With Nigeria’s economic challenges deepening, a growing number of Nigerians have turned to the streets, discovering that begging can be more lucrative than formal jobs.<\/p>\n
Known as \u201ccorporate beggars,\u201d these individuals are often well-dressed and operate strategically in high-traffic areas such as markets, shopping centers, and hospitals, appealing to passersby with compelling stories of hardship.<\/p>\n
One such beggar, Mrs. Hauwa Baba, a former employee of a private firm, shared her story. \u201cI had no choice but to start begging to feed my sick husband and six children after I lost my job,\u201d she explained, revealing that her family now eats only once every two days.<\/p>\n
Hauwa, like others in her situation, said she would gladly work if there were opportunities, but the economic climate has left her with few options.<\/p>\n
Another beggar, Mr. Habib Ibrahim, has been on the streets for nearly a decade, finding that his earnings could reach as high as \u20a6200,000 per month in better times, though now he makes closer to \u20a6100,000.<\/p>\n
With nine children to support, Ibrahim has developed a routine, strategically selecting locations and timing his appearances to maximize his earnings.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know when government workers receive their salaries, so that\u2019s when I go to offices,\u201d he explained. By dressing neatly and sharing a \u201csad tale,\u201d he finds people more likely to empathize and offer help.<\/p>\n
For some, begging has become a family affair. Ibrahim\u2019s children join him on weekends to cover more ground, an arrangement that he says provides better income than a low-paying job.<\/p>\n
For former factory worker Uche Ray, recent economic downturns have forced him to beg.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t choose this; the economy turned me into it,\u201d he admitted, expressing a readiness to return to work if he could find a stable job.<\/p>\n
While some Nigerians see these beggars as genuine, others feel misled by what they consider fabricated stories.<\/p>\n
Businessman, Emeka Mark noted that he frequently encounters beggars with seemingly scripted tales, often requesting money for food, transportation, or medical bills. Hajiya Ummi Umar recounted being deceived by a woman who repeated her story days later, realizing she had been conned.<\/p>\n
Despite skepticism, civil servant Hajiya Hauwa Abdulaziz encourages compassion, stating, \u201cHelping beggars is a virtue, and givers never lack. Do it for the sake of God.\u201d<\/p>\n
As Nigeria\u2019s economic conditions continue to press down on livelihoods, begging has, for many, become a harsh yet necessary means of survival.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
With Nigeria’s economic challenges deepening, a growing number of Nigerians have turned to the streets, discovering that begging can be more lucrative than formal jobs. Known as \u201ccorporate beggars,\u201d these individuals are often well-dressed and operate strategically in high-traffic areas such as markets, shopping centers, and hospitals, appealing to passersby with compelling stories of hardship. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":54599,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[177],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-abuja-reports"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54598","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54598"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54598\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54620,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54598\/revisions\/54620"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}