Lagos’ begging bowl
In Nigeria, begging has long ceased to be the exclusive reserve of the disabled and underprivileged. It is now a sleek business which thrives on lies and deception by young and able bodies. It is no longer news, especially if you live in Lagos and other cities, to see neatly dressed able compatriots feigning simulation of various miseries, thereby turning begging into an art.
Beggars have a variety of approaches, depending partly on time and place. In the Lagos metropolis for instance, they are found in promising locations that attract wide range of people. Experienced practitioners who comprise all manners of people including those faking to represent certain deities have perfectly mastered the art of conning. Though assisting the needy is part of our culture, it is, however, important to discern between rendering assistance to people in need and encouraging acts that compromise our security and impair our development.
Many are found of adducing rise in cases of begging as a side-effect of national poverty and unemployment, but the logic of this is clearly debatable as we have had several successful people that had to contend with extreme poverty before eventually breaking even.
In view of the nuisance that begging obviously constitutes, the Lagos State Government is working hard to address it. The best of the State’s systematic approach to breaking the begging bowl has been provision of an enabling environment for entrepreneurship to thrive and catalyze employment generation. Hence, the State Government has varied schemes with multiplier effects for all to be involved in one economic activity or the other since the current harsh economic situation in the country could readily turn people into beggars and destitute. The State’s N25 b Employment Trust Fund, ETF, is thus one ingenuous ways through which government hopes to tackle unemployment and its ripple effects. The major aim of the Fund is to address unemployment and promote wealth creation through entrepreneurial development.
The Fund is being given out as loan with moderate interest rate of 3% per annum (the lowest rate in the country presently) to Lagos residents with innovative business ideas. The recent dimension to this innovation is a provision which require beneficiaries to employ three others as condition for accessing the loan. Few months back, cheques worth over N1 billion were presented to 705 beneficiaries from the ETF with a charge from Governor Ambode for them to create more jobs, thereby contributing to the growth of the State’s economy and dissuading the now pronounced begging culture. Hence, when critically viewed, this State Government’s wealth creation initiative is a logical one. The State Government has equally gone a step further to outlaw street begging by establishing a community for beggars in different areas of the State with a functional school, free books and free education.
Similarly, government has also embarked on mass enlightenment to utilize registered charity homes and other such establishments for alms-giving, in order to help the State address the problem satisfactorily. This approach is being undertaken through the Ministries of Youth and Social Development and Information and Strategy to encourage law abiding citizens to give alms to the less privileged only through registered charity homes and other such organizations.
Rasak Musbau, Ikeja, Lagos