The Glorification of Fraud In Nigeria: Possible Causes And Solutions
- Overview
- Lack of Morals And Values
- Mental Poverty/Greed
- Corruption
- Entitlement
- The Solution To Fraud In Nigeria
Overview
We all heard the news of Hushpuppi’s arrest in Dubai. Hushpuppy is an online celebrity in Nigeria who is famous for his continuous flaunting of luxury clothes, houses, and cars. Hushpuppi allegedly scammed the US government of $35M that was meant for the purchase of ventilators to manage the Pandemic situation.
Hushpuppi’s story has been circulating the internet and getting mixed reactions from people. Some believe he is innocent and will soon be released, others believe all scammers should rot in hell. A special group of persons however believe that there is nothing wrong with scamming. They call Hushpuppi a “young black man who is just trying to make it in life”.
These last set of people are those who glorify fraud and we will be talking about them today. This article is by no means a backlash against anyone but merely a wake-up call to all Nigerians everywhere, we can do better. On Monday I watched a video where a White reporter was talking about the USA’s suspicion of a Nigerian’s involvement in the loss of millions of dollars.
I prayed for it not to be true because it pained me to see the name of my country rubbed in the mud for the millionth time. Doesn’t it pain you? How does it feel to be honest, and yet be part of a group labeled “thieves” and “fraudulent people”. How does it feel to steal someone’s hard-earned money? We have been speaking out lately about important topics such as rape, it will not hurt us to #SayNoToFraud because it is killing our country.
In Nigeria today, scammers are popularly called Yahoo boys as opposed to the 419 of our parent’s generation. These Yahoo boys are usually affluent and rich. A few of them are not that rich but they still spend way more money than they should at their age and with no legal job. In a country where ‘who no get money no get mouth,’ these youngsters are able to do and get whatever they want.
Their only nemesis is the police or SARS as they are fondly called but we will talk about that later. The question is, how are these young men viewed? They steal money from poor people, they write it off as just “collecting” and the society claps for them. There’s this saying; If a mother lets her child do whatever he wants to do at all times, he will one day decide he wants to kill her.
In this case, Nigeria is the mother of these fraudsters and she has let this evil continue for too long. Keeping in mind that we are Nigeria and that some of us, our sons/daughters, friends and brothers involve themselves in fraudulence, let us look at the possible causes and solutions to this terrible problem 👇
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Lack of Morals And Values
The inculcation of morals and values begins in the home. This is where the child is taught the difference between what is right and what is wrong. There are many wrong things going on in the Nigerian home today but our main focus now is on the inculcation of values in a child. The value of hard work, the value of honesty, and accountability.
All these values require an effort to teach and parents are either lazy or incapable of teaching them. You cannot give what you don’t have. A fraudulent man will teach his children to be fraudulent, a dishonest mother will teach her children to be dishonest. A home where there is no discipline produces children who are lawless and out of control.
I believe that there is too much focus on success in our homes. You must do well at school. You must get a good job. No one is teaching the children to be human, no one is being taught kindness and empathy. This is why we have created robots who are so fixated on “success” they couldn’t care less about the people they trample on in an effort to get it.
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Mental Poverty/Greed
I talked about this mental Poverty in my previous article Why #StopRacism is Nothing But Lip Service In Nigeria. Mental poverty is the situation where a person has enough to care for himself but still remains lustful of what others own. In this state, he sees himself as an underachiever who has to try even harder. He is in a constant state of competition.
Greed is fed by this mental Poverty. The insatiable thirst for money or the thirst for money with no intent to back it up with work. Some of us are something else, you don’t have money and yet every day you are checking out mansions in Lekki and mumbling God when???
Our country is a very poor one statistically but we spend lavishly. The get-rich-quick attitude is encouraged by society’s worship of money. No one cares how you got the money, they just want some of it. Parents don’t want to hear where you got the money from, they prefer to be kept in the dark so they can conveniently pretend they don’t know their children are fraudsters.
This greed and mental poverty is also fed and watered by the actions of fraudulent persons on social media. You see them flaunting their wealth and you start asking yourself why you are unlucky. Be content with what you have, if it is not enough, work to fulfill your needs just like the people you’re going to defraud are working hard for sustenance.
Did I hear you say honest work does not pay in this country? That’s false! Honest work pays, it takes time but it pays. Do you know that if we were all honest, the national poverty would be non – existent? There would be no money laundering and everyone would have enough for him/herself. When a few dishonest people launder these national funds, the poor man is left starving.
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Corruption
The corruption in this country stinks to high heavens. Our leaders view the country as a business for which they must reap profits. People who carry out essential services ask for extra payment before they can carry out their job. Give a man a government job and he begins to think of ways to exploit the public. We have all let the toxic energy of an economy filled with looting and taking overshadow our goodwill and common sense.
Here is a short story for your reading pleasure. Once upon a time, these young fraudsters blamed the government for lack of job opportunities. The government labeled the youth as lazy and unwilling to stand up and do something. The youth retaliated by resorting to fraud in an effort to “defy” the odds and become affluent. Then they got caught by Law enforcement. After paying a hefty bail, they are let back out into the public.
Law enforcement realizes this is a lucrative kind of business. They arrest more young men and extract bail from them. Some of these men are innocent but who cares when they had long hair and perhaps a couple of tattoos? The boys who weren’t innocent grow to become better at what they do.
They become big boys and role models. They begin to enjoy all the luxuries of life to the admiration of the cheering Nigerian public & social media users who line up for “giveaways”, posting their account numbers and eagerly explaining what they can use 20k for.
Who then will correct who? Who is guileless in this blame of corruption? Is it the mother that rejoices when her jobless son brings home an expensive car? Is it the girlfriend that supports her boyfriend in his “hustle” or is it the pastors who just love having these fraudsters in their churches? We are all guilty in one way or the other.
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Entitlement
I don’t know who needs to hear this but NO ONE OWES YOU ANYTHING.
They colonized us❌ They are richer than us❌ Our leaders stash money there❌
When you defraud people, you are a thief, stop trying to make yourself seem like some sort of hero. And all those fraud apologists that say our government takes money abroad, Yahoo boys bring it back, you all are fraud accomplices and you need to check yourself. There is nothing great about fraud, a fraudster is not smart or sharp, he/she is a thief.
Will you keep the same energy if you saved 1million naira over the space of a year and ended up losing it to a scammer? Ever been called by a fake bank customer care representative?. While we campaign against fraud, let us not forget to remind these fraudsters who they truly are – thieves.
Image Source: giphy.com
The Solution To Fraud In Nigeria
The simple solution to fraud in Nigeria is to heal our land. Heal our land!! Take away the Corruption and the filth. Bring our children up the right way, teach them integrity and the dignity of labor. This is a collective duty, I could be selfish about it but what’s the point? If I bring my child up properly, I wouldn’t be able to stop him from going out in the world. Then my child will meet your child, and your child will teach him how to do fraud 😔
We are all in this mess together, already honest Nigerians are suffering because of the actions of these fraudsters. No one trusts a Nigerian these days. Even Nigerians in Diaspora don’t trust Nigerians. We have lost job opportunities, we have lost scholarships all because someone was too greedy to be a human being. Enough is enough. #WeAreTired #SayNoToFraud!
Thank you for reading, I would love to hear your views in the comment box. Share a story of how you were scammed or how you escaped the claws of a scammer. Also, tell us what you think are the causes and possible solutions to this crime. Have a nice day.
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