The Lagos State Ministry of Youth and Social Development on Tuesday held a one-day Stakeholders Meeting with representatives of Arewa Community in the state.
The meeting was convened as a part of efforts by the government to find a lasting solution to the resurging menace of street begging in every nook and cranny of the State which is detrimental to socioeconomic development.
At the meeting held in Alausa Tuesday, it was the consensus of both sides (Arewa Community and Lagos Government) that street begging must not be allowed anywhere in the State.
Addressing the gathering, the Honourable Commissioner for Youth and Social Development, Mr. Mobolaji Ogunlende insisted that street begging remained banned in line with the state’s Environmental Law and the Child Rights Law.
He said as a responsible and responsive government, “we have decided to hold this meeting as part of our collaborative approach towards eradicating street begging in the State. It has become a nuisance that we cannot afford to close our eyes to.”
The Commissioner added that “Lagosians are seriously disturbed by this ugly trend just as Governor Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu is worried about the negative image that street begging is giving to the Greater Lagos vision that is being built”.
At the end of the summit, leaders of the Arewa Communities in the state concurred with the government that there is an urgent need to arrest the demeaning situation, concluding that it contradicts the state’s 21st-century megacity agenda.
Chairman, Lagos State Council of Arewa Chiefs, Alhaji Ali Kabir, and his Arewa Community counterpart, Alhaji Yusuf Saadu Dandare, pledged their support for the government in the effort to eradicate the menace of street begging by discouraging those in their communities from engaging in it.
The Arewa leaders promised to approach well-meaning individuals like Alhaji Aliko Dangote and Alhaji Abdulsamad Rabiu for financial assistance to support those who would abandon begging for productive ventures.
Both the representatives of Arewa Community and Lagos State Ministry of Youth and Social Development agreed to treat those who indulge in street begging as illegal persons, embark on massive sensitisation, give a period of grace for the beggars to desist and collaborate to fish out the syndicate involved in the act of recruiting children into begging.
The Permanent Secretary, Pharm (Mrs.) Toyin Oke-Osanyintolu deplored the act of using babies to solicit alms, adding that it violates the fundamental human rights of children as enshrined in the Child Rights Law which the State Government was signatory to.
She said, “It is disheartening to see children being used to begging for alms on our streets. It becomes more worrisome when you consider the fact that the future of some of the children who are of school age is being jeopardised by this group of people who indulge in this unwholesome act just because of money.
“The State Government through the Ministry has put in place several policies and programs to enhance the lives of all Lagosians irrespective of their tribe or religion. In addition, there are many Skill Acquisition Centres where people can go and acquire skill in any vocation of their choice to earn a living legitimately rather than begging,” the Permanent Secretary added.