It is a common phenomenon in Yorubaland until very recently to condemn the act of begging. Infact, an average South Westerner often urges donors to give their money to charity, do voluntary work for homeless organisations or provide beggars with clothes, free food rather than cash that somehow helps the seeker to buy hard drugs or alcoholic drinks that only helps them to continue to make them perpetual beggars.
How then did we as a race find ourselves in these circumstances where a state has to wait for federal government before it can survive on monthly basis and to the extent that we now seek regular bail out to liquidate unpaid workers wages. We are no longer positioning ourselves for federal government intervention in infrastructures or ventures that could position us for better future economically. Our investment nature as inherited from our first generation as leading tribe in Nigeria finally died. We no longer think of conglomerate of business ideas, such that gave birth to defunct National Bank, Epe Plywood, Wemaboard Estate, Western House, Cocoa board etc.
I seriously wonder how we got to this stage, how we lost value and strive for commercially oriented creativity but elephant projects that leave us to live for today and not for tomorrow. Even our so called technology institutions such as LAUTECH no longer think of how to survive outside government funding by engaging in those activities that could bail them from living like a beggar on regular basis. Tell me a business minded person or a school proprietor who will establish such institution or industry and after 27 years, he would still be pleased or happy to be funding it. How we got to this level remains a chagrin and why such never happen in the far North calls for a deliberate research. This was never in our characters in Yorubaland!
What then is the difference between a state that patiently wait for regular SUBVENTION to survive and beggars or Almajiris.
As a citizen, bail out or Paris club refund or whatever under any disguise should be for what benefits us all and not for selective sections, government workers or certain class of people, we all would be better for it only if such is spent to give us all good health, qualitative and valuable education including rescue of our dying tertiary institutions like LAUTECH my alma mater, agriculture, investment and not for just salary intervention at intervals.
Honourable Rotimi Makinde is a former federal representative from ile ife.
Alumni member of LAUTECH
And the CEO of Oodua Fm.
You can later access the online version of this piece comprehensively as soon as it's published on vanguard.
Distributed by LMP
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