This time, it was a child, he cried aloud “broda help me, I wan chop, broda please”. I was angry, looked at him angrily and felt like slapping him. He didn’t mind begging as he was a child; he was just about ten years old.
I hate giving my money to beggars, I just feel they are a bunch of lazy people looking for who to exploit. I have heard different stories, I heard some people even disappear after giving their money to beggars. I have also heard stories of religious clerics who instruct people to take gifts to beggars, they call this saara. There are a lot of them, beggars, at Mushin, Ikeja, Ajah, Iyana Ipaja, Kano, Ibadan and a lot of other places in Nigeria. But this particular one, I saw him around Ikeja area.
I could hear a voice of pain, of hurt, and of rejection. I couldn’t help it. For the first time, I had compassion on this lad. I gave him money, yes I did. I gave him two hundred naira and went away. I silently thought that giving him money may mean luck concerning my bid for the day. I had possibly given my money out as saara.
I was going to see Mr. Samson, an agent. I wanted to relocate to Ikeja since staying at Sango Otta makes it very stressful for me to get to work every morning. Earlier on, Mr. Samson told me that he had got a three bedroom flat for me at Ogba Ikeja. I was very happy.
I met with Mr. Samson at Ikeja, Underbridge. When we got to the house, it was below my expectation. The building was old, the pumping machine was not working well, the landlord had not paid his electricity bills for two years, so his light had been disconnected and the wires had been taken away.
I was so disappointed that I left Mr. Samson in anger. I went back home and was home alone because I was on leave. My wife was at work, and my children had gone to school. I called my wife to narrate the incident to her. She called me back in five minutes and told me that her colleague at work said I should visit ToLet.com.ng.
I was reluctant to do so, but I did visit the site. I typed Ikeja, and I got 634 results. I had a variety of flats to choose from. I saw pictures of the houses and the features they had. This time, I was happy I could see the houses and decide on the one I liked most from my bedroom, I didn’t have to go through the stress of going to the house or getting disappointed. I didn’t have to meet beggars on Lagos streets. Suddenly, I felt a strange sensation within me, maybe my saara worked this time that might have led me to come in contact with ToLet.
By Jolaosho Aderinsola
