Hustlers dump street trading for begging

THE adage that says beggars do not have a choice seems worn out to Lagosians like Kehinde Olatunbosun, who has successfully made a profession out of begging to the extent of making a minimum of N300,000 every month from plying the ‘trade’.

Olatunbosun, a drug addict, was arrested by the police at the weekend. His stock in trade is to play on the benevolence of Nigerians by pretending to be very sick and urgently needs money to buy drugs, which he uses to fund his drug addiction. The 56-year-old beggar does this conveniently by picking prescription papers from the waste bins of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja, which he uses to convince Lagosians to part with their hard-earned money.

“I make over N10,000 daily doing corporate begging. Every day, I am always on Mobolaji Bank-Anthony Road, Allen Avenue, Toyin Street and Opebi Road begging for money. I get LASUTH drug prescription papers from their waste bins. With the papers in my hand, I convince motorists, passengers and passersby that I have a relative who is in dire need of money to buy drugs. This is what I have been doing since I was deported from Germany in 2004. I make more money on weekends.”

Indirectly, Olatunbosun’s story explains why crime pays, though in a short span. This is in direct contrast to what the average person makes from the street, particularly traders and hawkers. For instance, a pure water seller said it would take about six hours to sell a bag of water containing 20 sachets, which amounts to N200 at N10 each. From the N200, the profit is barely about N50, as the sellers have to buy iced block to cool the water.

While Olatunbosun saunters along a busy street to go to bed a happy man with less than N10,000 in his pocket, the pure water seller risk his or her life hustling under the hot sun and chasing after vehicles, or in some cases, running away from Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI) officials.

At Ikeja-Oshodi Expressway, one seller simply identified as Funmi told The Guardian that she sells water and drinks because she doesn’t want to be idle. “I sell after school closes to support my mother who caters for our family because she is a widow. We provide service by quenching people’s thirst when there is traffic. It is good business though it is very stressful and risky, running after moving vehicles.

“I still prefer it to begging, stealing or prostitution as I meet people’s needs and they also meet mine. Begging is an art because you have to be very dramatic and creative in constructing persuasive messages to prospective benefactors to part with money. It is not an easy thing to part with money. You need to see they way people harass us for even N10 change, though on very few occasions, generous buyers leave their ‘change’ for us.”

Another hawker, who identified herself as Bola Shina, said: “I sell fruit salad packaged in transparent plastic plates in the morning to those going to work because that is the best time people buy fruit salad. In the afternoon, I sell water and drinks because people are thirsty at this period. And you have to take the wares to them or where they can see you. It is worthwhile but the profit is meager compared to the stress and uncertainties like meeting touts and council officials who force you to buy tickets of N200.”

For many people, January is a ‘dry’ month when people are still recovering from huge spending made during the Yuletide.