It seems that begging has been normalised in Nigeria. It is ubiquitous. Virtually everybody is begging, irrespective of status. The only difference is the type of begging and the target of the begging. Those who are at the top of the ladder get begged by those who are under them and the chain continues downwards.
Social media has even made it easier, giving it a veneer of anonymity, which helps to blunt the shame associated with it. The popular term “Urgent 2K” is a product of that begging via social media, which is a request many Nigerians receive regularly from known and unknown social media contacts.
At the airports – local and international – the staff line up seemingly looking like professionals waiting to do their work. But behind the façade is a different picture. Begging and exploitation are writ large on that picture. This time round, all the beggars are in different uniforms: the immigration service, anti-terrorist group, customs, airport…
