in the urban informal sector should be understood and the space needs of street traders must be considered in urban planning. It is recommended that the activity is accommodated adequately in the urban spatial environment and that the use of public space by street traders is addressed in urban planning in order to minimize the negative and undesirable effects of street trading on the urban environment.