Nigerian Youth, The Government And A Tough Time To Be A Nigerian -By Adetayo Omotoyosi Adeolu

I have been observing the Nigerian online space for sometimes just like I have always done. The Nigerian Youth(except few) have grown this belief that crime is the only way to be successful in this trying times in our nation history.    

Last week, when the FBI list was trending, Nigerians, majority who are(youths) in their usual masquerade approach, were quick to exclude themselves. They came up with the hashtag #NotAllOfUs.     While it is true that not all of us are truly fraudsters, it might also interest you that these same youths who declared openly that not all of them are fraudsters are lovers of the wild song by Naira Marley -SOAPY and have tagged themselves “Marlians.”      

In one of the lyrics of the song, which I have translated from Yoruba to English language, Marley said “Everybody is a thief, it is the one that is caught, that is labelled an armed robber.”      

Also in the Soapy song, Naira Marley claimed that when he came back from prison, he was crowned by the Nigerian populace which lend credence to the fact that a large percentage of Nigerians supports crime. Southwest (Yoruba’s) in years to come will not be fighting against terrorism but cyber crimes, thuggery and illiteracy.      

Ironically, majority of those who came up with the hashtags dance to this song everyday and they in turn come online to lay ambush on foreigners and the FBI who just classified some of their fellows citizens as responsible for most of the dreaded cases of fraud in the United States thereby denting the overall image of the country.    

It is sure that being a Nigerian in this age is not a child’s play, any and everything is virtually against you. It takes only willpower coupled with grit and superior intelligence to navigate the Nigerian situation. But the sad part of the whole situation is that social vices such has Yahoo-Yahoo, drugs use and abuse are what most of the youths use to comfort themselves in the midst of the difficulty of being a Nigerian.    

But the truth be told, crime is growing rapidly in Nigeria today, reaching and colonizing more advocates. While some condemn in public but within themselves they wish the opportunity to do crime presents itself, they would do it, provided they were not caught in and after the process.     The last few days, Nigerians in South-Africa have witnessed hell-on-earth in the hands of their so called African brothers. Nigeria in its usual Big Brother style have watched helplessly as life is being snuffed out of its citizens with their investments and properties running into millions of dollars were destroyed and the onslaught continues.    

I am not surprised at the helplessness of the Nigerian government, hundreds of Nigerian citizens are killed here in Nigeria where the government has sovereignty over, yet nothing is done. So do not let it come to you as a surprise at the helplessness, indecision of the Federal government.     The Nigerian Police for instance is fast becoming a dreaded organization that terrorizes and kills at will. Especially the Nigerian youths, unleashing the Special Anti-robbery squad also known as SARS whose original purpose was to fight kidnapping, robbery and related crimes on helpless youths who are sometimes kidnapped, killed or MIA (Missing-In-Action.)      

First, there was a need to curb the activities of Yahoo-Yahoo fraudsters and  make them pay for their actions. It seems SARS guys had carried out extensive research and investigation to see whats in it for them as they have created a money spilling business around the activities of Yahoo-Yahoo boys.    

Theirs is now to arrest people at random, even when it is clear that those arrested, beaten and humiliated are not involved in the alleged crime. The victims are forced to either use their ATM to withdraw cash for the SARS operatives or they are locked up which if not sorted out quickly can lead to direct transfer to the Nigerian Prison which is another world on its own.    

The Nigerian prison is the end of the road and a nightmare for dreamers. Which in one way will normally scare would be criminals away from such actions. The prison is a call on budding Nigeria youths to stay clear of crimes and all other related social vices because once in, there is hardly a way out except the prison terms have been completed.  The hardest part of going to the Nigerian prison is that it is a land where your dreams are dropped outside the gate before you enter and it is swept away by flood. Once you are in, that is literally the end of your life.    

To bring this article to a close, there is need for the Nigerian government to embark on serious re-orientation of its citizens on the damage of cyber crimes, fraud related cases is having on the image, brand of the country and treatment of its citizens abroad.    

Government organization like the National Orientation Of Nigeria (NOA) which has been rendered ineffective must be revived to take up the challenge of sensitizing the citizens of the dangers of fraud, crimes and the value of hard work, preserverance must also be thought.    

The music industry which sometimes produces vile characters such as Naira Marley and co must also be placed on watch-list by putting in modalities that comes with heavy sanctions once the redline is crossed.    

The government must first stop the killings of Nigerians by Nigerians. It is only then that they can stop the killings of Nigerians by Africans.