The need to make money to feed himself and provide other basic needs as well as support his guardians is what drives 15-year-old Segun Quadri to the streets daily.
Using an improvised windscreen wiper, one side fitted with foam to wash, and the other with rubber to wipe, and a small bottle of soapy water, Mr Quadri ekes out a living, washing the windscreen of vehicles on the streets.
His services are usually unsolicited for by the car owner or driver. Using traffic gridlocks or stops created by a red traffic light to his advantage, he advances towards a car, and in a jiffy, splashes soapy water on the windscreen and begins cleaning.
Sometimes, he is waved off by the occupants of the vehicle before completing his job. The 15-year-old explains while taking a break from work that this happens often.
"Some people don't like us to be cleaning their window," he said. "Sometimes, those big men in their big cars will shout on me if I come near their car, and use automatic wipers to wash their window. Some other people don't want to pay so they will send me away."
However, he explains that they are yet some who would allow him to clean their windscreens without parting away with their money.
"Some people dey very stingy, especially taxi drivers" he said. "They will allow you wash their windscreen, even the front and back, and they won't give you any money."
But despite the disappointments, Mr Quadri says that on an average week day, with the characteristic Lagos traffic gridlocks, he makes between N700 to N1000. There is no fixed charge for his services, his pay depends on the generosity of the car occupants. Often, he gets between N10 to N50 and on very lucky days, N100.
The responsibility on the young teenager's shoulders is something he would rather do without, as he says he would prefer to be in the classroom than on the streets. He recalled how he started washing windscreens.
"My father brought me to Lagos in 2008," Mr Quadri said. "He dropped me at my uncle's house in Mushin and went back to Ondo because my mother was very sick that time. Since then, I've not seen my father or my mother."
He explains that back in Ondo, he went to school and stopped in primary five.
He said, "When I came to Lagos, my uncle took me to learn vulcaniser work but I didn't finish because I did not like the work. So somebody told me about this work and I've been doing it for two years."
For Mr Quadri, he has had to fend for himself for as long as he can remember, even hawking after school in his hometown, in Ondo. Lagos, to him is a "place where you have to hustle everyday". With the income he earns from washing windscreens, he feeds himself, buys food for his friends often, and pays some bills at home such as electricity and waste bills.
But he has big dreams. He wants to further his education though he does not like reading very much.
"I don't really like reading," he said. "I want to do business, maybe transportation business but later on. Now, I want to finish secondary school first."
Apart from the damaging effects of the scorching sun as he does his work daily, Mr Quadri, and several other young people doing similar work, are exposed to the dangers of being hit by motorists and motorcyclists. He recalls that he has been hit twice by motorcyclists and sustained minor injuries.
"But I have to work to survive," he said.
The traffic gridlock often experienced on the Jibowu end of Herbert Macaulay road, Yaba is where he works most often. And as the cars slowed to a halt, Mr Quadri drains a sachet of cold water and trots back to the road, choosing a black jeep as his next hopeful customer.
Source http://234next.com/
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