‘We Don’t Have Time For Celebration’- Teenagers

While a lot of children celebrated their day on Monday, some were on the road trying to make ends meet. They were not in any position to celebrate.

One of them, Sunday Atoyebi, 17, who was hawking bread on Ogudu Road, said that he had to make money for his family and as such had no time for any celebration.

He said, “I took these loaves from a Good Samaritan. I must pay him his money in the evening after deducting my profit.

“I am not celebrating because I have to be on the road to make money. My usual profit in a day is N1, 200 and today must not be an exception.”

Atoyebi, the first born in a family of four children, however, told our correspondent that there was danger in his job. He added that his friend was knocked down by a car on the Ojodu Road four days earlier while hawking bread.

He said, “But what can I do, I have to hustle so I can raise money to assist my parents and my other three siblings. I also try to save some money too for my future.”

Another hawker of soft drinks, Yetunde Odelaja, 15, said she did the work around the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway to assist her mother.

She said she stopped attending school after they relocated to Ojota area of Lagos.

She said, “I used to go to school, but had to stop when I got to primary five because we relocated to Ojota.

“I help my mum to do this work, because we need to raise enough money for our upkeep.”

May 28, 2013