'Bara'

I was going to title this article “tush beggar” or “begging for a living” but I got confused and decided to title it “bara” instead. For the sake of everyone who doesn’t have an idea of what “bara” means, it means “alms” and “bara” is a Yoruba word in case you were wondering. Our major concern today isn’t the beggars that are clearly handicapped and need help because they do not know how else to go about it, it's the well dressed stranded Nigerians who stand at different bus parks claiming to have lost their wallet or that the ATM isn't working, or the mother and child who you see every evening speaking fluent english and begging for money still, or the people who have no physical disabilities but still have a bus-stop where they beg for money.

Every now and then, you see people begging for transport fares at bus parks and you just want to help them because they're so well dressed, like how could you not believe them? Besides, you feel it could happen to anyone so you'll just do what you can because it could be your turn "tomorrow". Even if you don't feel it could be your turn "tomorrow", you would probably empathise with them as you know it could be very embarrassing being in that kind of position so you end up helping them by either paying their transport fare or giving them money which is perfectly normal for someone who's human feeling is backed up by the required amount needed.

This doesn't mean that people who don't give are stingy or heartless, they're just people who have been fooled not once or twice by those people who claim to be in need, the 'tush beggars'. Their experiences have led them to remain unflinched no matter the beggar's plea because they believe there's no iota of truth in their stories. It didn't happen in one day and you would most likely stop helping all stranded persons if you helped one and you kept seeing that person on that same spot doing the same thing you saw them doing, giving the same excuses they gave the first time they approached you. The amazing part of this is that they hardly recognise some of their "helpers" while some helpers recognise them which is the beginning of "bad market" for them.

What I'm trying to understand is how someone would dress up or better still "baff up" just to beg for money. I know you can say the economy is this, the economy is that, but haba, has it gotten to that stage? Why not keep hustling when you still have both arms and legs intact and most importantly "time" because I've noticed that most of these people are young people, though not in their teens but you get the point yeah? It's not always nice faking stranded on a daily basis just to have some more money because when you do that, it means two things; you are too lazy to think of a better solution to your problems and you are not grateful. There are a million and one things you could do to at least survive even if won't put any substantial amount of money in your bank account that has less shame attached to it unlike "tush begging". Besides, when there is life, there is hope so instead of giving up hope like the handicapped people who already have their respective posts at different bus stops, you should find out other revenue generating activity you can engage in. You should be grateful that you are even alive and without physical disabilities, why not use those abilities to make money without deceiving or scamming other people who have good hearts towards helping others.

If you make it a trend, especially in Lagos, and you get caught, like if you actually get caught, the outcome won't be something you would be proud to talk about and that's if you even get to talk about it at all. For our sakes, let's leave the act of begging to people who have been at it, people that are handicapped and the extremely old people who believe that's the best way to go about their survival while those who are still energised and without physical disabilities should figure out another form of hustle because faking stranded is a scam.


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