There is so much hunger in the land now. It’s so serious that we Yoruba, that were so proud that we would rather die than beg, are now comfortable with the beggars in our midst.
Go to the eateries, you will find some people loitering around. They generally close in on you when you have bought this and that. If you happen to be a male that has taken a female out, you’re an endangered specie. The beggars will psych you because they know you are most likely to behave yourself in the presence of your woman.
At the automated teller machine points, one may not easily distinguish between beggars and tricksters. Most of the ATM points are market places of their own.
The car parks nko? They are also there. In fact, one may take innocent beggars for car jackers. Their job is that hazardous.
However, there is another set of people who specialize in parties. Actually, some go to parties to beg. They could beg for money or food. Those ones normally have more than enough.
But then, another style has emerged. When you go to places where parties are being held. Some invitees go with polythene bags. After having their fill, they pour the left overs of others into the bags. Some even move to the places where used plates are being washed. They get hold of the plates that still have some food in them and turn the contents into their bags.
Even without asking them, they tell whoever cares to listen, it is for their dogs.
Let’s praise them for their ingenuity. In most cases, they actually take the second hand food home to feed their families. In cases where the food is too much to be consumed at once, they preserve it for warming at the next meal.
This is to show that we are living in perilous times. There’s nothing serious on ground to show us that we want to get out of this morass. In a situation where people graduate from school, go for the mandatory national service, but to get jobs is now the problem, we need a rethink.
Some of our experts will say the graduates are not employable. Yes, they are not, but yahoo yahoo finds jobs for them.
All these so called beggars are possible recruits for crime!
The time has come for public spirited individuals and organizations, religious groups, clubs, etc to meet and see how they could save our nation. If the government feels like, it could be part of the effort.
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