Nobody hates beggars. They just hate being reminded that life is a rigged game and they could’ve easily been on the other side of it.
Look at a beggar, really look, and you’ll see why people turn away. It’s not disgust. It’s fear. A quiet, gnawing fear that unsettles the soul. Because beggars are walking proof that meritocracy is a lie, that hard work does not always guarantee food on the table, that life is not a fair transaction where effort and reward are neatly aligned.
And Nigerians, more than anyone else, despise being reminded of this truth.
This is a country where suffering is worn like a badge of honor, where people are so obsessed with proving they “hustled” for everything that they refuse to acknowledge how much of life is determined by pure, blind luck. The neighborhood you were born in, the parents you had, the school you went to, the one moment of opportunity that set you on the path you now boast of—these were not choices. They were the invisible hands that molded your fate before you even knew how to spell your own name.
But say this to a Nigerian who has ‘made it,’ and watch their face curl into a hard-molded eba ball, visibly irritated.
They will tell you they worked for everything. That God favored them. That they didn’t sleep for years, that they “grinded” harder than anyone else, as if hard work is some kind of magic spell that exempts you from the randomness of life. They will sneer at beggars, spit out lectures about laziness, and refuse to give them a single naira—not because they are stingy, but because to acknowledge the beggar’s suffering is to acknowledge that they, too, could have been just as helpless if life had played a different card.
So they pretend.
They pretend that poverty is always the result of poor decisions. That every man begging on the streets must have wasted his chances. That every pregnant woman selling pure water must have been careless with life. That the old man sitting at the junction with trembling hands and empty eyes must have done something to deserve it.
Because if they don’t believe this, if they let the truth sink in—that the beggar is not a symbol of failure, but a reflection of what they themselves were lucky to escape—then they would have to confront something unbearable.
The fact that the line between them and the beggar is thinner than they want to admit.
That a single misfortune—an illness, an accident, a political crisis, a government policy designed to crush the poor—could erase everything they have built. That in another life, they, too, could have been standing by the roadside, palms stretched out, watching as people averted their gaze, pretending not to see them.
So no, nobody hates beggars.
They just hate the part of themselves that recognizes how easy it is to become one.
Up until this point, an expat has had to live in Nigeria for 15 years with no break to get citizenship. A family friend, David Jowitt, who lived in Nigeria since 1962 spent 15 years waiting for a citizenship approval and died the year it was approved.
When you have the time, please get into a quiet place & listen to this speech. On your drive back from work, please connect your phone to your car speaker & listen to this speech; in your bolt or uber. This is one of PO'S most powerful & emotional speeches
If you still think Obi's Presidency is about tribalism, you're hopeless.
If you want to talk tribalism, bring up someone competent. You're too educated to be using Tinubu to make your case when Akinwumi Adesina is from your tribe.
We need quality options in 2027 and beyond.
Nigerians have been at the mercy of the unscrupulous elements in the distribution chain who have sustained the artificial scarcity of the product since late last year.
I’m yoruba and I will not vote for Tinubu, we have had our shot in Obasanjo & Osinbajo. Atiku will not succeed his fulani brother. Peter Gregory Obi will be my president. God’s willing. He’s a good man.
I think we should do a trend of posting pictures of pulic schools, police stations and hospitals of rural areas just before election.
Name, Location and the politicians/heads in charge of those places.
''Our Minister of Agriculture is Alhaji Muhammad Nanono from Kano State. The Minister of State for that ministry is Alhaji Mustapha Baba Shehuri from Borno State. You are wondering why the two of them come from the far north? Where else do you have farmers in Nigeria except in
I don't know what else you're waiting for,
@jack has twitted the Nigerian flag 🇳🇬
Twitter has changed its retweet color to green
Nigerians in diaspora are all geared up for the #June12thProtest
If these doesn't motivate you
Maybe acute hunger and frustration from the govt will.