EFCC versus Osogbo ‘yahoo boys’ – by Apagunpote Olayimika

Unemployment is not the only cause of increase in yahoo business. Poverty and frustration are definitely not the only factors responsible for yahoo business. Greediness, vagrant thought of money and desperation for massive wealth are major causes of the increase in yahoo business. Over 75 percent of yahoo boys were not driven into fraud by poverty, frustration and unemployment.

No government in this world can permanently tackle unemployment. Unemployment exist everywhere but the lack of will of Nigeria’s government to tackle it makes our situation worse. Any nation where population moves at geometrical rate, provision for infrastructure and other essentials move at arithmetrical rate can not grow.

Nigeria is a very unfortunate nation. We have lost our moral values as citizens owing to the repeated bad leadership at every range and systemic fraud in our system. These are factors apologists and sympathisers of yahoo boys hold on to but the fact remains that crime is a crime and there is no justification for crime. Someone who manipulate or decieve another to cart away another person’s hardearned income should not deserve our pity.

I ask apologists and defenders of yahoo boys what responsibility does a 17-18 year boy or girl who is still in secondary schools has to have engaged in yahoo? What qualification does he or she possesses to have concluded that he or she is a victim of unemployment? An apprentice who abandons where he or she trains and engages in yahoo business is not a product of government but a failed society. Mothers who buy laptops and enrol their wards to learn yahoo business are not product of failed government but society.

While we have those who were pushed by peers and sad narratives, the buck of the yahoo population are those with vagrant thought of money, greed and those who does not really want to work for money.

I have always stated that we have a weak judiciary system in Nigeria. A template of justice that frees a criminal and punishes another is not fair and will always be challenged in the public court of opinion. The inability of the government to tackle economic crimes efficiently despite huge resources these agencies receive should indeed be a source of worry to us.

Yet crime is crime. If a particular crime is not efficiently tackled, it should not be a defence for other crimes to thrive. A nation that closes her eyes on crime no matter how little it is, will not grow.

Why should a generation of young and energetic boys wake up every day with the thought that they want to scam peoples of their wealth? Such society can not grow!

We know Nigeria has failed many people but where is the spirit of hardwork and consistency? They are fading away as a result of dominance of fraud. The rate of yahoo business in higher institutions is now so high and secondary school students who have not given life a shot if it would be different have become masters in fraud.

Like I have said earlier, we need judiciary restructuring. A level ground for both elites and poor. For every crime either big or small, there must be consequences.

Without consequences, there will be multiplication of crimes and such society loses its sanity. Both yahoo boys and politicians who looted public funds commit same crime even one is more injurious than another. The same law that identifies a yahoo boy, punishes him should be able to do same to looters. That is how a sincere template of justice is formed.

Works are no more attractive. Hardwork does not pay again. The non-attractive ones are not even available in some situations. It is indeed a sad story yet waking up with a plan to deceive and scam people of their earned income should not be promoted but heavily condemned because there is no two ways to it.

As we blame yahoo boys and seek their perscution, looters should not be spared as well because their actions promote and sometimes frustrate people to do more evil

With these submissions, if you want to do yahoo, do it. If they catch you, bear the consequence alone, do not spread it. If you want to support fraud or yahoo, do it, it is your opinion and morality check. These justifications or mere tales of defense are very weak. Let us endeavour to rebuild our failing society and should not support any crime no matter its nature.