Students storm Lagos metropollis, 'begging' for charity

 Today is the turn of students of Yaba College of Technology (Yaba Tech) to go ragging for charity, and many of them are on the streets of Lagos to raise fund by 'begging'. This act of students ragging for charity has its roots outside Nigeria and dated back to the last century.

University Rag societies are student-run charitable fundraising organizations that are widespread in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Most universities in the UK and Ireland, as well as some in South Africa and the Netherlands have a Rag. In some universities Rags are known as Charities Campaigns, Charity Appeals, Charity Committees, or Carnivals, but they all share many attributes.

It is not known where the term "Rag" originates in this context, but it is thought to be from the Victorian era when students took time out of their studies to collect rags to clothe the poor. The verb rag means to badger or pester someone, and early Rags collectors may have ragged passers-by until they made a donation.

Much more recently, acronyms have been invented for RAG to stand for "Raise and Give", "Raise A Grand" or "Raising and Giving"; these are , purportedly coined to convince a manager in a large charity of the value of working with student fundraisers.

The first Rag in South Africa was started at the University of Pretoria in 1925. The students took to the streets in parade that still exists today and is known as the Procession. During this parade, where they build floats, they carry cans and ask the spectating public to make donations.

Ragging is well structured in most Nigerian higher institutions. It is tagged “Rag Day” and held as an annual event when students take to the streets in tattered clothes holding out sealed cans to passers-by and  begging for money. The can carries a small opening on the lid through which money can enter into the can but you need to open the lid to get money out.

At the close of the exercise all the participants return the cans to the Student Union secretariat for the gathering of the collections, which are spent strictly on charity.