On Begging in Lagos

Part 1

Following the US streamers, IshowSpeed's visit to Lagos, Nigeria, social media erupted with discourse on the social and economic conditions that seemed to be highlighted by the media coverage of his presence in the city. Discussions pertaining to poverty, self-ridicule, mediocracy and low-quality “celebrities” were all key topics of debate. Central to this conversation was what Twitter users termed “begging culture”. With many attributing such culture to be a result of entitlement that now characterises the Nigerian psyche and is heavily expressed as a normative feature in urban Lagos life.

Now, there are, of course, many characteristic elements of what we can describe as begging culture, some of which on the surface may not immediately register as begging at all. Nonetheless, it was quite concerning to observe that online, some commentators reduced the so-called begging culture to only being symptomatic of entitlement. Any serious conversation concerning begging must first be situated within the realities of poverty and inequality that continue to ravage Nigerian society: socially, economically and mentally. Such high levels of begging and soliciting do not exist in a vacuum. It is born out of poverty and deprivation. As long as most of the population continues to live precariously, without any systemic aid for welfare and support, begging will persist as a normative feature of Nigerian life. Secondly, to adequately discuss begging within the current Nigerian socioeconomic context, the Nigerian relationship with money ought to be thoroughly interrogated.

Begging

Street Begging can be described as the act of soliciting for money, clothing, food or other items for a living. It is done by those who cannot fulfil the aforementioned independently. It is typically a consequence of poverty, and it is also seen as a social nuisance. It is one of the oldest acts in the world; begging has been a societal feature for centuries. Fabrega writing on Mexico stated that begging “represents a last resort, an identity implying a complete lack of self-regard and self-respect, thus relegating the person to the most degraded and terminal social position, a bottom social end point” (Fabrega 1971:285).

Across many different countries, there have been laws around begging, typically to outlaw and curtail such activities. In the United Kingdom, there was the Vagrancy Act of 1824, which criminalised rough sleeping and begging. However, efforts are being made by the government to repeal the act, with the government contending that “Nobody should be criminalised for simply having nowhere to live.” In southern Nigeria, begging is illegal under the Criminal Code Act under section 249, punishable with a prison term of up to one month. Now, begging in Nigeria, Lagos, specifically, is so vast that such laws could never be effective in curtailing it. Nor does it benefit the governing and policing bodies to enforce them. What remains clear, still, is the fact that Lagos (and more broadly Nigeria) hates poor people - as I described candidly in previous work (see: no free beach; Lagos Hates Poor People). The lives of the impoverished are afforded little regard; they are routinely seen as nuisances rather than as citizens entitled to dignity and afterthought, with their modes of living comprehended as an “eyesore”. The dehumanisation of the poor has produced such a cauterised society (Ash Amin) that can no longer recognise the systemic and personal behaviours that have constructed and sustained a deeply unequal and unjust society.

How Lagos’ Urban Form Reflects and (Re)Produces Inequality

Now, worldwide, urban cities tend to reflect poverty. For a range of structural reasons, they attract large populations of poor people, who are often drawn to urban cities in pursuit of economic mobility through employment opportunities which tend to be absent from their respective hometowns. In the context of Lagos, the influx of poor populations can be attributed to the sustained disinvestment in other cities in the country, especially the agriculture sector, which has faced serious deterioration. The systemic neglect of regional infrastructural and industrial development has resulted in the continuous marketing of Lagos as the city of aspiration and possibility, leading people there in search of better opportunities. The problem, however, is that many of the poorer populations that migrate to Lagos through rural-urban migration are unskilled and ill-equipped for urban city life. Lacking access to formal education, vocational training, or stable employment pathways, these individuals are quickly absorbed into the margins of the city. This produces the hypervisibility of poverty and destitution, as migrants are systematically excluded from the formal housing market due to prohibitive costs. To survive, many are forced into informal labour, street trading, casual work, or other precarious forms of labour, while others resort to begging as a last means of subsistence.

With that being said, modern-day Lagos ought to be rightfully understood as an active producer of inequality. The city constantly (re)produces inequality through wealth and income disparities, nepotism, exclusionary housing markets, forced evictions and displacement, significant educational disparities and many other failings, which are symptomatic of the Nigerian condition.

The over-commodification of life in Lagos, driven by neoliberal policies and the proliferation of public-private partnerships, has made the city a space where the ordinary, such as good water, has become a privilege reserved for those with capital. Drawing on Pierre Bourdieu’s analysis of class distinction, Lagos can be seen as a site of elite formation, where wealth and privilege are displayed through access to spaces, services, and experiences. The city’s luxury-industrial complex exacerbates social stratification, commodifying urban life to the point that the city itself is being reshaped to serve the interests of the well off, at the expense of its broader population. In fact, the luxury industrial complex and the delusional class aspirations are destroying the city.

Poverty

Now, for those who may live under a rock, poverty in Nigeria is severe. No amount of Detty December PR will change this very dire fact. According to the World Bank in a 2025 report, more than half of all Nigerians (52.5 percent) are estimated to live in poverty. UNICEF in 2013 reported that in Nigeria, about 10.5 million children are not in school. Millions of citizens are also homeless. So, when we talk about begging, no amount of cultural reasoning or theorisations can completely divorce it from the economic precarity and disparities which inevitably create poverty and ultimately produce begging as the final form of complete destitution.

Where there is poverty and destitution, people will beg. However, I argue that such levels of poverty and inequality currently being witnessed are largely by design. Facilitated by the corrupted political class that continues to pillage and loot and misappropriate funds for themselves at the expense of the populace. The lack of access to quality education for children contributes significantly to widening disparities, inevitably contributing to poverty. When children are denied a strong educational foundation, their ability to build secure futures is severely limited. Research further highlights that educational inequality in Nigeria is closely linked to socio-economic status, with clear learning gaps that are apparent between different groups of children. Urban and wealthier children are far more likely to acquire foundational reading and numeracy skills compared to their rural and lower-income counterparts. These disparities translate into unequal access to higher education, employment opportunities, and social mobility. The uneven distribution of quality education reinforces existing class divisions and poverty.

The accompanying video essay can be found here