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I feel the number of street children begging in Nigeria is on the rise day by day and I doubt if Nigeria has been marking the April 12th, International Day for Street Children talk more of looking into reducing the increasing number of street children.

There are millions of child beggars who take to the streets of Nigeria everyday to earn a living.

Life for these kids are different from that of other children their age. With tiny hands, dusty skin and ragged clothes, they go from one car window to another, one passerby to another in markets, streets, some barefooted, begging for money.

The other day, before giving alms to the little girl that was looking so unkept and malnourished, i asked why she begs, she unhappily said, "my parents are dead."

With so many of us enjoying, it would only be rewarding to protect the most vulnerable and isolated children in our society. I really want to see a Nigeria where their would be no street children begging on the road in 2020.

I don't know what the government is doing but the absence of adequate legislation, no budgetary allocations and no progress with regards to the implementation of recommendations made by international human rights bodies for the protection of street children is really disheartening.

My believe is that most begging children are trafficked, forced on street by either their parents or traffickers and these leaves them vulnerable to physical, emotional and sexual abuse. They should be in school, not in the middle of roads or streets begging.

I really do hope that the Nigerian government look into this burning issue. Also enjoin wealthy individuals and corporate bodies with charitable intentions to support vulnerable children, or support community-based businesses that contribute directly to improve the well-being of families and children. These actions help communities to keep children off the streets and provide them with a more conducive upbringing.

Source: http://www.abdoolwahab.com/2015/07/what-can-nigerian-government-do-to.html

The government would not be able to curb it. The fact the begging is an integral part of one of the foremost religion in Nigeria - Islam makes the government impotent.

Until the Muslim elites expunge this practice of almajiri from the tenets of Islam, there and then anyone can try stopping it. But for now, it remains.