A world without beggars?

CHUKS OLUIGBO

Imagine a world without beggars! That is what some states in Nigeria have set out to achieve – a world where you will drive freely through the traffic, or walk freely through the bus-stops, sidewalks, pedestrian bridges, marketplaces, worship places, etc without fear of being harassed, harangued, embarrassed, taunted, cajoled or blackmailed into parting with a few naira notes by some unsightly riff-raff of a beggar who, for all you care, is driven not by any physical disability but by sheer laziness to take to such a demeaning trade. Even if the fellow were actually disabled, does it make begging any less obnoxious? Aren’t there many blind, deaf, dumb and crippled people out there, even here in this country, who have braved the odds to make something meaningful out of their lives in spite of their obvious disability?  Of course, there are many of them, and the echo today is that there is ability in disability.

And disabled people have even refused to be called disabled, preferring physically challenged instead. Just last year, Nigeria’s Paralympics team that participated in the London Games had an impressive outing as they returned home with 13 medals, with Yakubu Adesokan, Esther Oyema, Joy Onaolapo and Folashade Oluwafemiayo setting four world records.

In 2010, 42-year-old Frenchman, Philippe Croizon, a man whose arms and legs were amputated, in a bid to inspire those who have "lost their taste for life", completed a swim across the English Channel, reaching the French coastline near Calais in 13 and one-half hours, faster than the up to 24 hours he had expected the crossing to take. Earlier in 2007, he had also made headlines for parachuting from an airplane.

Also in 2011, 25-year-old Kyle Maynard, who through a congenital birth defect became a quadruple amputee, revealed his plans to brave one of the toughest physical tests a person can face – the nearly 20,000-foot climb up Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa. His aim: to "send a message" to veterans who have been disabled and to disabled children around the world "that there are challenges in life, but it doesn't mean that you have to give up. You decide how you're going to draw meaning from the challenges in your life". Maynard, reports ABC News, has travelled the world as a motivational speaker, competed as a mixed martial artist and a wrestler, and owns his own cross fit gym in Suwanee, Ga.

The examples are legion.

And so, perhaps with this in mind, the Lagos State government enacted a law banning street begging, following which many beggars have been whisked away to the state rehabilitation centre at Owutu in Ikorodu area of the state and many others ‘deported’ to their ‘states of origin’. So far, over 3,000 persons have reportedly been ‘deported’, the most recent being about 70 who were dumped at Onitsha, Anambra State. Plateau State government also toed a similar path as it announced the banning of street begging in the state sometime ago.

In Kano, Aminu Ibrahim Daurawa, commander-general of the Hisbah Board, said the government is desirous of restoring sanity in Kano streets and discouraging begging in the guise of Almajiri who ordinarily should be kept in decent environment, pointing out that street begging constitutes both social and security threats. Plus there are plans by the government to send an Executive Bill to the State House of Assembly to enact a law that would ban all forms of street begging in the state.

In Edo, the state government is practically hounding the destitute off the streets, some of them with varying degrees of insanity. While many of them have been taken away to rehabilitation centres, those with elements of insanity have been taken to traditional healing homes approved by the state government.

In Jigawa, the government recently announced the ban of street begging across the entire communities of the state, saying it was embarrassing for the state and the nation in general to see youthful people begging for alms at designated points like fuel stations, food joints, etc.

True, street begging can constitute social nuisance, security threat and national embarrassment – even some of the beggars themselves admit this. Indeed, it has been claimed that the Almajiris in northern parts of the country form easy recruits for terrorists. Also, some of the women among the street beggars are said to engage in prostitution, resulting in unwanted pregnancies, and, ultimately, more child-street beggars. Tourism experts also believe that the drive to make the country a tourism haven for foreigners will not yield the desired results until beggars are off the streets in major cities.

Yet, some points merit mention here. And this is not to justify street begging in any form. One is that there is reckless injustice and inequality in the social system that produces these beggars. This society does not care. There is no form of social security to cater for the needy members of society. Rather, indigent people who are genuinely unable to help themselves are left to their own devices – to swim or sink. They decide to swim, the only way they know: begging. So, it’s not enough to talk tough. It’s not enough to enact a law that punishes both the giver and the receiver of alms. It is not enough to ‘deport’ fellow Nigerians who come from other parts of the country to seek livelihood, even if their means is begging. The situation is much more complex than that. There is ravaging poverty in the land, coupled with high rate of unemployment. In a country where able-bodied young people who are willing and ready to work can’t find something to do, what hope do the disabled have? It is perhaps time for governments at all levels to begin to consider the option of a welfare programme for the less-privileged members of society.

Two is the fact that our two major religions – Islam and Christianity (and this is assuming that African Traditional Religion is going extinct) – recommend almsgiving as a means of ingratiating oneself with God (In Christendom, it is said that charity covereth a multitude of sins). Sometimes we need these beggars – for our own good.

When Mour Ndiaye, the protagonist in Aminata Sow Fall’s The Beggars’ Strike, as Director of the Department of Public Health and Hygiene, set out through his assistant Keba Dabo to rid the Capital of beggars, the so-called dregs of society, he did not see it coming. Now there is going to be a cabinet reshuffle, and he hopes to be appointed Vice-President of the Republic. To secure his ambition, he brings home Kifi Boukoul, a powerful marabout, who recommends a sacrifice of a bull that Mour must divide into 77 portions and deliver directly to the beggars on the streets, not anywhere else. But the beggars are off the streets, ironically, at Mour’s instance, and he fails in his attempts to bring them back to the streets, just this once, so he can make his sacrifice. While he is still running helter-skelter, frustrated, the President of the Republic announces the appointment of Monsieur Toumane Sane as Vice-President.

Lesson: while there are obvious merits in ridding the streets of beggars, the word is caution. The matter, like a double-edged sword, can cut both ways. It is like the proverbial louse that clings to a man’s scrotal sac: it needs to be killed to save the man the irritation that it obviously causes, yet extra care must be taken so as not to damage the testes in the process.