Solabomi Onike
Doctor of Philosophy candidate
Urban planning
Biography
Solabomi is an Urban Planner who lived in Lagos, Nigeria and worked as a research coordinator before joining the Melbourne School of Design as a graduate researcher. She holds a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Urban Planning from the University of Lagos, Nigeria and is also a member of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP). Solabomi is keen on research on sustainable livelihood, informal workers and settlements, urban governance, and public infrastructure benefits for communities in the Global South.
Thesis
Street Vendors and their Social Networks: The Case of Tejuosho Market, Lagos, Nigeria
Informal traders which in this case include street vendors continue to face increased difficulties and problems in many cities primarily driven by the need to survive and make a living. These groups of people are driven into the informal economy primarily to survive and reach livelihood objectives. In sub-Saharan Africa, 70% of its working population earns their livelihood as informal workers while 62% in North Africa. These statistics show the significance of informal economic activities in these regions; in Africa, it represents a reinforcing and survival economy that provides income and livelihood for a vast majority of people in the face of socio-economic stagnation, resource decline and economic downturn.
Studies on the informal economy and street vendors have been ongoing for decades with this research focusing on conditions of informal workers, particularly in global southern countries and their interactions with state authorities and regulators. These studies have indeed uncovered the reality of street vendors amidst the harsh regulatory environment, however, these problems still continue to plague these groups across developing and underdeveloped countries. Thereby tampering with their livelihood and increasing their vulnerability index creating tension, unrest, and loss of lives and properties as well as negating the vision of the sustainable development goals, the new urban agenda and the ILO conventions and resolutions towards sustainability, inclusivity, safe and decent work for all. However, street vendors have continued to flourish within this trade primarily driven by the need to survive and social capital through resources from their social connections, self-help programmes and strategies to remain steadfast in making a living. Therefore, this PhD research explores the informal social connections of street vendors in Tejuosho market, Lagos Nigeria and their function in ensuring a substantial source of living for this group.