Every city has a group of less privileged people and a few who pretend to be one. I have seen people who could work, yet chose to beg for alms, probably because they consider begging to be more profitable. For those who are physically deformed, I understand their plight, and mostly do feel pity for them. Begging didn't start in this era, in the ancient time, beggars were all those who couldn't work for themselves, they mostly sat in a fixed position and begged the passerby for any form of assistance, that has changed now. Abuja is a place believe to be occupied by wealthy men, so people come around to sit for assistance from those believed to be doing well, while some are truthful about their plea, most of them lie to gain the sympathy of the other party, at first, people fall victims until they realize the people had only lied for them, thus making them not to trust another.
Unlike other cities, the beggars in Abuja don't sit in a fixed place, they walk around and sometimes may be wearing a suit- I believe that's a classic way of begging. They lie to be traveling to a place and get lost, and don't have transport fare to continue, while some say they came to visit a relative and discovered he was not around. Others may want to make it more pitiful by saying they haven't eaten for a while and need assistance, this recurrence of the same pattern of begging had made the heart of many hardened for beggars around Abuja. Unfortunately, the true beggars become unfortunate because of the spoilers of the reputation tagged on the less privileged. Beggars in Abuja don't look like beggars at all, except for the blinds and lame who you can't even find in the heart of the city.
Those who pretend to be beggars always come looking presentable, maybe to gain the trust of the people that they actually got stranded going somewhere. Just like Lagos, youth men are hustling to make a living, and acting like beggars is one of their hustle strategies. Both the true and false beggars nowadays hardly gain the sympathy of the people, life is too hard and everyone is trying to survive coupled with the fact that there is a high level of deceit in the world nowadays. The funny thing about these beggars is that the evening to night hours are their time of duty, you see them in parks, around the gates of companies, roadside, and around banks. Their strategies are failing nowadays with much awareness of their doings but the true beggars are also victims of not being offered assistance.
