No doubt, there is dignity in labour but when you read a story of a Banking And Finance graduate who works with a state owned waste management company as a sweeper & refuse collector and earns ameager salary then one tends to feel sorry for such situation.
Shola was born and bred in Ogun state, he had always admired bankers and decided to become one. His course choice wasn’t a surprise to his parents when he applied to a polytechnic. With the many banks in Nigeria today, he was quite confident that he would be employed in one of the banks but life took a turn.
Shola says “I graduated with HND in Banking and Finance in Moshood Abiola Polytechnic MAPOLY in 2007. Since there was no job in Ogun state, I came to Lagos to find one.”
He searched endlessly for a job until he decided to work with Lagos State Waste Management Agency (LAWMA) to make ends meet.
“Initially, I was working in marine – those people that clean gutters – but it was very dirty and was making me fall sick. People shit in the gutter and canal and we have no choice than to be packing it every day. I left it and decided to work on the road.”
The marine job paid slightly more than the road job but he preferred working on land and saving the money he spent on drugs and healthcare.
‘I don’t pay house rent. I live inside the garage inside the taxi of one of the drivers that know me around here because I clean this area. I can’t afford to pay house rent with my salary so I sleep there every night.’
He bathes behind the LAWMA office before daybreak and resumes work immediately afterwards when he has a morning shift. He saves a large part of his salary and has different side hustles within the waste industry for additional income.
‘I get 1,500 Naira packing waste for different households in a week so I use that to support myself.’
He is still optimistic about getting a better paying job than this and isn’t restricting himself to jobs in the banking sector. He desires a more respectable job.
‘Sometimes I will be cleaning and people will insult me to move out of their way or throw dirt on the road I have cleaned when they can see the dust bin close by. In fact, the insult is much but there is nothing I can do. The job has to be done. If not, I won’t get paid.’
Still, on the list of occupational hazards, the insults are even better in comparison to other risks associated with working on busy roads.
‘This happened recently. You know those people that wear green; they are the ones that clean the highway. One of these public transport buses hit a woman working on the highway and threw her off the road. She died instantly. This is the reason why I can never work on the highway.’
‘I was paid 15,000 Naira when I was in the marine department but now I am receiving 12,000 Naira.’
Hmmm…
The reality is that, there are many other Sholas out there. Similar stories are abound in our society. It is just appalling and very unfortunate. It is not even about the menial job he does after all there is dignity in labour (even though he studied banking and finance and not waste disposal & management) but it is about the meager salary he earns, how is one supposed to live in Lagos and earn N12,000 coupled with the job hazards.
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