THE POLITICS OF STREET BEGGING IN NIGERIA (A Case Study of Sokoto North Local Government)

Abstract

Begging o n the streets , in the urban centers is one of the age - long activities and perhaps occupations of the highly vulnerable, poverty - ridden individuals in the society . This is particularly not limited to the developing countries alone . As revealed in the studies of different scholars, begging is not peculiar to developing countries; it is a universal phenomenon (Ado, 1997) and a global urban problem. While a considerable number of cities were identified in the US and Mexico as having a significant level of begging activity (Smith, 2005), cities in China, especially Shanghai, have been described as homes of different categories of beggars (including the poor, the disabled, the ho meless and professional beggars), which are described as “liumin” (floating people) or “youmin” (wandering people)