All around the world making a living has been very tasking and challenging nowadays. People of all classes are struggling to survive. There are 4 classes of people from my perspective in the race for life. There are:

• The Rich
• The Average
• The Poor
• The Hustlers

I want to share some few experiences of how people hustle today in Nigeria especially here in the city of Lagos State just to put food on the table through a decent earning.

Let us look at the businesses a few people do to earn money come rain or sun here in Lagos State at the popular Iyana Iba market. These woman is a typical example of a hustler.

THE FIRST GROUP

The woman here sells groceries. Looking at her stand here on the market, she sells everything that one needs to cook stew excluding meat and fish. She sits down here comfortably come rain or sun making her money. She does not pay for a shop here only a little daily toll to the Market Masters. She resumes very early in the morning at about 7am to sell her morning market and when the sun turns on hot, she will possibly erect an Umbrella for shade from the scorching sun heat. Taking a closer look by her side you see a deep ditch behind her. There is a road construction work going on here right some few meters away. Infact, they were all chased away from their stalls to allow for road expansion and construction. To her this is the only alternative to find any available space to sell her goods.

THE SECOND GROUP

Another group of people here in this market struggling to put food on the table are these women that sells 'Kpomo' Cow skin. They usually go to the slaughter house where cows are being slaughtered so as to buy the skin from the head and tail of this animal. Then they will prepare it to this extent for sale to their customers.

To them, making money to earn a living starts and ends here daily. They have formed a group and are here from 7am in the morning till 6pm depending on when their goods finishes. They are used to sitting down here everyday to sell. Some of them are widows while some their husband's are not gainfully employed and are also struggling too in another form for daily sustainance. My fear for them is that soon, the road construction project will meet them and they will lose these very stand but their hustling will continue. They will still find another free open space if available because they do not have enough money to rent a decent shop inside the main market. Life goes on.

THE THIRD GROUP

These young man caught my attention in the market. He is selling the popular 'Okrika" (second hand clothes). Here in Nigeria we call it the 'Bend-down-select' business. Which means you must bend down very well to select and search out for any used clothes that you like.

Most people in the third world countries rely on this type of clothing for their wears. Myself, I do patronise them too once in a while because sometimes you can get something nice from your selection if you bend down very well.

This gentleman is very happy doing his job of selling here in these market. He needs to shout loud enough often to call customers to patronise him. This is what he does daily on this open field not minding the sun because he has a family to cater for. The hustle must continue.

City life is not easy here in Lagos State Nigeria. Housing, transportation, and feeding are not easy to come by, not to talk of the children's education.
People constantly struggles to earn a living. It is not easy. While the rich are getting richer living in affluence, the poor are getting poorer because of their struggles and meagre income.

Living in the city is not an easy task. People work under stress, eat with stress and does not have time for themselves to rest and enjoy the hard work they do daily. At the end of it all, many end up living an unfulfilled life with so much suffering and hard work with nothing much to show for it.

Lifestyle is a choice. Make the right choice. May God help us.

cc:
@steemalive
@focusnow
@ponpase
@njiatanga
@ngoenyi
@samuel20
@ninapenda