In Lagos, according to research by an Economist on CNN, there are about 3 million beggars and about 1 million of them are children. Most of these children do not get the opportunity to have a quality education which deprives them of the opportunity to get quality jobs when they are older and eventually keeps them within the cycle of poverty.

The most popular mode of begging is roadside begging which involves people sitting or standing by the roadside and begging for money or food. Most of these people I see begging are innocent children who have been most like coerced by adults who feel the children will generate more sympathy.

According to this same research, the average income of children beggars is N500 per day which is just enough for a meal a day. I believe this is not worth the imminent danger they put themselves in by begging on the highways of Nigeria. They is a high possibility of them getting run over, kidnapped, raped or murdered.

The government should make an attempt to put all the kids roaming the streets in school. It might seem costly but in retrospect will be a cheap price to pay for better citizens and a better tomorrow.

I deeply believe that most if not all the problems we face as a nation can be solved if every child attained quality education.

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Osamudiamen volunteered with Bethesda for a week during which he decided to write this piece on his views about child beggars in Nigeria.

Do you agree with him that education will solve most our problems as a nation? We at Bethesda definitely believe that providing free quality education to orphans and vulnerable children is a step in the right direction.

Are you interested in volunteering with Bethesda or looking to sponsor a child? Please call Chioma on 08137648689.