Guardian

THE Lagos State Government by its series of legislations leaves no one in doubt as to the standard and pattern of behaviour expected of all the residents of the state. This is, indeed, a commendable demonstration of its willingness and capacity to rule only by the law.

The commitment of the state government to its laws and its seriousness about ridding the state of beggars and destitute led recently to its conviction of 120 beggars and the deportation of 1,708 others to their various states and countries. Since this was done pursuant to an enabling law, it can hardly be faulted because one of the primary responsibilities of government is to enact laws for the good governance, peace and welfare of the citizenry. And from the reasons adduced by the government, it is clear that these criteria informed the promulgation of this particular legislation, especially as the begging culture has also aided robbery and sundry crimes in the society.

It is a pity that government at all levels is a victim of the culture it created wittingly or unwittingly by its bad policies. Nothing could be more dehumanizing and shameful than for a person to resort to begging to make ends meet. It is the worst case of human debasement. But a person who is down fears no fall or shame. And so many Nigerians are actually down and lying prostrate due to excruciating poverty foisted on them by the insensitive policies of succeeding governments. To those who are victims of these policies therefore, all is fair in the bid to eke a living. In other words, taking to begging may well be the only option out of starvation in a polity where employment opportunity is non-existent for those who genuinely desire to work. The population of those who are gainfully employed is by far less than those who are not and who do not have any means of doing so at all. This is complicated by lack of basic infrastructure, which then constitutes a major disincentive to self employment.  The economic environment is too hostile for self-employment as the cost of doing business is highly prohibitive leaving several citizens increasingly despondent and having to depend on the goodwill of others for survival. The upsurge in crime rate has also been attributed to this.

In all of these, government has a major share of the blame.

What this suggests is that it is not enough to legislate against begging; there must be conscious effort to address the situation that makes begging inevitable. It is gratifying that Lagos State Government has put in place mechanisms to cushion the effect of outlawing begging in the state. Vocational and rehabilitation centres have been set up to minister solely to the beggars. This is enough incentive for the beggars to quit the streets in addition to the obligation they have as citizens to obey the law regardless of whether or not it is convenient to do so. It may seem therefore that there is no legitimate justification for anyone to be on the streets of Lagos as a beggar other than lawlessness.

But government should not rest on its oars yet. It should look into the reasons beggars shun the rehabilitation and vocational centres. It calls for concern that they shun or flee from the centres. It seems unlikely that they would like to escape from these centres or avoid them if the situation therein is conducive. Do they receive optimum attention or what is important to government solely is the fact that they are out of the streets? Are they properly taken care of or merely subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment that fills them with nostalgia for their street-begging days? Are the welfare centres enough to take care of the beggars adequately? How qualified is the personnel manning these centres?

The point therefore is that government should do all within its powers to make the place conducive and take all such steps outside of legislation that would make begging unattractive. Government should heighten sensitization on the existence of those rehabs and the gains therein to create awareness among the beggars, particularly those of them who are just joining and who may not be aware of the existence of such social facilities. Above all, the programme at the rehabilitation centres must address the reintegration of the beggars back into the society.

For those who have been convicted in defiance of the law, there is really no cause for worry. It is the logical consequence of disobeying the law. What may be controversial is the reported ejection of some of them to their home states. Government of Lagos State has shown itself committed to the rule of law. It must go the whole hog even in this matter. It must be wary of the legal implication of such a line of action having regard to the provisions of Sections 41 and 42 of the 1999 Constitution. Section 42 provides: “Every citizen of Nigeria is entitled to move freely throughout Nigeria and to reside in any part thereof...”

The import of this is that the power of Lagos State Government is limited to prohibiting and convicting for begging, it does not include the power to banish or prevent anyone from residing in the state, which is the logical implication of the ejection of the beggars. Government can still make its point without resorting to ejection unless it is the exercise of the freewill of the individuals concerned, where in place of a jail term they settled for deportation to their place of birth.