Nigerians are used to seeing beggars on the streets. They include the physically challenged, mentally deranged, or others suffering from terrible sicknesses and diseases. But a new crop of beggars is fast spreading their wings around the land. ADEYINKA AKINTUNDE reports
“Excuse me; can you spare me a minute, please? I am going towards Ajah and I need to be there before 10 am. I don’t mean to disturb you, but I don’t know if you can help me with N500 to complete my transport fare, as the one with me is not sufficient to take me there.”
In another instance, a woman approached a young man, asked whether he was a Yoruba or Igbo and after confirming that he was Yoruba, she begged for some money to pay her fare home.
Moved with pity, you might want to dip your hands into your pocket to help “a man or woman in need”. But further probing has since shown that it has become a business of some sort on the street, as it is possible to find the same person begging another “victim” for money.
Welcome to the ‘world’ of ‘corporate begging’, where someone, who is neatly dressed and looking trim and proper walks up to you on the streets, and asks for your financial assistance citing one reason or the other.
This has become a regular rhyme among passers-by in various streets of major cities across the country, while people go about their daily activities.
Other methods of corporate begging
There are various styles of corporate begging. A story was told of how a man was persuaded to buy a disc from a hawker in the traffic, hoping to enjoy some good Nigerian music. He got home to play the disc, and to his shock, he found Indian movies in it.
Internet begging is also rampant today. This is when a person comes online to beg for money, or assistance, giving excuses of wanting to pay school fees or assisting someone else, or in urgent need of cash to execute a time-bound project.
Well-dressed women are also seen in various places, backing their babies and asking for financial assistance at bus stops, especially in the morning and evening, to either buy baby food or as transport fare.
People buy things in the market or get services rendered to them on credit, pleading with the seller to be patient for a while, till he or she has money to pay back.
Ladies and girls are not left out in corporate begging, as they beg their boyfriends or other men for money, for various reasons. There are also young men, who beg their ladies for money to survive. Colleagues at work beg each other for money, leaving questions of pride and dignity unanswered.
Poverty statistics in Nigeria
Going by World Bank statistics, millions of Nigerians are living below the poverty level defined by a minimum daily earning of $1.90 or N700. In June 2018, the World Economic Forum disclosed that about 90 million people, which is half of Nigeria’s population, live in extreme poverty. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) also put Nigeria’s unemployment at 23.1 per cent. The data indicated job losses of around 3.3 million between December 2017 and September 2018.
On February 14, 2019, The Cable, a Nigerian online newspaper, quoting Brookings Institution, reported that 91.16 million Nigerians are living below a dollar a day, adding that six people fall into poverty every minute.
Speaking at a workshop tagged: “Breaking the Resilience of High Unemployment Rate in the Country” in May 2019, Minister of Labour and Employment Dr. Chris Ngige noted that if nothing was done to address the challenge, Nigeria’s unemployment rate would reach 33.5 per cent by 2020.
He, however, calmed frayed nerves when he said “it is a thing of joy to note that Nigeria has not been resting on her oars over the years in terms of dedicated efforts to curb the unemployment problem”.
These scary statistics have since pushed people, who are poor or jobless into corporate begging. As it is said in local parlance, “man must survive”. And so it can be argued that the quest to stand afloat in the challenges of life pushes them to this act. But some people have gone on to make it a daily business.
Encounters with corporate beggars
Temitope Adegbemile is an agropreneur. In a chat with The Nation, he said he has had several encounters with corporate beggars, and has given them money out of pity. “But one day, I found the same person who I once gave N200, begging with the same method again.
“The other experience was funny. The man asked me for money to transport himself, and I told the guy to enter the bus, and I will pay the conductor the money. He just apologised and walked away from me.”
Victoria Simon, a music artiste and teacher, told The Nation that she was sensitive in helping ‘corporate beggars’. “I have been stopped and asked for transportation and help in other areas. I only help when the person is boarding the same bus as I am, or when I feel I should give or when there is a child involved. I know the child can be rented to lie and deceive people, but I just shut my mind to that possibility.
“Other times when I don’t give, I just apologise for not giving or I just ignore when the character is suspicious,” she said.
Elizabeth Purple, a student and fashion designer in Ibadan, had gone to Shoprite to buy some things for herself when she was approached by a well-dressed corporate beggar.
“I was surprised because the beggar wore a suit and spoke good English to me. I wondered why a fine gentleman like that would be begging me for money. I just ignored him,” she said.
‘I was once a corporate beggar’
Amodu Kingsley, a software manager told The Nation how he found himself in the unfortunate situation to beg. “In 2017, I was going to the Corporate Affairs Commission for something. I was dressed in a presentable manner.
“Unfortunately, I misplaced my wallet on my way and I found myself needing help urgently because I had no ATM on me to withdraw money, and my bank was far away.
“I had to beg the driver to take me to the bank, as it was quite a distance, so I could withdraw money from the counter. The driver embarrassed me in the presence of other passengers. It was shameful, but I had to bear it,” he said.
Similarly, a lady who pleaded anonymity disclosed how she was once stranded and “ had to swallow my pride and asked a man for transportation fare because my journey was really far”.
Sanctions against corporate beggars?
In 2016, the Senate described street and corporate begging as embarrassing to Nigeria, and moved a motion to make it illegal.
Also moving against the act, the Governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje said in January 2019: “Begging under whatever guise is not legitimised in Islam and I am determined to stop it at all costs. All those that see begging as Islamic are ignorant of Islamic law.
“I have made it explicitly clear that my government is on course to introduce compulsory and free education at primary and secondary school levels in the state.”
This measure against begging has elicited mixed reactions among Nigerians. Amodu said while there are many fraudulent beggars around, some are genuine as it once happened to him in 2017.
“I agree that there are many fraudulent corporate beggars around. I once met one who asked me for money, and I gave him, only for me to catch him begging minutes later in another environment. I challenged him. However, there are genuine ones in need of assistance.”
For Udoh Ima-bong, a student, provision of skills acquisition programmes and job opportunities will eradicate corporate begging. “Even if anyone is arrested, they should be helped, instead of putting them in prison. Many people that do corporate begging are unemployed, and so they beg because they don’t want to steal.
“I just think that corporate begging is a wrong mentality that should be corrected without the application of severe punishment,” she said
Victoria agreed that corporate begging should be classified as a criminal offence but she asked: “How do we separate the ones that are genuine from the ones that are not? I think the Police and LASTMA (Lagos State Traffic Management Authority) officials should be placed in strategic positions and empowered to help people like that. But then again, the problem of corruption will still continue. It is delicate.”
Adegbemile tagged the act as criminal as it tends to exploit the people’s emotion. He recommended that those caught should be arrested and prosecuted. To him, “the task force should be deployed to curb the menace, as it is an act of indiscipline. Monkey dey work for office, some baboons are on the streets begging,” he said in pidgin.
Supporting this claim, Tayo Grace, a business development marketer, said: “I think it is laziness that makes people beg. It is not that they cannot do anything but they have turned it into a habit and I feel they make money from it. I suggest that some officials should be put in place to arrest and prosecute corporate beggars on the street.”
