Poverty has been very difficult to reckon with over the years. Poverty has made millions of people homeless, jobless and hopeless. Poverty in Nigeria has been very difficult to fight and it’s finding a pore on the skin in order to penetrate into the lives of the next generation. Poverty in homes has sent our young boys between the ages of 10 and 18 out on our highways to wash windscreens of vehicles, among other embarrassing jobs, for earnings as low as N50.
Poverty can be said to be one of the main reasons these boys loiter on the highway.  I was driving on Ibadan–Ife expressway and another time around Total Garden where I saw these boys wandering around the road in numbers with handmade foam stand and plastic bottles containing water and soap; fighting amongst themselves to get windscreens cleaned so as to get cash. Some drivers obliged and when these boys already cleaned some windscreens, they still go ahead to re-wash, all for stipends.
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Also, lack of parental care and guide is part of the reasons these boys go out on busy roads doing risky work of traffic sales. It saddens the heart when we see our so called future leaders loitering on highways when their mates are in school or at their vocational training centres. The Oyo state government should intervene in this matter because it seems like a slap on the face for many young people to waste away on the street when they ought to be learning.
Government should assist those who cannot afford to send their children to schools or vocational centres in a bid to help them secure the future and stop them from indulging in vices.
Arowosegbe Tolulope,
tolulopearowosegbe @gmail.com