As a young teenager, I dreaded going to the market in Benin city where I grew up, just because of how beggars would harass me and my mum for money or items, yes! I mean is harass.
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Begging is when you humbly request help from people, but with the way these beggars operate, it feels more like harassing than simply begging and it is even more heart aching when they are children and you know how silly children can be.
I remember vividly how one child dragged hot popcorn I just got along the road from my hands. He has been following me for a while asking for alms and but I was looking forward to getting that popcorn, so I got less than what I wanted and gave him the spare change left the purchase and without a thank you he dragged my popcorn and ran away to his mother and I could see his mother and sibling excited for what he had done and struggling with the popcorn together, all I could do was smile because I could see the joy he just put on his mother's face.
As much as that was cute to watch in the way, it was heart-aching to see this small boy already practicing stealing just to put food on his table and there are so many of these kids doing the same thing. Begging has become their platform to learn the act.
What of the adults on the street begging?
In Benin city, I was so used to seeing the children doing the begging because the few adults who even do it to survive are most times
disabled or they claim to be so their situation is very understandable but since I came to Lagos state after marriage the rate at which you see the adult with complete legs and hands begging on the streets day and night is just alarming.
I understand the country is hard, unemployment, minimum wage not being sufficient, housing unavailable and the struggle for survival daily is real but there are miniature jobs one can do rather than just dress up or stand on the street and beg, that is why I applause the hawkers most times for even trying to make earns meet no matter how small.
in my opinion, I rather pay in double for an item on the street especially when it is beneficial to me than just give out alms to anyone just asking for it,because it is no news that most times these beggars are drug addicts looking for money for a quick fix for the day.
A lot of people would complain and admonished the government to come to their aids and take them off the street but are they willing to get off the street?
I majorly worry about the children who were innocently brought to this life and forced into begging for their parents and if beggar needs to be helped out of the street it should be the children and the disabled.
WHAT CAN WE DO TO HELP?
We cannot keep a blind eye every time especially on the children because if they are left to continue in such a path, they may end up being a menace to our society, so the question is what we can do to help.
Using my location, for instance, my in-laws were driving by the bridge close to my house when they noticed a lady and a gentleman teaching these Children how to read, write, count, and speak English, they were so impressed that they had to ask the gentleman if he was paid to do this or if it was an NGO Project, he said he was there in his own accord, he used his weekend to teach the children and over time other people have volunteered to help too.
They came to us and suggested we cook food from time to time and give them after their class, just a few packs of food whenever we can be helpful too and a few days after we made jollof rice and packaged it with sachet water and gave to the teacher to share after school and over time we noticed more people brought other items too like clothes and book and toys.
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Now, these children do not have to beg anymore because in our way, the small community had found a way to care for them and provide for their needs and in return, they keep the bridge clean and tidy and help with traffic from time to time.
All these happened because one man decided to Provide a solution to these children, imagine if the same thing is imbibed in different communities and cities in the country, it may not be easy but it could make a lot of difference right?
In summary
there's so much one can do to help these beggars on the street especially for safety reasons knowing the kind of county we live in but we should try our best to help as much as we can, If we are convinced it is the right thing to do. Because these people will always be around us so it's either we keep ignoring them or help.