Blog

Some states in Nigeria are in the process of outlawing street begging because according to the Powers that Be, it is constituting a nuisance to society. However, poverty and hunger are the twin challenges most homes in the country are contending with presently. A cross section of Nigerians insist that outlawing street begging is callous and inhuman, when Government at all levels have failed to provide the basic needs for good living for the citizens.

In this interview, the Founder, Spiritual Head and Grand Imam of Shafaudeen-in-Islam Worldwide, Prof. Sabitu Olagoke opines even though it is imperative for government to outlaw street begging, government must first meet its obligations to the people. Excerpts :

Do you think it is right for government to outlaw street begging considering the poverty and hunger in the land ?

Street begging is cultural in some of our states, most especially in the Northern geo-political zone of the country due to the fact that it is an age long tradition.

In the South West, South South and South East geo-political zone, it is alien because it was introduced due to some dispersal processes through mass movement from some areas to the other based on osmotic pressure of economic concern.

No religion supports street begging but empathy through the concept of philanthropy and altruistic philosophy.

If it is to be outlawed it would be easier for state governments in the South West, South South and South East, but through determination of purpose and political will.

Lagos state tried it at a time, bundling strange faces moving around aimlessly. This was after their state of origin had been uncovered. The defect in the exercise was the accompanying hues and cries by the affected states that have no plan to rehabilitate the deportees. Some even said that the exercise was against the principle of federal character and one Nigeria. Besides this, discontinuity in governance that usually led to policy somersaults put a stop to the exercise.

The symptoms accompanying street begging is the inactivity of government in the areas of provision of basic amenities and the consequent challenges of unemployment for most of the youth and the weaker ones who will prefer begging to more dastardly acts of kidnapping, prostitution, armed robbery, ritual killings and other criminal acts to survive the economic depression.

Unfortunately, the security votes do not address the aspect of wealth generation and employment creation, hence it is not effective enough to prevent the challenges, but only offers mere mitigation.

Fundamentally, the physiological needs of man expressed through food, clothing and shelter, when not met would always lead to unsafe habitation and an environment that is insecure.

Cases of some street beggars turning into kidnappers or hired assassins are daily on the increase in Nigeria contributing to heightening state of insecurity in the state and country at large.

If it is to be outlawed it would only be a case of relieving a section of the nation to increase the burden of the others because if we remain as one Nigeria nobody may eventually claim to eternally benefit more so when government, both Federal and State alike, are not yet ready to put up effective programs for the alleviation of poverty.

From the spiritual perspective the Nigerian culture of atoning their sins through giving stipends to the beggars to achieve their desired aims and objectives, we need to change into recognizing the following virtuous codes of life, to be technically fit and well accomplished : dignity of labor, justice, equity, sincerity of purpose, hard work, transparency, accountability to support our drive towards peaceful co-existence, building of strong institutions and achieving promotion of inclusive society in our bid to establish and foster sustainable development.

Interestingly, accidents resulting in liabilities are usually viewed as excuses to engage in street begging.

If government is to outlaw street begging, the following factors need to be taken into consideration :

Government policy on poverty alleviation must be pursued with vigor and it must also be inclusive to take care of the marginalized-women, children and people living with disabilities. 2)There should be rehabilitation programs in place to cater for various interests. For example the out-of-school children issue must be given adequate attention. 3)Cases of the elite aiding and abetting the transportation of poverty stricken souls from one state to the other must be investigated to effectively stop the act. For example in February, two trailer load of people from the North of the country were spotted somewhere in Iwo land, this prompted the Isokan Muslim community to promptly intervene. It was discovered that some Chiefs had collected about 500, 000 Naira each for the act to be possible. However, they were compelled to return the money amounting to about 3.5 million Naira while the migrants were sent back to the destination they came from. Two things might have happened if it had not been detected, street beggars could have been on the increase while some of them would have become security threats in Iwo land.

Street begging therefore, must be outlawed, but let government do the needful before embarking on this.

Political office holders in Nigeria have been called upon not to abandon children and youth after they must have won elections.

This call was made by the Founder, Spiritual Head and Grand Imam, Shafaudeen-in-Islam Worldwide, Prof. Sabitu Olagoke in a lecture titled ‘’World Thinking Day and the 5 Road Mpas’’ at an event organized to commemorate the World Thinking Day, by the Oyo state Council of the Girls Guide Association of Nigeria.

‘’Political office holders were always present and active at programs for children and youth during campaigns and before they won elections, but after they emerged victorious their behavior changed. They should continue to support children and youth even after they win elections’’, Prof. Olagoke stated.

He stressed that for a well ordered society to emerge, ‘’ the home, the society, the nation and the world must create a culture of World Thinking Day at individual, association, voluntary organization and government levels of operations to propel them to do the needful with timely intervention’’.

‘’The World Thinking Day need to go into every individual’s psyche on self-fulfillment for every blessed day and evaluative reasoning on the value we put in life, for our neighbors and humanity generally to promote a better world order. Never abuse the girl child, never insult womanhood and ensure that everyone puts value into society . Stop wars and prevent diseases to promote a meaningful life of comfort for all, people with disability inclusive’’, He concluded.

Earlier, the National Commissioner of the Association and the state Commissioner, Dr.(Mrs.)Janet Olufayo and Dr.(Mrs) Layeni respectively, emphasized the need for government to pay great attention to programs targeting the children and youth as a step towards reducing social problems in the society.

‘’There should not be any discrimination, we are equal, we should be treated equally irrespective of religion, social background and status’’, the Girls Guide leaders declared.

The 30, 000 Naira new national minimum wage is not a living wage for workers in Nigeria.

This assertion was made recently by the Chair person of the Socialist Workers and Youth League(SWL), Comrade Kemi Afolayan at a symposium titled ‘’LIVING WAGE-MATTERS ARISING’’, organized by the SWL in Ibadan, Nigeria.

‘’There is a clear difference between the new national minimum wage and a living wage. If you look at it critically workers are worse off. 90 per cent of Nigerians are living below the poverty level. After retirement, workers go into depression. A living wage is achievable, but government cannot give workers a living wage on a platter of gold.’’, Comrade Afolayan noted.

In his remarks, Comrade Olaoye Sanda lamented the insincerity of labor leaders in Nigeria, saying, ‘’we have labor leaders who are colluding with Government’’.

For Comrade Andrew Emelieze, the new national minimum wage of 30,000 N aria is unacceptable.

‘’30, 000 Naira is a slave wage. It has brought pains and misery to workers in Nigeria. There should be an immediate review of the national minimum wage. 30,000 Naira is laughable and embarrassing’’, Comrade Emelieze stated.

The Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) has de-registered 74 out of the 92 political parties in Nigeria.

The Inter party Advisory Council(IPAC) insists that the INEC’s action is at variance with the rule of law, while insisting that Nigerians have since lost confidence in the electoral body.

However, a sizable number of Nigerians argue that INEC ought not to have registered such a high number of political parties in the first instance,just as they also opine that INEC is only playing out a script written by its paymaster.

In this interview, the Founder, Spiritual Head and Grand Imam of Shafaudeen-in-Islam Worldwide, Prof. Sabitu Olagoke insists that Nigeria only need five political parties to ensure national unity. Excerpts :

Do you think INEC is right to have de-registered 74 out of the 92 political parties in Nigeria ?

The decision of INEC that led to the de-registration of 74 out of the 92 political parties in the country is a scenario of relieving the electoral process of been too cumbersome. Ab initio, Nigerians are divided over the outrageous number of registered political parties which in the last general elections made the exercise to be worrisome, misleading and embarrassingly made the ballot paper unnecessarily colorful and artistically confusing. It made some voters to become mere robotic objects relying on the remote control of some vote merchants.

A critical assessment of the 92 political parties raised some questions that probed into how some people got their certificates in school.

When one compares the performances of such graduates in their places of work to their activities in the wider society, the credibility of the universities which awarded the certificates would be at stake.

The INEC now has to prove its capability and credibility to de-register what it earlier approved because some schools of thought are of the opinion that the de-registered political parties are victims of circumstances because they have every right to exist even without impact of the society, provided they did not turn their parties into violent or terrorist groups.

However, a critical look into the competence test for parties already registered was based on their performances in the 2019 general elections. On this account the affected parties failed to meet the requirements of the INEC.

On a scale of fairness, Nigerians cannot confidently say that those who triumphed actually won the elections justly. The challenge before all of us is on how to tackle the issue of vote buying and the highest bidder syndrome, campaign expenses limit compliance and internal party Democracy to choose the right and popular candidate, rather than those who are imposed. This category are aided by crooked means to win elections.

The de-registration of 74 political parties would have been a good riddance, if not for the fact that there are still pending applications of the registration of political parties with INEC.

Nigerian politicians and the political parties have had a negative impact on the economic and security well being of the nation, when one considers our situation of death without war and destitution in the midst of plenty.

This is so because the existing political parties were not established to salvage the cause of the country, but for the participants to have their own share of the national cake, with a very good opportunity to loot the treasury and earn special packages as salaries, bonuses and allowances.

This is why the rat race by politicians to get into positions of power threw the Holy Bible into the ocean and the Holy Koran into the lagoon and in the process shunning all cultural values of integrity to toil with the lives of Nigerians who they are supposed to work for and to deplete the resources of the land at the expense of the people’s welfare and national development.

Our political parties small or big, are bereft of ideological goals and one can hardly differentiate, in terms of values, one from the other.

Politicians in Nigeria live three lives, when not yet in government they brand themselves as our messiah, when in government they resort to self-enrichment, build egos and castles around themselves to become untouchable, while presenting administration as one for the most difficult and complex Mathematics to solve through protocols and bureaucratic means, using the media to their advantage.

When they are in opposition they play the holier than thou script and pretend as if they are ready to fight for the masses, the whole exercise is to pull down perceived enemies.

In these three lifestyles none is exemplary and the truth about Nigerian politicians is that of unpatriotic elements, who only scavenge about to accumulate wealth.

Nigeria would be better off, when our religious systems focus on the emancipation of humanity and our politicians, who claim to be products of this socio-divine substance would be able to uphold the concept of sacrifice in service, selfless service to others through the principles of philanthropy.

When political parties are formed through algebraic equations of the democrat on the one hand and the conservative on the other, the ideological goal would be to evolve, while voters would be able to identify with the kind of lifestyles they desire for the nation in the next four years of the new political dispensation which may extend to another four years of grace willingly by the people who may want to appreciate beneficial good governance from party A or party B. Suffice it to now say that political parties performances and impact in the positive direction needs to dwell on respecting people’s fundamental human rights to all good things of life, including education, health, infrastructure and employment, in an atmosphere of the promotion of inclusive society.

Good governance in which everybody benefits through a people oriented political party is far better than the proliferation of political parties in which many of them would become mere buffer solutions for the bigger ones to win elections.

Nigeria does not need more than five political parties, each of these political parties must respect religious differences, ethnic and tribal spread in the country and in the general geographical contraption to promote the unity of the country.

In terms of population strength and geographical spread therefore, a party of national status is needed with distinct ideological goal to market itself.

The voters themselves would be able to identify lairs among them, this is because in a situation in which oppressors dominate a party, people must not expect development, zero tolerance to corruption, but institutional discipline that usually promote agitation, impoverishment and man made security challenges such as terrorism, kidnapping and banditry.

The INEC should therefore make use of the National Orientation Agency(NOA) and the Media to sensitize Nigerians on the need for the five political parties that would be competitive enough to address the issues of fundamental human rights and inclusiveness, to be able to achieve in the area of good governance, while the INEC itself need to strategically put up an electoral process that would be free of abuse, but fair and just, in order that Nigeria is able to have in place a good government.

Good governance has been identified as the only means to meet the expectations of millions of Nigerians at all levels of government.

This assertion was made recently, by the Founder, Spiritual Head and Grand Imam of Shafaudeen-in-Islam Worldwide, Prof. Sabitu Olagoke in his keynote address at the Annual Shafaudeen-in-Islam and Center for Religious Cooperation and Tolerance stakeholders conference in Ibadan, Nigeria.

‘’Every Government including Nigeria must offer good governance that will satisfy the needs for the present population without compromising or endangering the possibilities of future generations to satisfy their needs’’.

‘’For ease of implementation, the youth must be carried along to be responsible to raise awareness, develop empathy and solidarity, embrace global best practices to be adapted for local needs, as well as motivating other youth to take action’’, Prof. Olagoke stated.

Only  focused  and incorruptible leadership shall emancipate the Yorubas from their current travails and  ensure good governance.

This assertion was made by the Founder, Spiritual Head and Grand Imam of Shafuadeen-in-Islam Worldwide, Prof. Sabitu Olagoke in a lecture titled ''Enhancing Economic Development in Yorubaland'', at the 20th year remembrance anniversary of the late Comrade Ola Oni in Ibadan, Nigeria.

''It will take a credible leadership and good governance to faciliate and activate opportunities on the ground for the Yorubas. Most of  our roads are in a state of disrepair. Governments at all levels should take it as a matter of priority to rehabilitiate and construct new roads especially those that link the farms/villages to the cities. Transportation of agricultural produce to the towns from the farms/villages will be easy if  our link roads are in good condition. This will in trun enhance economic development  in Yorubaland''.

Most of our stadia are begging for repairs. Liberty stadium in Ibadan has become a shadow of itself among others. Power supply has also become an albatross to our economic devlopment in Yorubaland. Governments in all the states in the Sout West have a responsibility to find a lasting solution to the epileptic power supply from the Electricty Distribution Companies. In the absence of corruption, there will not be any need for 5-7 per cent tariff increase on electricity bill in the tax regime. Even borrowing may not be necessary to fund projects'', Prof.Olagoke stated.

The Federal Government has been advised to consider tha harsh economic climate in the country before facilitatin g the increase in electricity tariffs.

This advice was given by Pastor Opeymei Ajayi in a chat with Poverty Line.

''Government should consider the masses and have a rethink by not increasing tariffs on electricity. The economic crunch is biting very hard, people are finding it very very difficult to feed. Food items are now beyond the reach of millions of Nigerians. Government should have pity on the masses'', Pastor Ajayi advised.