No law can eradicate begging, HURIWA tells Lagos House of Assembly

Pro-democracy and leading Civil Rights Advocacy Group:- Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has cautioned the Lagos State’s legislature against criminalizing begging in the state unless the state has wiped off poverty from face of Lagos state first and foremost.

HURIWA argued that mass poverty was actually inflicted on the masses largely due to political corruption, bad governance and the brazen theft by state officials of funds budgeted and released for the building of socio-economic infrastructures to better the costs of living and the living conditions of the citizens.

The Rights group therefore wants the Lagos state Assembly to tackle the root cause of begging which is mass poverty rather than chase shadows and engage in semantic gymnastics targeted at wiping off the poor from the face of Nigeria by criminally forceful means which offends the fundamental human rights provisions guaranteed in chapter 4 of the Nigerian constitution.

HURIWA reminds the Lagos House of Assembly that section 7 of the constitution provides that the House of Assembly of a state shall have power to make laws for peace, order and good government of the state,” even as the Rights group argued that making a law to forcefully send indigent citizens to their early graves by stopping them from begging to survive, is tantamount to inflicting social conflict and unleashing disorder on a large scale given that majority of Nigerians numbering over 133 million households, are multidimensionally poor.

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HURIWA said further: “The primary duty of government is the security and welfare of the People”, in accordance with section 14 (2) (B) of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria of 1999 (as amended).

HURIWA is rather suggesting that the Lagos State government in partnership with corporate bodies and charitable organizations, should set up massive skills acquisition centres, whereby genuine poor and unskilled citizens of Lagos and legal residents can be giving lifesaving skills and ways and means of providing economic empowerment to power the establishment of their small businesses provided for.

“It is after that, those who opt for begging rather than accepting to be economically empowered can be deemed to be undesirable elements that constitute social nuisance on the streets, and then legitimately expelled from the streets.

Lagos State is the richest state in Nigeria and rich states must not send the poor members of their community to their early graves else, any policy purporting to deprive them of their livelihoods, would be challenged because not every poor person can be silenced without grave repercussion and consequences and the law against begging, without actualizing the conditions precedent as aforementioned is a threat to national security.”

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HURIWA recalled that the Lagos State House of Assembly says it is considering promulgating a law to curb street begging across the State.

The lawmakers at a plenary session on Tuesday argued that criminal elements who always disguise as beggars have taken over the streets of Lagos.

Reacting to the motion brought by Hon. Abiodun Orekoya and some of his colleagues, the Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa noted how previous administrations in the state made efforts to curb street begging, but that the challenge had not abated.

Obasa emphasized the need for a law that would criminalize street begging and also penalize individuals who give money to beggars on the roads.

HURIWA said the law is fascist, undemocratic, unconstitutional and dehumanising which must not be allowed to sail through or else the Lagos state government would have legalised SURVIVAL BY THE FITTEST AND MIGHT BECOMES RIGHT.