I am writing this piece as a concerned citizen of Lagos state and of humanity. There is this mentally unstable woman that stays around my area, 5th Avenue Junction in Festac to be precise. The woman arrives at her “spot” early morning each day and brings with her, a young boy whom I presume to be her son. She sweeps the long alley leading to the bus-stop and after she is satisfied that he alley is clean, she sits there all day with the boy. She doesn’t even really beg for alms, passer-bys see her and are moved by her condition and then they hand out pittance. However my concern is her young son. As a perfectly sane young adolescent [at least from observation], shouldn’t he be in school? I have been having a little bit of guilty conscience writing this because, what I am asking for is for the government to come and take the child away from her. Yet from observation, you can tell that she is really attached to the boy, like he is all she has left. I don’t know what will happen if she loses him. Sentiments aside, I think that the boy should be placed in foster care and the mother in a “special-care” ward. Social workers in the house, what do you think? It disturbs me to see them in this condition daily

I have occupied this space to prevent anybody from obtaining the first to comment status in case this makes front page. Having said that, it took a lot to be able to snap this picture and risked being stoned by her. In truth though, she is a very nice lady as evident in the way she appreciates the pittance people give to her