Helping Beggars Off The Streets

BEGGAR-ON-BRIDGE4BEGGING for alms is not exclusive to Nigeria. It is common worldwide. Though many countries like Romania have outlawed begging, others have not.  Beggars are seen as a necessity on our streets, that is the reason passersby have made it part of their civic duties to give alms. However, it can be argued that many give because of their religious beliefs.

But, do the plight of these beggars really touch us? Or do we give for what we can get back? Do we believe that more can be done to take these less fortunate ones off the streets by providing homes, jobs and financial help for them? What more can be done by the government to help these beggars? Or are we going to “sweep” them off the streets like in Aminata Sow Fall’s book Beggars Strike, so that they are not seen by “important tourist”?

In Lagos State especially, there are various locations for the begging business:  pedestrian bridges, on the roads, markets, in front of religious institutions, streets corners etc. More disturbing is the rising number  of women beggars and their children who are constantly at the risk of accidents, kidnap, extortion and much more.

How can these beggars can be helped out of their plight of soliciting for alms? Many of them, like Mr. Monday Olatoyin, who has been begging for over eight years at the Five-Star Pedestrian Bridge in Isolo, has families of their own. Olatoyin has a family of eight, including his wife whom he has to cater for. Olatoyin, a former embroidery maker, according to his story, was born crippled.  But due to harsh circumstances of life, he has resorted to begging to provide for his family. Comjmuting from his abode at Cele everyday, as early as 6.00am has been quite challenging as the public transport he uses cost money he really cannot bear anymore.

However, luck recently smiled on him when he was employed by the Lagos State Government as part of efforts  to keep the bridges clean by regular sweeping. Though his salary is not up to the minimum wage, according to Mr. Monday, “it has made me very productive and not just sitting down begging for alms, I now do work that I get paid for.”

Apparently, each pedestrian bridge is y assigned to two beggars and they are given orange uniforms to distinguish  them from other beggars who haven’t been employed—- and are considered “illegal”.

Mr Olatoyin tried to explan why only few beggars were employed : “They only look for the ones who can be useful in doing this job and not the ones that constitute nuisance, they also employed those who have a good record of not being trouble-makers and also our family background and those who need more help than others.”

The father of six promised to quit begging for good very soon, at least as soon as he saves enough money to start a type of business that would not require moving from one place to another too often because of his crippled condition.

Another lucky beggar, Mrs Rafat Olalekan who has been begging on Oshodi Pedestrian Bridge for close to five years has equally been employed by the Lagos State Government. “I have been through tough times in life and things have not been going well. I tried different businesses but all to no avail and because I have children to cater for, I had to resort to begging. Sometimes in a day I get over N4,000 to make both ends meet,” she said, adding, “I am very happy about this turnout, maybe this is the beginning of the end of poverty for me and my children, I have no husband, so now my children who are all teenagers need to be sent to school, two of them go to public schools while the first born sells recharge card. This salary I’m getting is adding to the little I get from begging.”

Do the rest of the unemployed beggars feel left out and unfairly treated? Mr. Nurudeen, a beggar on Five Star Pedestrian Bridge with an unhealed wound on his leg, who has been begging there for six years, confirms that others feel left out and are at the risk of getting arrested by KAI(Kick Against Indiscipline).

he father of ten children who hails from Kwara State has had to leave his offspring and two wives because he became a burden to them after he sustained the wound on his leg for which he was unable to afford medical treatment.

In his own case, Mr. Toyin Shabi, an indigene of Ogun State sustained a spinal cord injury while he was a pupil at a public school in Ijebu-Igbo.

He told The Guardian: “I come from a poor polygamous family, and once I sustained the injury, I became a liability that everyone wanted to get rid of. None of my family members could help me out because we are all feeding from hand to mouth,” he said.

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He went on to explain his ordeal and how he got to Lagos: “Before my uncle brought me to Lagos, he promised he would foot the bills for my medical treatments but it was not to be,” he said.

Thirty-seven-year-old Shabi, was abandoned close to Ijesha where he lives. His only wish now is to get out of his predicament so that he can become useful to himself and the society. On whether he has heard from any of his family members, he answered in the negative as they probably thought he has been long dead. He hoped to be employed as one of the pedestrian bridge sweepers. “I want the Lagos State Government to please come to our aid so that we can get off the streets, ”he pleaded.

Mr. Goodwill, a frequent user of the Five Star Pedestrian Bridge revealed his thoughts on this issue, “the Lagos state government isn’t doing a bad job, but in my opinion, they can do a better job.”  He went on to submit that though it would be morally wrong to drive the beggars off the streets and bridges, what the state government need to do in addition to the jobs they have given to some of them is to enroll them for vocational activities so they can become entrepreneurs. According to him, “that is how a government should take care of their less-privileged and physically challenged citizens.”

Arguments on whether beggars should be taken off the streets are for another day, but what is most important is coming to the aid of these people. Making them feel like part of the society should be a top priority just like it is in other countries like the United Kingdom.

One would undeniably give credit to the Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Raji Fashola for taking a bold step in starting the programme. But his attention needs to be drawn to the fact that there are still many beggars on the streets who need to be helped.

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Helping Beggars Off The Streets