Armed with a Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) prescription paper, 56 year old Kehinde Olatubosun, a drug addict and an indigene of Oyo State, recently confessed to making about N300, 000 monthly from unsuspecting Lagos residents through begging. Begging is an age long activity prominent in urban centers where it is common to see the physically challenged, visually impaired, deaf and even supposedly stranded visitors (famously referred to as corporate beggars) throng walkways, street corners, religious centers etc begging for alms.
Due to the influx of people from different parts of the country in search of the proverbial Golden Fleece, Lagos, like cities such as Kaduna, Kano, Johannesburg, South Africa, Shanghai and others, has to contend with various socio-economic challenges peculiar to cities with exponential growth and metropolitan composition. Lagos, no doubt, has a high number of assorted street beggars. While some of them are genuinely in need, others, like the aforementioned Mr. Olatubosun, have turned begging into a business enterprise. In the years gone by, there was a case of a Lagos beggar who made a fortune by deceitfully collecting money from unsuspecting Lagosians and used the proceeds to build a house on which he boldly inscribed: ‘Eko go’ (Lagosians are gullible).
Studies have revealed that people resort to begging for reasons ranging from poverty, to health challenges. Today, people take to begging for sundry reasons which include substituting begging for hard work, allegiance to tradition as in the case of parents of twins who still hide under the cloak of tradition to beg for alms. To drug addicts such as Mr. Olatubosun, it is a means of gratifying appetite for hard drugs. In other cases, some people are exploited and forced to beg while someone else collects the proceeds. This, indeed, is the multifaceted face of modern day begging. Aside constituting environmental nuisance and health hazards to the public as some beggars have one infectious disease or the other, beggars sometimes complicate traffic situation in Lagos.
Lately, street begging has been identified as a means of defrauding as well as a source of insecurity in the State. Compared to highbrow areas like Ikoyi and Victoria Island where residents would rather prefer to alert the police rather than give alms to beggars, people living in densely populated suburbs of the metropolis are typically friendlier to beggars. In fact, there is a particular Street on the mainland mostly inhabited by visually impaired beggars. It is also not uncommon to notice groups of people in branded T-shirts, soliciting for alms in major bus stops and markets, to treat patients with various health challenges by displaying the latter’s pictures. It has been revealed that oftentimes, the monies collected are not usually utilized for the purpose for which they were collected.
Opinions about the suitability or otherwise of begging differ. While others view it as part of religious obligations of reaching out to the less privileged, others are of the views that such alms should be taken to appropriate institutions such as the destitute homes and motherless babies homes. In fact, a critical observation of religious concept of alms giving reveals that no religion encourages street begging. Although the two most popular religions, Christianity and Islam, promote giving to the less privileged in the society, but resorting to begging as a way of life is sharply frowned at by the tenets of the two religions.
However, while it is not inappropriate to give alms to beggars, their activities have, however, suggested otherwise as people now hide under the pretext of begging to dispossess members of the public of their valuables, either on the road or in their residences. A report had it that a beggar that was given alms during the day led his group of armed robbers to attack his benefactor at night. Also, some beggars are accomplices to various forms of crimes.
Perhaps, taking a cue from the Kaduna State Government which recently banned street begging in the State, the Lagos State Government has concluded plan to enforce section 166 sub-section 1(b) of the criminal code which prohibits street begging with adequate penalty for defaulters. This, according to the State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, becomes necessary in the interest of public security. He said: “We’ve had security reports on the activities of persons who pose as beggars, especially in traffic, but their sole aim is to perpetrate evil. We are putting a search light on this trend and one way to do that is to ensure that we take preemptive measures to forestall this development.” To this end, he said efforts will be made to rid the state of street beggars and the homeless. Towards achieving this, the State Taskforce on Environmental and Traffic Offences has been mandated to arrest any beggar found on the highways, bus stops and street corners while transferring same to the State Rehabilitation Centers.
In the same vein, the State Ministry of Youth and Social Development recently issued a statement to Lagos residents, imploring them to cooperate with the government in its mission to rid the streets of Lagos of the menace of beggars and destitute by desisting from giving them alms but take such gifts, monetary or materially to religious organisations or orphanages.
On a final note, while it is true that these are, indeed, tough times for most of our compatriots, emphasis must, nevertheless, still be placed on the dignity of labour. In a financial and commercial hub like Lagos, there will always be something for everyone to do in order to earn a decent living. Street begging is not good for our image as a people. It must be condemned and discouraged by all and sundry.
- Bakare is of the Features Unit, Ministry of Information & Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja.
