I was a James Hadley Chase’s aficionado. I loved every single one. Double Shuffle. An Orchid for Ms Blandish. The Vulture is a patient bird. I relished it. Learnt the terms and got more curious about human beings. Their shenanigans, especially those with criminal intentions.
I deepened my knowledge of criminals and criminal behaviour by then becoming a crime channel aficionado. Nothing is ever as it seems. The quiet looking, church going, soft voiced woman who looks like she cannot hurt a fly ends up being the one that kills her husband and cries the loudest at the funeral.
I always look out for that emotion when they have been caught but I just see them wince under the kleig lights. Cold as ice psycopaths. Psychologists and psychiatrists can read them from a while.
Then there is the true story of this guy on the crime channel who killed every wife he married. He had three. Took out life insurance on them and spent it all on life, luxury and girlfriends until the long arm of the law caught up with him. Always something does not add up.
Then there are dirty cops and we know them. Everything is moisture moi moi with the leaves. Never clean. Always about the lucre. Not about the job.
These policemen are terrible and they are all over the place. One sees them everywhere with a funny look and pretending to be nice and efficient. Lie of the devil. Funny people living funny lives. But then that’s how the cookie crumbles.
I have, inspite of the many crime movies I have watched, the many true crime stories I have watched and the many crime related books I have read tried my best, because we have to work at it to stay away from crime and crime related issues as best as I can.
I am scared to death of soiling my family name and I do not think I would like the punishment that comes with the consequences of crime and criminality but then that’s how the cookie crumbles. Different strokes for different folks.
I tell the story of where I am in terms of my deep knowledge of criminals and their antics because I am truly overwhelmed by the number of criminals that best rode Nigeria.
With a certificate in Psychology, I do not believe it is just about the economy. There are deep seated issues. We are truly in a place of regret as a nation. Is it really just the economy?
Read also: Connecting informal economy with development in Nigeria
I mean there are those who are criminals because, well, they did not have a choice they say but there are people in poor conditions who choose not to become criminals, live a simple life and don’t steal even if the item has been left in their purview.
Today, people with custody of money, goods and property steal them for their personal interest. But then that’s how the cookie crumbles.
What really makes someone a scam artist? Upbringing and sometimes it’s just greed and other times it is about how we decide to live our lives and who our friends are. So, I am quite inclined to believe if you have a lying thieving parent, you might end up damaged.
But so many damaged children come from good homes so it does not follow. The curse of too much money is also a contributory factor. When you have too much, nothing quenches the thirst.
There are drugs, there are scams, there is sex. Too much attracts too many of these things if there is no discipline, no structure, no work, easy money.
We must as a matter of course check the youths and the fake life bestowed on them by the internet. Fast cars, big bums, luxe living needs money to satiate it. If you love it and don’t have the money, you are going to get it by any means at all, legal or illegal.
Because this is how the cookie crumbles.
But I have watched from the sidelines, how my people have degenerated. We have graduated from scam artists to kidnappers, petty thieves to armed robbery moguls and small time frauds to Yahoo boys of the level of Hush Puppy.
Hard working people have lost entire savings because of people with no conscience. It’s just how the cookie crumbles.
Cold heartless criminals who do it for the money. Kidnappers who kill for sport. And now look at us hunting each other down like animals. The stories making the rounds are insane.
Decapitated men and women who are found under trees in dark forests, people trekking miles, women raped and then killed, whole families wipe out, family kidnapping family… husbands setting up wives and vice versa … boyfriends killing girlfriends, countless missing people… betrayal by friends who we trusted.
Stories that turn our minds into water. So, who are these people who have thrown their humanity to the dogs, drowned it, drank blood and stare us in the face. We are uneasy, afraid, incensed and angry.
The cookie crumbles slowly in bite sizes at first then totally scatters. The cookie begins to crumble when a nation becomes a begging field, an angry field, a parentless community emerges and no one asks any questions. Money spins around in droves and everyone is mute.
A baby dissappear at dawn… our neighbours child whom we all know and he ends up in the cultists pot for money ritual…the silence is deafening. Our brother rapes our cousins daughter…we shush it…it’s simply how the cookie crumples. God save Nigeria! Amen
