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There has never been such a large influx of beggars from the West African sub-region. For these swarms of alms-seeking persons — our neighbours from as far afield as Niger and Nigeria — this country is an oasis of wealth, an Eldorado where poverty will surely give way to wealth; a nirvana of sorts.
They will, therefore, do all they can to set foot here before subsequently learning the ropes of taking positions at vantage spots such as traffic intersections and other places of large concentration of persons.
Turfs are guarded and others venturing into such places could face stiff challenges from those already occupying these places.
Genesis
The alms-begging phenomenon could have emanated from the mostly Islam-dominated parts of West Africa, especially northern Nigeria, where beggars are referred to as ‘almajirai’ for plural and ‘almajiri’ for singular.
The phenomenon has remained because of the misinterpretation of the stance of the faith on begging and culturalisation of it if you live among the Sahelian countries.
In Kano, Sokoto, Bauchi and other parts of northern states of Nigeria, the practice of begging is so entrenched among the people and over hundreds of years that it has become features of these locations.
Attempts have been made to rid these parts of the country of beggars although with insignificant dividends, especially since the dislodged persons are not given alternative means of earning their livelihood.
A few years ago, the Lagos State Government mounted a major exercise to rid the state of beggars. I have learnt that it was so successful that it was almost impossible to set eyes on beggars in the state.
This clampdown on begging in Lagos and perhaps others parts of the federation is a major factor for the influx of beggars to the country, especially Accra today. Although some of them relocated to the Francophone countries, Ghana is the most preferred.
These beggars can be categorized into the visually impaired, cured lepers and physically challenged persons.
It is a lucrative business for some. In Nigeria, the north in particular, there are persons who have invested in sponsoring the physically impaired to go Saudi Arabia.
Upon landing in the oil-rich country, these beggars are offloaded onto strategic locations to commence business, especially at the peak of the annual pilgrimage. The proceeds are handed over to the sponsor who dishes a certain percentage to the beggars.
The Saudi authorities officially abhor the practice of abusing their entry visas but the heat of the Hajj makes it virtually impossible to clamp down effectively on the beggars and their sponsors.
The rich persons and even middle income citizens in the oil-rich country in line with Islamic injunction offload a prescribed percentage of their earnings to the poor at a certain period in the year. Beggars from West Africa fit the description.
Caravan Trade Impetus
The traders from Hausaland alongside clerics were soon followed by hordes of beggars, especially when Islam gained a foothold in the northern parts of the country and in the trans-Volta Togoland, especially Kete Krachi area.
Some clerics who mastered the art of prophesying attracted many to themselves. Some were even hired by chiefs.
The clerics prescribed spiritual therapies for many challenges, among them victory in war or success in life. The therapies could come in the form of being asked to give specific grades of alms to beggars. Other items such as kola, fowls, livestock could be prescribed to be given to specific categories of beggars, the physically impaired, the visually impaired and others.
The practice which commenced over two hundred years ago with time became entrenched in our traditional communities in the Sahelian regions and eventually our Northern regions.
