Hardly would passers-by notice a woman, tucking herself against the wall of Accident and Emergency Unit of Murtala Muhammad Specialist Hospital in the commercial city of Kano, selling some food items.
At a time when the healthy ones and even those that have jobs or small businesses engage in different styles of begging due to lack of contentment, this widow, who identified herself as Amina, decided to sell lansir in order to survive.
Cress leaf, popularly known as lansir in Hausa parlance, is eaten as a local recipe when combined with groundnut powder, seasoning cubes, oil and vegetables.
With some rubber buckets in her front, containing some items, majorly lansir, and other food items, including egg and gurasa, a Hausa local staple, Amina, a mother of seven, is always seen sitting on a bare floor, waiting for potential buyers of her commodity.
Looking worried and distressed, the middle-aged woman felt that she cannot engage in street begging to survive.
She said she had lost her husband a decade ago, leaving her with the huge task of taking care of the orphans, but that would not force her into begging, rather, she decided to engage into small-scale business to sustain her life.
Since her husband’s death, Amina said she had taken the burden of paying rent, school fees, feeding, medication, clothing and other expenses with no one to support her.
A BizPoint reporter, who visited Amina at her place, by the ever-busy roadside she found that the widow depends on a business of not more than N5,000 capital for almost a decade, just to sustain herself.
“I have been living in a rented apartment since the death of my husband a decade ago and no one had ever supported me throughout these years,” Amina said as her eyes were filled up with tears.
In a trembling voice, as some customers came to buy the lansir, Amina told our reporter that ; “When my husband died, few months after his death, that is immediately after finishing my mandatory 4 months restriction period, i felt that i have to venture into a small scale business to sustain my life.
“That is why i ventured into selling lansir for whole these years. I decided to sell lansir because it was what i could afford with the money at my disposal. It is not easy as i use the profit in taking care of my seven children.
“Out of this business, i pay rent, school fees, uniforms, feeding, medication, everything. Nobody is coming to my aid,” Amina emphasized.
As she was struggling to wipe tears oozing out of her eyes, Amina said her only challenge is sustainability of the business.
According to her, at many times, loses her capital as a result of too much responsibilities in struggle to cater for her children.
“How many times have i lost the business because of too much responsibilities on me. To take care of these children, with this small business, you know, one must lose the business sometimes.
“Whenever the business collapses, i find it difficult to bring it back,” she said as she continued wiping tears with he edge of her hijab.
Asked what other business she engages in when the season of lansir passes, the widow, who is a resident of Kano Municipal, said she sells only gurasa and egg when the season passes.
She added that she had wanted to engage into bigger business but lacks financial power to acjieb that.
“If the season of lansir passes, i manage to sell gurasa and egg. I try to manage to sustain the business no matter a little to support my life because i have no one to support me. I have been in this business for about nine years. I rather manage this business to be going round to ask people and relatives.
“I use the money i get to take care of my children. I do every for them without the support of anybody,” Amina emphasized.
Amina however decried that the current inflation is posing a threat on her business, as she is finding it difficult to restock due to rising prices of commodities.
According to her, as last year, she was supplying a bunch of the lansir at N250, but it is now sold at N500, an increment of 100 percent.
“Price of all the items i am using has gone up. I am talking about oil, seasoning cube, groundnut cake powder, which we bought at N900 over mud, is now N1,400 and other items, have all gone up.
“So, this is threatening my business because i spend the little profit i get on my children. If the inflation continue, i will definitely loose this business and I don’t know what to do,” she lamented.
Amina called on the government to check the rising inflation for small scale business industry to stand.
She also called on the government to empower widows like her in order to boost their socioeconomic status.
Amina also expressed delight and gratitude that despite the challenges, she is lucky to sells her commodity everyday.
