Blind Hausa beggars in Oyo State have cried out that the scarcity of naira notes is making them to starve as people no longer give them alms.
The Nigerian Tribune reports that the Chairman of the Blind Hausa People’s Association of Oyo State, Mohammed Ibrahim, on Thursday at Sabo, Ibadan said that they are most affected by the naira scarcity.
He said generous people they used to depend on for help were also facing the same challenge of lack of cash.
“We are experiencing this cash scarcity more than anyone else. We are people that survive on the help of other people and now that the people that are helping us do not have, it then becomes a bigger challenge for us,” Ibrahim said.
He said they wished they had the opportunity to meet the Governor to ask for assistance because they did not get support from the prominent Hausa leaders in the state.
“It has not been easy lately; if we had the means to see the governor we would have gone to see him to ask for help because it has not been easy but we do not have that opportunity.
“Our big Hausa leaders are not helping us at all, if they would help us, they should tell the government the situation we are in; they are close to the government and can seek assistance on our behalf.
“I tell you, lately it has not been easy for us, first you know we don’t move around to beg, we just sit here and whenever a servant of God is passing by and sympathises with us, they stop by and give us some token and that’s how we survive,” he added.
Ibrahim said their children no longer went to school because they did not have the resources to cater for them as they could not send children to school on empty stomachs.
“No issue of school for our children again because you must give your child something to take to school, you can’t send a child to school without food, that will not be good.
“Honestly, it has been quite challenging for us here. If we had access to the Local Government chairman, any legislative member or any top government official, we would have gone to look for help from them because, like I said, it has not been easy for us here,” Ibrahim lamented.
He said though he has had personal bank account and the association too, no one had ever requested to send them any support through that channel.
“Not long ago, we gathered our people during the voters registration exercise and we registered and all of us are here. I have a bank account and the association has an account too but no one, whether from the state or from the federal level, has ever requested to send us support or something.
“We wish to have a link to the government, we are also important people. We have our register. I guess that’s what they want and we are always praying for this state and this country at large and we believe that our prayers will not fall to the ground particularly at this time because we are in dire need of help.
“When situations like this come, it is people like us that suffer it the most. I know that everyone is experiencing this challenge but they are better than we are because we depend on people for help but those that are meant to help us don’t have cash also. Certainly oursis the worst.”
“The government used to take care of us back then. Government officials used to come here to see us but now the government does not care about us. So, we are appealing to the governor of Oyo State, the Speaker and legislative members to come to our aid. We do not forget them. We got our register primarily because of them. We would have loved to meet with them if we had the means to,” Ibrahim added.
Around Ibrahim, the chairman, were hordes of members of the association of the blind and many who suffer no disability but who ironically depend on the blind for survival.
Sani Musa Shuaibu, son to one of the blind men (who is not blind) said they still depended on their parents for support because the menial jobs they do are not enough to take care of them and their children.
“We are under them, they still cater for us with our wives and children; the little menial jobs we do are not enough to cater for our families so they must support us in ways they can but they also do not have.
“They are just at home and they are also in lack so who then will support us? We have younger ones in school but they can’t go now, school has stopped because of the present challenge,” he said.
