Begging In The Name Of God

Beggars have devised different methods of plying their trade. They now use the name of God to get the attention of people in order to get money from them.

The streets of Lagos are now replete with all types of beggars as the trade has become the fastest way of getting easy money.

Speaking with Alhaja Abimbola on her opinion about the act of begging, she said the has practice persisted because people still respond to beggars whenever they come asking for money. She said if people start to turn them down, the practice will reduce.

“People should stop giving them money as they have turned it into business. They have increased in number, and this is because people listen to them. What I don’t understand is maybe they don’t know that people usually recognise them. The most guilty of this practice these days are those who claim to be pastors or ‘men of God’ who preach in buses and at motorparks. After such preaching, the next thing they do is to bring out envelops and ask that you support the work of God, saying that God will bless you as you give them the money.

“As far as I am concerned, it is not everyday that the men of God should come out to seek assistance for the growth of the church? For me, it is only when the church has something important to do that they are supposed to come out and not make it a business,” said Mrs. Abimbola

Lagos State today has turned into a city where all categories of people, even some who call themselves pastors extort money from people. They are called ‘professional beggars”

Dare Ebenezer told P.M.news: “I met a man dressed in suit, well packaged, he walked up to me and said; ‘young man, please I came to see my brother in Ojota here in Lagos but unfortunately, I didn’t meet him at home, I was told he travelled and I have tried his number but it is not available. Please, can you help me with any amount, so I can be able to go back home as my meeting with him didn’t work out.’ I looked at him curiously and concluded that the man can’t be lying. I gave him N200 and to my surprise I saw this man at Ikeja telling someone another version of what he told me. I stood to see what the guy was going to give him, after that, I walked up to him and told him to stop the habit of begging. I told him to go and find something meaningful to do and not “take this as business, you just stopped me at Ojota that you needed money to go back home, is the money I gave you not enough to take you home that you keep going to meet other people.”

At Ogba, a woman who gave her name as Mrs. Alli Halimat told P.M.news: “I am a trader, and I know this particular woman who begs for money from people, saying that they should help her twins. I wonder if she is normal because you can’t keep telling people to help you every day when you are not disabled.”

A huge percentage of Nigerians are confused about whether it is right for preachers to collect money after preaching in public places. P.M.news spoke to the pastor of Redeem Christian Church of God, Province 7, Pastor Wole Adeshina, who explained that it is right for a preacher to preach as it may be the only opportunity to save a soul. However, he said it is not advisable to collect money either in the bus or crusade,

“This programmes are targeted at winning souls for Christ. Since the primary objective is to win soul, if there is need for money, it should be raised elsewhere. The mother church can make provision for the ministers who go out to preach”. Pastor Adeshina made it clear that collecting money after preaching can be counter productive as many already believe that preachers only go out to preach for money and as such, winning souls will be difficult or impossible.

According to him, money collected by some of these men, is not enough to finance the work of God. He advised that preachers should look up to God for provision and if it is the work of God, he will surely provide.

An evangelist, Mrs Doris Ugbe spoke in very clear terms that a preacher who asks for money after preaching is either faithless or he or she is close to falsehood. “It is wrong”, she said.