2025, Vol. 7, Issue 2, Part B

Author(s): Chiamaka E Okoye, Abubakar S Danladi, Ijeoma A Nwosu, Oluwaseun M Adebayo and Fatima B Aliyu

Abstract: The informal economy sustains most livelihoods in Kuje (FCT, Nigeria), yet single-method studies struggle to capture its scale, organization, and relationship with the state. This study tests a triangulated design that integrates a probability survey of operators (n = 480), immersive ethnography with purposively selected key informants (n = 60), and administrative records from 20192024 (n = 1, 275 entries). The survey measured sectoral participation, earnings, and licensing; ethnography traced everyday practices, tacit rules, and risk-sharing; administrative files provided the states view through levy and permit registers. Analytically, we used design-corrected estimates, difference-of-proportions tests, ward-level coverage gaps, and a logistic model of non-registration with robust, ward-clustered errors; qualitative insights were woven to explain quantitative patterns. Sectoral shares diverged systematically by method: administrative records over-represent transport and under-represent food vending relative to both survey and ethnographic observation. Across wards, administrative files undercounted active operators by an average −30.1% (range −12% to −58%) compared with the survey benchmark. In the regression, recent training (OR = 0.58, 95% CI 0.420.80) and secondary+ education (OR = 0.72, 0.530.96) were associated with lower odds of being unlicensed, while peri-urban residence increased the odds (OR = 1.67, 1.282.19); belonging to transport unions (sector proxy) also reduced non-registration (OR = 0.71, 0.520.97). Ethnography illuminated the mechanisms behind these patterns home-based production, mobile vending, pooled dues, and predictable enforcement geographies at markets and motor parks. Triangulation thus functions not as redundancy but as a strategy to surface substantively meaningful discrepancies and to design proportionate, low-friction governance. We outline actionable steps light-touch registry, mobile one-stop services, association-based onboarding, training-linked benefits, and low-cost data modernization to improve recognition, protection, and measurement of informal livelihoods in Kuje.

DOI: 10.33545/27068919.2025.v7.i2b.1653

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