The above question can as well be followed by “why are they doing this?”, “who is responsible for them?” and “where are they from?”. The questions outlined above is unmistakably directed to those strange kids who came your way as the traffic light turns Red on motorways and especially at crowded places like Ibom Plaza. Only one who is not a frequent user of Plaza and its surrounding routes will find it difficult to understand the menace caused by these kids and their idle mothers.
It is no news that begging has been improvised and this institutionalized means of making it work has effectively replaced the previous corporate method.
On close observation, it was noted that these children hang on people’s clothes, vehicles or handbags without the will to retreat except they are given money which they forcefully collect, sometimes without a ‘thank you’ or they make faces with those who refuse to comply intentionally or out of lack of it.
The most perplexing scene in the story is a group of physically fit women seated a distance away from these children, gossiping and chatting as they count the proceeds from their children’s adventures. Sadly, they also indulge in the business with other children of advanced age, and with a plate in one hand, they talk ceaselessly and gaze at you as if you are responsible for their undefined condition while the other free hand emphasizes spoken words by way of gestures and expressions.
The trend at which healthy Beggars besiege people for alms almost to the point of assault is alarming. Surely there is no rationale in giving alms to some one who is physically stronger than you are and from all indications can and should work to feed him/herself. Women and young girls who constitute a sizeable number of these healthy Beggars are a futility to the country’s effort at protecting the Rights of the feminine gender.
To be candid, the action of a stubborn child annoys but that of an arrogant, strange and dirty one is repulsive. These kids who would not take a “no” for an answer, keep following you, holding tight to you and drawing everybody’s attention to your ingenerosity__ an unmerited embarrassment if one may ask.
To answer the question at the start of this piece, these children are Nigeria’s; the proposed future leaders of the North and Nigeria as a whole and this singular act portrays the Nation as financially and resourcefully unable to meet the needs of her youngsters. Just as the release of these ones into forceful begging by their state is as shameful as the act, same is applicable to Akwa Ibom who has given them an undisturbed atmosphere to carry out their demeaning profession.
One may argue that the inability of parents to meet their children’s basic needs is the reason for their injection of these children into the streets but how justifiable is this opinion? Should a Bill restricting procreation by financially incapable citizens be passed into law? Indeed, something must be done to kill this stench of child abuse in the society. Already, the nursing mothers among the Beggars have initiated their babies into the act by carrying them along in their adventure and thus, staking the future of these ones. Daily, the number of mother-beggars increases and one wonders who their husbands are.
Much as this piece is aimed at reminding those at the fore-front of the Child Rights Law not to let down their guards, the Ministry of Environment should consider this mess an integral part of environmental pollution which must also be controlled. The less-privileged homes should be effectively used so that the state capital which is crying to be cleared of them will be consoled and appreciated.
The state capital should be cleared of these parodies of human beings who beset you everywhere and attack without provocation at all times. You hope that the traffic light will never turn Red as you approach Oron Road and once you have overcome that, you have to get past another embarrassment at the supermarket and other public places. These healthy Beggars are as ubiquitous as the air the capital needs to be cleared of them.
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