Lagos State’s campaign against street begging has reignited discussions about how best to protect children living in poverty. On Wednesday, January 7, Lagos State Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, shared a video showing a child beggar being arrested by the state’s environmental taskforce. The footage, which captured the child weeping as he was apprehended, quickly drew attention and divided opinions.

Reality TV star Tacha weighed in, questioning the approach. “The first question shouldn’t be why arrest these kids? It should be why are they on the streets in the first place?” she wrote. Tacha argued that children end up begging because of systemic failures and that arresting them only instills fear. Instead, she suggested that the government should focus on creating proper vocational centres with boarding homes, offering skills like shoemaking, designing, photography, and videography to provide real opportunities.

Responding to her remarks, Wahab defended the state’s actions, noting that enforcement is not about punishment but about safety. He highlighted that Lagos already has tuition-free public schools, free technical colleges, vocational centres, and skills-acquisition programs. According to Wahab, children apprehended by the taskforce are profiled, some returned to their families, and others given access to training programs through the Lagos State Ministry of Youth and Social Development. He emphasised that the government’s role is not to parent recalcitrant children but to ensure their safety.

Opinion: This debate underscores a complex challenge: how do governments balance compassion with enforcement? On one hand, leaving children to fend for themselves on busy expressways is undeniably dangerous. On the other, arresting them without addressing root causes—poverty, lack of education, and family hardship—may only treat the symptom, not the disease.

What Lagos needs is a multi-pronged approach: enforcement to ensure immediate safety, paired with proactive programs that teach life skills and provide genuine opportunities. This is not just about removing children from streets—it’s about giving them a path to a better future. Social media outrage is important, but sustainable change requires long-term commitment from both the government and society. Perhaps Tacha’s plea is a reminder: empathy isn’t just about compassion in the moment; it’s about building systems that prevent children from having to beg at all.