Our Afternoon Visit to Bariga Market

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted ~ Aesop

Kindness can be shown in a variety of ways. It could be something as small as a heartfelt smile to a stranger, paying attention to and acknowledging another’s presence, giving a compliment or simply saying thank you. Sometimes we get so caught up in the hustle and bustle of life that we forget to practice kindness as often as we should.

One of the things we value at Paga is making life easier for those in our community, and we believe that being kind and thoughtful is a huge part of achieving that. Over time we have learnt to build a work culture of kindness both internally and externally, which means the entire team has to be conscious and aware of the needs of those around them. This has created an atmosphere in which different members of the team can readily come up with ideas to help out within the community.

Our coworker came up with an idea to help out market sellers who didn’t have proper shade or shelter while selling. If you have ever been to and tried purchasing items in the local markets in Lagos, you will notice that some of these traders do not have any form of shelter to protect themselves or their goods against the rain and sun. There are even some who have their babies and toddlers with them and they aren’t protected too. These sellers usually wrap themselves in plastic bags when it rains or wear hats as a means of protection.

A couple of days ago, a few of our team members decided to visit Bariga market to hand out umbrellas to the market sellers. While distributing the umbrellas some of the sellers were initially reluctant to receive the gift because they thought it was for sale, it was priceless seeing their reactions when they realized that the umbrellas would come at no cost to them at all. Our goal was to make these people know that they matter and that they had been in our thoughts, — Mission accomplished!

Making Life Possible is our ethos at paga, and it is what keeps us committed to our mission of providing inclusive financial services for all Nigerians. With over 16,000 agent outlets and 9 million+ customers, we are inspired by the stories of the community we are building and the people we are empowering by making life possible every single day.