I Interviewed 3 pure water sellers and according to them: sometimes, it takes about 6 hours to sell 20 sachets of water which amounts to a total of N200 which is even less than a dollar now.
From the N200, the profit is only about N40 as the pure water sellers have to pay the wholesalers their money back as well as cover the price for ice block which was used to cool the water.
The long and short of it is that some of them make only N40 in 6 hours of hustling under the hot sun, risking their lives on express roads.
As if that isn't bad enough, when passengers and drivers reach the traffic stops, they prefer to dash N20, N50 or even N100 to beggars and fake sufferers who sometimes make about N1,500 a day doing nothing but begging, leaving them richer, luckier and safer than the pure water sellers who are young entrepreneurs serving the larger community with their trade, and trying to make ends meet.
So when next you are at a traffic stop, please:
- Dash the pure water seller instead
- Buy pure water to patronise them and if the change is (N10, or even N20, you can leave it with them)
- Say something nice to them. Greet them, encourage them.
- Slow down, don't knock them down.
- Even if you wont buy the pure water, if they ask you to buy, rather than ignoring them and facing front as if they are not humans, you can look at them, smile and say "Thank you"