By Kangmwa Gofwen
Our expectation from the president-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is that the terrorism in the north should be stopped. Fulanis have killed our people and taken away our inheritance and they always come, go and return to kidnap, sometimes up 20 people and demand for ransom. Right now, one of us is there and everything we have is gone. So we need the president-elect to save us from these people. We can no longer go to the farm, we cannot rear our cattle and we do not have money to pay ransom. The little we have has been taken away from us.”
Garba Bagobiri a man from Sokoto State said this to Saturday Tribune on Wednesday at the Mobil Junction, Ring Road, Ibadan, Oyo State, where he begged for alms. He said he and other beggars from the north rejoiced when Tinubu joined the presidential race and are happy the he has emerged the president elect.
“We are happy that Tinubu has emerged because even with a northern president, there has been no peace. So since God has given him victory, we pray that through him, God will give us peace. We rejoiced when he started contesting and we are happy he won the election. I have been following the reports on my radio.
“The last time I went home I did not stop anywhere till I got to Niger Republic because the Fulani herdsmen have chased the people out from my village. I had to go through Katsina State to get to my people in Niger Republic. They had to run away from home from Nigeria because some have been killed while others are still in the bush with the Fulani herdsmen,” he added.
Bagobiri, who hails from Isa Local Government Area of Sokoto State said he had been in Ibadan for almost 15 years and part of why he moved to Ibadan was because he is physically challenged and has a family to look after.
“I have been here for almost 15 years. I came from Sokoto State; I came here because I have issues with my leg, I can’t work in the farm back at home because of my condition and I have children, so I had to come here to beg and whatever God gives us through begging, we send to them back at home to feed.
“We come here because we don’t get as much alms back in the north like we do here in the south. In the North, they give us little food to eat like once in a year but when we come here, we can, at least, raise up to N10,000 in two months and send it back home and with that, they can buy some grains and ingredients to feed,” he said.
He praised the Oyo State government for acknowledging their presence in the state though some things have changed particularly with the cash scarcity hence their inability to save money to send home.
“Before now we were able to save the little money we get because people come to give us food like, amala, rice and eba then we save the money we get but now we can’t save because the cash scarcity is also affecting us. Since the scarcity started, we don’t get food anymore so the little money we make from days of begging, we use it to buy food.
“For instance, if you buy food worth N300 after a day’s begging, there is nothing left to save. But before this issue started, we could save the money we made from the day and still have enough food. In fact, sometimes children come to us for food. Like yesterday, a child came to ask if there was akara but I did not have. People are not settled enough to give out like they used to, so we pray that this scarcity come to pass,” he said.
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