This Is The Reason Beggars Will Not Leave The Streets of Lagos
She got into the yellow bus that morning and the first thing she did after settling in was to beg the person to her right for money to pay transport, he declined and she proceeded to beg others around her. By the time she got to the third fourth person, he agreed to pay the N200 bus fare for her.
A few minutes later, he appeared to close his eyes as most people do in Lagos buses; a city is a hectic place and when any window of opportunity to rest shows up, motorists will nap for a few minutes in between the conductors’ loud call for bus stops.
She, after eyeing him to make sure he was asleep, brought out her purse and bought a bottle of coke, chewing gum and snacks from the traffic hawkers to the chagrin of the remaining occupants of the bus.and the person who just offered to pay her fare opened his eyes and shook his head. He works as an admin assistant, earning a little above minimum wage. He didn’t agree to pay because he could afford to, he also didn’t believe her when she said she forgot her wallet at home. But he gave her anyway because ‘ I was fasting that week and that was my first day of fast’.
The streets of Lagos is littered with people who identify as beggars and others who are corporate beggars; they dress well but beg for money and food from others. This practice continues to thrive because they know the givers also want something.
What is Begging
Begging is the practice of imploring others to grant a favour, often a gift of money, with little or no expectation of reciprocation. A person doing such is called a beggar or panhandler. Beggars may operate in public places such as transport routes, urban parks, and markets. In a city like Lagos with many low-income communities, beggars abound. Especially begging in market places and public buses at certain targeted times of the day.
Who are Lagos Beggars
Begging in Buses in common in Lagos, a city known for its astounding number of religious activities. Begging in the mornings is even more common.
During my internship days at the Head office of a bank in Marina, Lagos Island, to get to work I would have to leave my house as early as 6 am to get to work early. Meaning that the first person I would see on leaving my house was usually the beggars because most times, my parents were not even up when I left the house for work.
The beggars would stay at the dark street corners, the blind with their handlers, the limbless following you with their cart until you either surrender the money or until another person comes along.
Superstitious Beliefs Surrounding Begging
I observed that almost everyone will have change-money for the beggars. As the superstitious society we are, people treated the first person they met in the morning kindly and perhaps much kinder than they were. The beggars able to wake up early to meet the early morning crowds made more money. There was also another category of people who gave beggars money; the people fasting or observing prayers. Because of the state of purity required when people were fasting also need to stay kinder. Most people will give a beggar money because they were the first person they met that day.
One day a neighbour who also boarded the Marina bus in the morning with me noticed I rarely gave the beggars, I was 19 didn’t bother with superstitious beliefs, I only found their prayers amusing; the way they would pray in Yoruba even though most of them were not yoruba and could not speak it well.
They would repeat the magic words ‘Asiri abo’ meaning your secrets will never be exposed over and over again.
In our society, secrets remaining secrets forever was a huge blessing, and if someone prayed that your secrets should never be uncovered at the early hours of the morning, you say ‘Amen’ and reward them with gifts of cash.
Premediated Giving
One afternoon, very recently, I was standing in front of a stall at Balogun Market, the store is right at a junction, a one-legged beggar hobbles to my side and asks me for money for food. I search my bag and 100 nairas and I give him. He moves to the owner of the shop who brings out his food, he did not even have to ask. When she saw him, she offered him Masa, a Hausa food.
I thought that was thoughtful as Masa (Rice Cakes) is specific to people of his ethnic group, and for her, a Delta woman to give him such a thoughtful meal was admirable. When he left, I was curious to know why she offered him a full plate of his, perhaps favourite meal like he preordered it, without his asking and also food fit for a king. She told me ‘every Wednesdays and Friday I give him food, it is part of my prayers’. When I looked perplexed, she added ‘If you have a business, you will understand why his blessings are needed’.
I understood perfectly what was going on that afternoon after all I have seen Ebo sacrifice bowls of honey, oil at junctions around parts of Lagos. an ebo sacrifice is common among Yoruba people, it is usually recommended by an Ifa chief priest when someone is out of alignment with destiny, ebo is done to fix all negative situations. Ifa way of making ebo it is the key to elevating the patrons’ prayers and shifting a person’ circumstance to a balanced positive outcome. Traders are always sacrificing to align their efforts with positive results. And afterwards would do a good deed. Money in many traditions is energy. Among the Yorubas, it is an Orisa (Aje).
In the streets, giving and ‘business luck’ are connected
Helping people is a timeless key to success. Most people are exploiting this principle of giving and doing it with an expected reward. Maria who sells Childrens clothes in Oshodi Market has this to say ‘ I notice growth in my business when i give beggars and do my ebo, money attracts money. you can expect to get money if you don't first give money’ Like Maria many other traders scattered around Lagos strongly believe its a principle that works, even when your intentions for giving is to get Tim who sells Car Parts at Ladipo believes ‘ it doesn't matter whether you are doing it because your pastor instructed you to, you have fed a beggar that morning, that is all God wants to know. Seun who says he doesn't believe in enabling beggars and stopping them from receiving government assistance by giving them says ‘ I don't give beggars with the intent of blessing my business, I give them when I can and my business is doing just fine.
Begging is situations that governments are doing are trying to manage and possibly put a stop to all forms of street begging but the pity market of begging is booming because of a never-ending demand for business luck in a poverty ravaged country.
