They lined up the street along the busy Abeokuta Road, close to the Ansarudeen Mosque. They are in a sitting position, but not praying like many others who visit the Mosque. They seem to care less about the heavy traffic on the road and many other spots where they gather.
These are aged people who have taken begging as a hobby and have refused to leave the streets. Many of these beggars have been on the street for several years and getting them off the street has become a difficult task.
While many of them sleep on the sidewalk of major roads, others are brought out daily by their grand children to beg for alms, taking advantage of the fact that alms-giving is a mandatory obligation for both Islam and Christianity.
While some of them are physically-challenged, some others are healthy people who chose begging as a profession. Some of them are also found during heavy traffic hold-up; with little kids running after moving vehicles begging for alms. Many of them are also found in places of worship and special events begging. Many believe that they are encouraged to embark on the exercise since many people respond to their demand for alms. Those who hold this view argue that the kind-hearted nature of Nigerians has encouraged the phenomenon which they described as embarrassing to Nigerian society.
Investigations revealed that several of them have fallen victim to some of the violence that have erupted in Kaduna in the past.
After the unfortunate Sharia crisis in Kaduna State in 2000, the government decided to build a permanent structure for the beggars in order to enable them to stay away from the streets. It was also gathered that effort was made to ensure that some of them who are strong enough go to the Kaduna State Rehabilitation Centre to learn some trade.
Some rejected the idea while many of them chose to stay in the apartment provided for them inside the first-ever beggars’ colony which was provided for them along Kano Road in the heart of the city by a public-spirited Nigeria.
It was further gathered that the state government supported the initiative and placed the colony under the watchful eyes of the State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development.
However, it was engulfed by fire a few years back. Some of the beggars died as a result of the fire outbreak. But it was rehabilitated by Hajia Asmau Makarfi who was then the wife of the then Kaduna State Governor.
The Senator representing Kaduna Central, our correspondent gathered, also donated a structure in addition of the existing one as part of efforts to keep them off the street.
Even though the efforts yielded results, they were short-lived, as many of them have returned to the streets, refusing to stay there any longer. Some of the beggars who spoke to our correspondent argued that the place was only provided for them as a way of keeping them away from members of the larger society.
They further argued that by keeping them in the colony, the usual alms they get from people would no longer be available. They maintained that very few people follow them to their new home to assist them.
Others accused the state government of dumping them in the home and turning its back against them. One of them who identified herself as Maryam claimed that she has been behind the Kano Road Central Mosque for several years, adding that though they are physically-challenged, they are aware of the fact that there is limit to which they can go.
She said: “We are physically-challenged and there is a limit to which we can go to cater for ourselves and our families. The government that brought us here has forsaken us. They only come to the house when they want to score cheap political points. We are left with no option than to come back to the streets and seek for a means of livelihood.”
Former Chairman of the Joint National Association of Persons Living with Disability in Kaduna State, Rilwan Abdullahi Mohammed dismissed the claim that the beggars’ colony was set up to keep them away from the street. He said the colony was set up to provide accommodation for most of the beggars who have no home of their own.
He told our correspondent that the Mohammed Namadi Sambo administration in the state made an effort to evacuate the beggars from the street. Even though that exercise was carried out by government, he said there was no official statement to that effect that they should stay off the streets and remain at home.
He accused government of not being able to distinguish between beggars and those who are physically-challenged, adding that a person can be physically-challenged and yet, not a bigger.
He said: “All members of Joint National Association of Persons Living with Disabilities are trained in different skills and some are happily settled with their families. So, it is the fault of government to take all physically-challenged persons as beggars.
If you go to Kano Road, the large number of people you see begging there are elderly people and the same thing applies to other spots within the metropolis. So, if the government is really serious, they should provide home for the elderly people as being done in advanced countries.”
Some residents of the metropolis who spoke to our correspondent accused the government of not having the political will to rid the streets of beggars. Some of them noted that if government is interested in keeping the beggars off the streets, they should have made serious effort to make the beggars’ colony habitable for them.
Investigation revealed that the colony where many of them are staying stinks and has remained largely unkempt and unhygienic. Some people, however, argued that it has been difficult for the government to keep them at the beggars’ colony to learn some trade at the rehabilitation centres largely because many of the beggars are either not indigenous to the state or are believed to be too old to learn any trade.
