Eko Akete: Beggars on the loose

The Lagos House has become a haven for beggars. Every morning, scores of women and old people, in their numbers throng the assembly complex at Alausa, with copious lists of request.

They often sit around the complex, particularly at the pavilion just opposite the building. Whenever a  lawmaker’s car pulls in, a small crowd runs either towards his direction or to his office. Every crowd know the legislator representing their constituency and they quickly run to them.

The situation is just the same at the offices. The reception rooms are almost always full, and they are peopled by constituents who have come to ask for help. And their needs are many: children’s school fees, burial ceremonies, hospital bills, and even weddings.

Eko Akete gathered, while monitoring the situation during the week, that many lawmakers have started taking precaution in order to check this menace.

In fact, one of the office assistants attached to a lawmaker’s office informed Eko Akete that her boss had explicitly informed her to use the CCTV cameras to monitor the visitors and to sieve them accordingly.

“I just tell them he’s very busy at the moment,” she said.