Senator Shehu Sani said on Thursday that the acute poverty and begging culture in the north were, as a result, social injustice and the systemic failure of political leaders of the region.

Sani, activists and former senator representing Kaduna Central at the National Assembly insisted that the poverty ravaging the region could not be addressed by legislation.

He also kicked against outlawing begging in some states of the north, noting that begging was as a direct result of “poverty, neglect.”

The former lawmaker in a statement on Thursday said: “Begging in the Northern part Nigeria is a direct result of poverty, neglect, social, cultural and religious factors combined.

“The Northern Political leaders should understand that its impossible to compose a paradise without beggars in a hell they created over the years. Beggers are tragic victims and a direct result of a nation failed by its successive governing elites. You can’t end begging without ending poverty and illiteracy.

“You can arrest beggars but you can’t end begging as long as the social, cultural, political and economic factors that contribute to begging exists.

“Many states in the country in the last twenty years tried to criminalize begging but failed. They used beggars to win elections and demonize their opponents and now want to Criminalize them”.

“We should ask ourselves and find answers, why should we the Hausas control the political levers in the country for long and still the poorest in the country?

“Crude oil has not enrich the people of Niger Delta and political power has neither brought wealth nor peace in the north. Education, Employment, Empowerment and boldly confronting cultural and social factors that aid and abet begging is the right step to take”.

“Arresting and jailing beggars amounts to hiding our problems and not solving them.”