WHY IS THE CHILD IN HANDS OF THE BEGGARS ALWAYS SLEEPING????????????

WHY IS THE CHILD IN HANDS OF THE BEGGARS ALWAYS SLEEPING??????????????

"Why is sleeping child in the hands of beggars? Have you ever wondered ... "

This article I read a few months ago. Who is the author of, I don't know.

Please read…..

""Near the metro station sits a woman of uncertain age.

Women’s hair

is confused and dirty, her head bowed in grief.

The woman sits on the dirty floor and next to her lies a bag. In that bag

people throw money. On the hands of a woman, asleep, is a two year old baby. He's in a dirty hat and dirty clothes.

“Madonna with baby” - numerous passers-by will donate money. The people of our kind- we always feel sorry for less fortunate. We are ready to give unfortunate people the last shirt, the last penny out of your pocket and never think another issue.

Helping, seems like. “Good job done”...

I walked past a beggar for a month. Did not give any money, as I knew that this is a gang operated scam and money collected by the beggar will be given to whoever controls beggars in the area. Those people own numerous luxury properties and cars.

Oh and beggar also gets something, of course “ A bottle of vodka in the evening and a döner kebab”.

A month later, walking past the beggars, as shock, it suddenly

hit me….

I'm staying at a busy crossing, stared at the baby, dressed as always- dirty track suit. I realized that it

seemed "wrong", finding a child in a dirty underground station from morning to evening.

The baby slept. Never sobbed or screamed, always asleep, burying his face in the knee of a woman who was his MUM.

Do any of you, dear readers, have children? Remember how often they

slept at the age of 1-2-3 years? Hour two, maximum three (not consecutive)

afternoon nap, and again – movement. For the whole month, every day of my

walking in the underground, I've never seen a child awake! I looked

at the tiny little man, with his face buried in the knee of his mother, then at the beggar, and my

suspicion was gradually formed.

– Why he sleeps all the time? I asked, staring at the baby.

The beggar pretended not to hear me. She lowered her eyes and

hid her face in the collar of her shabby jacket. I repeated the question. The woman again

looked up. She looked somewhere behind my back, tired with utter irritation. Her look was similar to the creatures from a different planet.

-F **k off ... her lips murmured.

-Why is he asleep?! I almost cried ...

Behind me someone put his hand on my shoulder. I looked back. A some old man was looking at me disapprovingly:

– What do you want from her? Can’t you see how hard she’s got it in her life… Eh …

He gets some coins from his pocket and throws them in the beggar’s bag.

Beggar made a hand wave of a cross, portraying the face of humility and universal

grief. The guy removed his hand from my shoulder and strolled out of the underground station.

I bet, at home, he will tell how he defended poor, distraught woman from a soulless man in a tube station.

Next day I called a friend. It was a funny man with eyes like olives Romanian nationality. He only managed to complete three and a half years of education. The complete lack of education does not prevent him from moving around the

City streets on very expensive foreign cars and live in a “small” house with countless number of windows and balconies. From my friend I managed to find out that this business, despite the apparent

spontaneity, clearly organized. Its supervised by begging organized crime rings. The children used are in "rent"

from families of alcoholics, or simply stolen.

I needed to get the answer to the question – why is the baby sleeping? And I received it. My friend Gypsy said the phrase, completely ordinary with calm voice that twisted me in shock, just like he was talking about weather report:

-They are on heroin, or vodka ...

I was dumbfounded. "Who is on heroin? Whom – under vodka?! "

He answered

-The Child, so he doesn’t scream. The women will be sitting whole day with him, imagine how he might get bored?

In order to make the baby slept the whole day, it pumped up with vodka or drugs. Of course, children's bodies are not able to cope with such a shock. And children often die. The most terrible thing – sometimes children die

during the "working day". And imaginary mother must hold another dead child on her hands until the evening. These are the rules. And the by passers-by will throw some money in the bag, and believe that they are moral. Helping

"mother alone" …

… The next day I was walking near the same underground station. I stocked up journalistic identity, and was ready for a serious conversation. But the conversation didn't work out. But turned out the following ...

A woman was sitting on the floor and in her hands she was holding a child. I asked her a question about the documents on the child, and, most importantly, where was yesterday's kid, which she simply ignored.

My questions were not ignored by passers-by. I was told that I was out of my mind screaming at poor beggar with a child. All in all, I was escorted out of the tube station in disgrace. One thing remained was to call the police. When police arrived, beggar with the baby disappeared. I stood with a full sense of - “I'm trying to fight windmills”.

When you see in the subway, on the street whether women with children,

begging, think before your hand climb for money. Think about that, if it wasn't for your hundreds of thousands of handouts, the business like this would have died. The business would die and not the children-inflated with vodka or

drugs. Do not look at the sleeping child with affection. See horror… Since you're reading this article, you know now- why the child is sleeping in beggars hands.

P.S.

If you copy this article on your wall or just click "Share", your friends will read it too.

And when you decide again to open your wallet to throw a coin to a beggar, remember that this

charity could cost another child's life.""

Why did the chicken cross the road? (joke of the day)

SIMPLE QUESTION: “Why Did The Chicken Cross The Road?”

Check out the following answers and reactions:-

GEORGE W BUSH:
We don't really care why the chicken crossed the road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road or not.
The chicken is either against us or for us.
There is no middle ground here.

BILL GATES:
I have just witnessed eChicken2012 which will not only cross roads, but will lay eggs, file your important documents, and balance your checkbook; internet explorer is an integral part of eChicken.

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR:
I have a dream... and envision a world where all chickens will be free to cross roads without having their motives called into question.

GEJ:
I guess it's a manifestation of our transformation agenda for fresh air. Meanwhile, we'll set up a committee to look into that and probably grant the chicken amnesty.

PATIENCE JONATHAN
You see, i don't knew why the chicken wil behaviourance like that,the only things i can said is that the chicken can be an prostitute

GANI:
Why wont the chicken cross the road? When there is no light in her house. No fuel in her car!No food in her stomach! No job to do! Armed robbers are after her eggs, the schools are closed,..... ....why wont it cross to the other side?

HON PATRIC OBAHIAGBON:
The question strikes to mind a perpendicularit­­y of oblivious occurrences. The rationale for the crawling species of the hen folk for advancing across the Broadway to the obvious greener side, portray a phantasmagoric allegory in my homosapious mind, that there is a reason. The metaphoric proposition may be that it is going to cast its vote for Fresh Democratic Party and hence justifying it subconscious mind that she has done her civil biddings.

NSCDC LAGOS CHAIRMAN
The reason the chicken crossed the road is only going to remain known by my oga at d top,I cannot categorically tell you the reason why the chicken crossed the road now and my oga now tells you another reason later.

My Solutions to Boko Haram menace.

It is paramount to know that no government can get everything done but all government should try to get something done which is where i have concerns with this government.

Going by the a term used in the court of law that says "He who come to equity must come with clean hands", so is it necessarily for any one sincerely willing to tackle the menace of Boko Haram to be a straight forward person. Sadly Goodluck Jonathan is not the person to do so, not only has he not got the will power to do the right thing he is also one of the most timid president in the history of man kind. This is a man few weeks ago was saying he will never consider granting amnesty to ghost because people were against it then, the moment people start to say amnesty should be considered in one of the options to tackle Boko Haram now he's the one championing the idea. 

Why would any one even think amnesty can work when the group has not shown any signs of remorse for their actions? And why should amnesty even be a monetary reward? Amnesty can be in form of granting partial pardon or total pardon to members of the group and the pardon shouldn't be free, anyone wanting the pardon must bring something to the table like giving the security service information on how they operate and how catch the big fish among them.

It is common knowledge that backers and financiers of Boko Haram are in government and even in the corridors of powers. If so how come no big fish has been arrested and prosecuted? There is no way Goodluck Jonathan can tackle this kind of dynamic problem unless he is willing to sacrifice himself which is not a common trait of any African leader with the exception of few. 

From my point of view this government can not solve the problem of Boko Haram because its too corrupt to  do so. Even the president said it himself that there are members of Boko Haram in his government and yet he has not make any high profile arrest and prosecution because they are busy trying to suppress "Fuelling poverty" and arresting journalists for doing their job.

The government kill more people than the Boko Haram they are trying to arrest. They kill on daily basis, any death in hospital due to lack of adequate medicine and medical equipment is their fault. Any accidents on the road caused due to the poor state of the road is their fault. Any death from malnutrition caused by the high level of poverty is their fault. Any death caused by ignorance due to low level of education of an individual caused by inadequate funding of education is their fault. In fact the Jonathan led government to be called "Jonathan Haram".

The actions or the inactions of the government fuels the thriving of Boko Haram directly and indirectly. When you pardon a corrupt former governor this is a direct indication that no matter how corrupt you are you can get away with it, therefore making the group to know that no matter what they do they can be pardoned and a clear indication is the amnesty package in the pipeline. No doubt the activities of the group is paralysing economic activities in the north leading to unemployment, unemployment leading to idleness and we all know that an idle mind is the devil's work shop add that to the poor state of education, its a perfect mix needed for the group to boom.

A men with no job, no hope of getting one soon, have little or no education, has loads of time in his hands and sees the people responsible for his problems lavishing what is suppose to be the wealth of the nation and granting pardon to one another when caught, definitely that kind of man is a easy recruit for the menacing group. 

For the people in power to proffer an adequate solution to this problem they need to feel the heat like average Nigerians buy from the same market as we do, use the same hospital, roads, schools e.t.c. Until they start seeing the problem as "our problem" and not "their problem" solution will never come.

My recommendations to solve the havoc called to Boko Haram.

1. The government need to know and understand that there's is no partial approach to the problem, no one size fits all, no stone must be left unturned and no one should be spared. The should walk the walk and not talk the talk. Unless they show that they mean business nothing will get done. Be a government that live and die by its word, not only on issue concerning Boko Haram in other area as well. When you say you will construct a road within a certain period make sure its so. So when you say you are going to tackle Boko Haram they will be quaking in their boots. But unfortunately that's too late for this government.

2. A man can not adequately protect his family if his front door and back door is not properly monitored. How can Boko Haram members be captured when all they have to do when the heat on them is too much is to stroll across the boarder to Niger until the heat  subsides. The government should make sure the country has a defined and properly monitored boarder. Limit the movement of Boko Haram members and restrict their supplies this will cripple their activities and break their resolves. 

3. Kill corruption. Punish people found guilty to have mismanage and embezzled money with out fear or favour. This will send a clear sign to Boko Haram that the government mean business. Even the government can build a reputation on that.  

4. In as much as what Boko Haram backers in government offers to the group is better than what the government is officially offering them, then their activities is likely to continue. Fish out their members in the government and charge them accordingly. With out the pillar supporting a fence the fence is likely to collapse.  

5. The concept of punishment and reward is there for a reason. Amnesty can not give giving out like a carnival balloon, one has to deserve it to earn it. Granting amnesty should be one of the approaches not the only approach in solving the problem of Boko Haram. With what Boko Haram has done someone has to go to prison or else this is a great injustice to the people that have been killed and their families. Amnesty must have grades ranging from reduced sentence to total pardon and these should be given based on what each member brings to the table in terms of information. Monetary reward should not be an option. Boko Haram members providing information of their activities and members to the authority is also a way to separate a genuine member of the group from someone that just want to seize the opportunity to earn money. 

6. The government need to be closer to the people so as to be able to get a direct and unadulterated information from them. Its very difficult to talk to the president directly, his facebook is not managed by him there fore chances of getting your message deleted if it doesn't suit the person that manage the account is high. His monthly TV interview is so restricted that even the wife of the president can't get through to him if she tries and the moderators are so timid to ask a genuine question because of the fear of being arrested after the show.  

For a country with so much wealth and abundant intellectual and man power Nigerian should by now be a developed country and not a developing country.

Written by A. Alabi

follow me on: @akuna_matata24

Fuelling Poverty: a Film on the (Mis)Management of Nigeria’s Oil Wealth

I met Ishaya Bako during my last trip to Nigeria, on 13^th January 2013 to be precise, at a lunch appointment with a friend in Wuse, Abuja. When I got to the Salamander Café by late afternoon, my friend was already there with Ishaya and three other people eating and chatting. I joined them, ordered some food and we proceeded to chat about life in general, our career paths and of course, Nigeria.

Two other friends subsequently joined us and the conversation got really chatty as all seven of us i.e. the filmmaker (Ishaya Bako), the journalist (my friend), the graduate researcher (myself), the author, the two lawyers and two others, disagreed on some points, agreed on many others but overall, we were all clearly concerned about Nigeria’s progress.

It was towards the end of our lunch discussion that the journalist mentioned the documentary “Fuelling Poverty”, credited it to Ishaya Bako and urged me to watch it on Youtube. The filmmaker, true to his African values, was quite bashful as he smiled modestly, lowered his voice and acknowledged he made the film. It all sounded really interesting so I promised to watch the short film afterwards.

After I got back to the UK the next day, I tried several times to watch the documentary over the next few weeks, but for one reason or the other, each time I opened the Youtube page, I got distracted and kept procrastinating.

So, I woke up this morning to find Twitter all a’buzz with the story of how an agency of the Nigerian government, the National Film and Video Censors Board, NFVCB, which vets, classifies, and approves films and videos meant for distribution and exhibition in Nigeria had banned Fuelling Poverty. Parts of the story, as reported by Premium Times goes thus:

“…in an April 8 letter to Mr. Bako, exclusively obtained by PREMIUM TIMES Friday, the agency (NFVCB) prohibited the distribution and exhibition of the documentary in Nigeria, saying its contents “are highly provocative and likely to incite or encourage public disorder and undermine national security.”

The letter, signed by the NFVCB’s Head of Legal Services, Effiong Inwang, warned the filmmaker against violating the order, saying “all relevant national security agencies are on the alert. A copy of this letter has been sent to the Director General, Department of State Services and the Inspector General of Police for their information.””

Of course, the buzz around Fuelling Poverty fueled my own curiosity and I didn’t hesitate further in finally watching the documentary on Youtube. I felt two things simultaneously. First, I was and am incredibly impressed by the technical quality of the film itself and how the feelings of Nigerians towards the fuel subsidy scam, oil wealth mismanagement, corruption and governance in general are relayed in a simple, clear and lucid  manner. It’s even more gratifying to see such a gritty film about Nigeria made by a Nigerian (albeit in partnership with the Open Society for West Africa, OSIWA) living in Nigeria. It is a clear indication that we should and are beginning to own and tell our own stories.

Secondly, I am yet to identify what is so provocative about the documentary that put the Nigerian government on its toes. A good chunk of the film is based on content analysis of media reports available at the click of a button on the internet; footage from widely publicised proceedings of the Nigerian Parliament, the National Assembly and from interviews with policy makers all freely available on the Internet. There is no leaked or stolen classified information, no interviews with people pleading anonymity, nothing suspicious or speculative… all the information and general themes are widely discussed online and on the streets. What is so inflammatory about this film, it is not clear. I heard on the grapevine that the film maker has gone underground.

Interestingly, the move by the government to ban the documentary from TV stations in Nigeria, simply fueled people’s interest in it – those who had never heard of it prior to this incident and others, like myself, who only just got round to watching it. Now the film has gone viral! Nigerians are sharing the link to the Youtube video via Blackberry Messenger, Facebook, Twitter and other social media tools. Soon, counterfeit DVD copies will be sold freely at traffic jams in Nigerian cities. Thanks to the internet, the days of media censorship are long buried in the past. Besides, I am technically not in Nigeria…so… here is the video below, enjoy!