Nigeria as a country has reached a state at which point a lot of young people now seek the easiest ways to alleviate themselves from poverty, and live in questionable wealth and affluence no matter how bad or dangerous it might be.
What used to be admired in the country has been changed by unemployment and poverty, and this has affected the rational thinking of many people. Fraud rather than Hardwork appears to be what allures and fascinates some of our youths in such moments like this in our society. You see a lot of these young people now engaging themselves as cyberpunks and hacktivists on the Internet and more recently, their participation in rituals, which they now identify as ‘Yahoo Plus’.
The populace seem to be in a state of unrest with the way this Yahoo of a thing is going. About a month ago, I watched a video of kids who were within the age range of 13-16. These minors narrated how they left Delta State to Edo state, all because they wanted to learn how to do Yahoo and get rich quickly. They’ve now chosen a path and that is wanting to chill with the big boys.
Sadly, there are alot of causes which have allowed for the pervasiveness of this phenomenon and they have not been partly or even fully addressed or have been handled with so much levity by parents, religious institutions and the government.
But the question remains, Why does the practice of Yahoo persist in our society today? What are some of the reasons for its continuous spread and existence in the country.
The society we live in has contributed to the continuous spread and practice of Yahoo. Some people feel they wouldn’t get the maximum respect, care, love and attention from people around them, and believe that people who are rich are highly valued and respected, and this births the need to impress other people, thus making them to engage in internet fraud and rituals.
Peer pressure is another reason why our youths have been inspired to do the unimaginable. This has bolstered within them the need to impress their peers. I remember last year, a 27-year old man from Kwara State was apprehended and paraded by the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) for car theft and he narrated to them that peer pressure from Yahoo boys was the reason why he stole the vehicle. The peers people keep as friends can also shape and influence their behaviour. A bad friend could easily influence another who has no strong moral and spiritual background to engage in cybercrime and rituals. This supports the aphorism which says “Show me your friend and I will tell you who you are”.
Parental irresponsibility is also another rationale behind the youths engaging in these gruesome acts. A child who has been brought up properly would never partake in this form of criminality. Some parents have neglected their responsibility in bringing up their children properly and directing their footsteps on the right path to follow in life.
Our elites also form a big part of the problem. The masses are being impressed, intimidated and harassed by politicians who display their ill-gotten wealth, which emanate from our collective resources, and this has pushed the youths who feel marginalised to engage in atrocious activities.
With the use of social media, you get to see young people showing off their latest cars, big mansions, and big parties they have thrown, and some youths are enticed by this, and this propels them to engage in cybercrime and rituals.
When it comes to the Nigerian music industry, we have seen a lot of musicians who promote crime and insanity with their musical content. Their lyrics don’t in anyway promote morality, wisdom and knowledge, but wickedness and immoral acts. Look at the songs of musicians like Naira Marley and Portable. They do not add any value to the Youths and the youths do not only dance along the tune and lyrics of their songs, but also practice what is said.
Our Nollywood movies are not left out. We have seen Nollywood films with despicable titles such as College Yahoo Boy, Yahoo Papa, Ritual Pant, Yahoo Millionaire etc., and they all promote ritual killings and this is where some of our youths learn the evil acts from.
I must commend the Nigerian government’s recent action against Nollywood movies containing money ritual scenes, as they have prohibited such. The Federal Government also disclosed that it would launch a national sensitization programme against money rituals, but that is one in a thousand steps as much more efforts need to be put to ensure that the Yahoo practice doesn’t get out of hand. Musical content should also be regulated. Our politicians need to also work on themselves. Parents and religious institutions also have a part to play in curbing this by giving their children a strong moral background. The social media also needs to be regulated if this trend should ever come to a halt.
