Background
It was around 9:15 pm, on Tuesday, that I took it upon myself to take a peep into the life of Rokiba, a lady with two very young children who plies her trade-begging-under the Mokola Flyover.
The report was exclusively published by Newscoven.ng Wednesday morning. Like a wild fire in the harmattan, it went round: several telephone calls came in, with promises of rescue and rehabilitation for Rokiba and her two young children.
A particular call came from a female journalist-colleague who intimated me of efforts made in the past by the Oyo State government to get Rokiba evacuated from under the Mokola Flyover.
I gave this colleague the time when Rokiba resumes for duty under the flyover. She ended the telephone conversation with a promise that “her case will soon be attended to.” I believed her, but doubted if Rokiba can see and obtain ‘mercy’ very soon.
Alas, how wrong I was !!!
The information had, indeed, reached the concerned authority in the state, the ‘father’ of Rokiba and ‘grandfather’ of her two children, Governor ‘Seyi Makinde, through one of the ministries under his administration.
How did I know?
At about 10:30 am, on Thursday, another call came from the journalist-colleague that Rokiba has been found and that she has been evacuated, along with her children, from under the Mokola Flyover. I told her I cannot believe it and asked, “how did it happen?”
She said: “Sir, upon reading your report on the lady yesterday morning and, acting on the information therein, we mapped out strategy. Our team went out there yesterday at about 6pm. We saw Rokiba and her two children and the evacuation was easily done.”
I asked her again; “Which ‘our team’ are you talking about? I know you as a journalist, when did you get into the job of evacuating beggars and destitutes from the streets?”
She simply told me, “Sir, yes, I am a journalist but I work with the Oyo State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Inclusion. When I saw the report online yesterday [Wednesday] morning, I sent the link to the Commissioner, the Permanent Secretary and other top ogas in the ministry and they swiftly moved into action.”
The Real Gist
I booked an appointment and subsequently went to the state Ministry of Women Affairs for an update and to ascertain some of the claims made by Rokiba, as reported by Newscoven.ng.
Rokiba, the ‘child’ of Governor ‘Seyi Makinde, has, indeed, been rescued and evacuated from the street. She and her children are presently in one of the government facilities where they are being taken care of by the state Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Inclusion.
Through my conversation with the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Mrs Christiana Abioye, the following discoveries were made:
Upon her evacuation, it was discovered that Rokiba truly has a husband and he is the father of her two children. She told officials of the ministry that she is a hairdresser but took to begging to survive, same point she made Tuesday night.
However, Rokiba is the man of the house. She is the breadwinner who will go out there to beg for money to feed her children and husband, who is always lazying about in the house. Rokiba is also more concerned about the welfare of her children and husband than attending to her own needs.
“Upon her evacuation, we took the two children from her so that they can be properly attended to. She tried to resist, but we told her it must be so. She is very attached to her husband and the children.
“We asked her what job is her husband doing. She told us that the man was formerly selling fairly used clothes but he has stop selling since he ran into stormy financial weather.
“Since then, Rokiba is the one that has been fending for the family. As you reported, she would come out and stay under the Mokola Flyover in the late afternoon and stay till around 9-9:30pm, begging for money to take care of her husband and her children.
“She is so much engrossed in attending to the needs of her husband and the children to the extent that she would have nothing, from the little she is making, with which she can attend to her own needs.
“Rokiba also told us that she lives at the Oniyanrin area while her mother, who she said lives at Omi Adio, always come around the Mokola Flyover, on Fridays, also to beg for money.
“In line with our duty, and as we normally do to other people that we rescue from the streets, we have taken it upon ourselves, here in the ministry, to rehabilitate Rokiba, her two children and reunite them with their family.
“Rokiba told us that she is a hairdresser. We shall seek to establish her through some empowerment programmes that are suitable for her profession. But we are not stopping at that.
“In the meantime, we are going to locate the house where Rokiba and her husband live at Oniyanrin. We have the intention to also bring in the husband for proper rehabilitation. We need to know how we can be of help and make him useful for himself, his family and the society.
“Similarly, we would make efforts to also evacuate Rokiba’s mother from the street. She told us that her mother also do come to Mokola Flyover, on Fridays, to beg for money. We shall surely get her,” Mrs Abioye said.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Women Affairs gave kudos to Governor ‘Seyi Makinde for the efforts being made by the present administration to get miscreants, urchins, beggars and destitutes off the streets in the state, especially the Ibadan metropolis, being the state capital.
“Indeed, and as you rightly said in your report, His Excellency, Governor ‘Seyi Makinde, is the father of these beggars and destitutes that we have in the streets. The governor has been trying to get them off the streets, rehabilitate and reunite them with their families.
“The task is onerous but not insurmountable. We will not relent in getting things done. And we appreciate the support of people like you who are bringing the issues of beggars and destitutes to our attention. Please, do not relent,” Mrs Abioye told Newscoven.ng.
Read My Encounter With Rokiba, Makinde’s ‘Child’, Under Mokola Flyover
