Former Communication Minister Adebayo Shittu has decried the high poverty rate in the country, saying many Nigerians have become beggars.

Shittu, while appearing on an AIT programme, Focus Nigeria, cited examples of how Nigeria’s economic condition has turned citizens into beggars.

The ex-minister, who lives in Ibadan, said a Nigerian called him from Bauchi to beg for N1,000 to feed, adding that another woman called him 30 times to beg for N3,000.

He said, “Yesterday, before I left Ibadan, somebody phoned me from Bauchi and begged me for N1,000.

“He said he had not eaten for two days. Again, about a week ago, somebody also called me, a woman who wanted N3,000. At the time she wanted that money, unbelievably, I myself didn’t have that money, and the woman called me 30 times in one day.”

He maintained that poverty had been weaponized in the country to the extent that when politicians go to the people for votes, they tend to be more interested in what the politicians can give them rather than what they are capable of doing.

Shittu said, “It’s not my business to douse the poverty of such people calling. So when you go to such people to ask for their votes or support, they don’t care what you’re capable of doing. What they are interested in is what they can get out of you today.”

However, contrary to Nigerians’ beliefs about political appointees, the ex-minister, who served under the Muhammadu Buhari administration from 2015 to 2019, said he currently doesn’t have money because he didn’t steal while in office.

He said post-political appointment life can be challenging for politicians who didn’t steal in office.

Shittu said he survives on the monthly allowance his 10 graduate children give him for upkeep.