Night crawlers: The advent of Night Market in Nigeria

Night markets or night bazaars are street markets which operate at night and are generally dedicated to more leisurely strolling, shopping, and eating than more businesslike day markets. They are typically open-air markets.


Nigeria hosts numerous night markets in each of its major cities. The larger and more formal of these markets might take place in purpose-built marketplaces while smaller or more informal ones tend to occupy streets or roads that are normal thoroughfares by day.

The temporal night markets (ones that are not housed in any permanent structure) are actually consistent in their location; in most large cities, they are on a smaller street parallel and close (a block or two away) to the primary street of that city.

Though the temporal night market stalls appear at night and then vanish by day, the vendors usually return to the same location the next evening. Night markets do not close, but the individual stalls may randomly take days off due to holidays, family illness, etc. Most temporal stalls within a night market have white canvas tops and bright lights. This gives the temporary night markets a fantastical, carnival-like atmosphere. When a new night market street develops, the initial response is not always positive-they are thought to be noisy and the customers often leave trash behind that the owners of the daytime stores must deal with. As the night market becomes better known, however, often it is looked upon more positively and the daytime stores adjust.

The daytime stores then stay open later, because there are now customers at night when previously there wouldn't be. Night markets can increase profitability and often bring secondary type of consumers that are different from the daytime consumers. For example, a daytime store may normally sell herbs. At night, that same daytime store may now change its wares to include iced grass jelly and honey tea; this second item caters towards the teenage and early-twenties crowd, which is the majority of night market customers. Although some of these markets are specialized (e.g., in certain types of food), most have a mixture of individual stalls hawking clothing, consumer goods, (snacks or fast food), and specialty drinks.

The atmosphere is usually crowded and noisy with hawkers shouting and fast-paced music playing over loudspeakers. Some individual vendors may take advantage of the informality of the market to offer counterfeit, pirated or grey market consumer goods. The night markets usually open around 6pm, and are busy until past midnight.

Major night markets often have agreements and contracts where the vendors pitch in for utilities such as electricity and water hook-up. A few (such as the popular Balogun Night Market in a suburb area of Lagos state) actually include the cost of basic cleaning in this price. There is also a greater police presence at major night markets, compared to the temporary night markets.