The increasing resort to advance fee and internet fraud by some Nigerian youth both inside and outside the country not only shows the debilitating culture of “get rich quick” syndrome but also a breakdown of societal values. The Nigerian society as a whole must take concrete measures to arrest the degeneration of values and government, organisations and individuals must equally take concrete steps to refurbish Nigeria’s image and reassure the world that we are not a nation of fraudsters and drug dealers as the activities of these Nigerians is portraying.
Last month was particularly bad for Nigeria’s image. It began with the arrest and arraignment of Obinwanne Okeke of the Invictus group – the supposed poster boy of Nigeria’s successful and entrepreneurial youth – on charges of internet fraud by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). It was followed closely by an unprecedented 252-count federal grand jury indictment against 77 Nigerians and arrests of the masterminds, Valentine Iro, and Chukwudi Christogunus Igbokwe, for involvement in a series of coordinated internet frauds running into billions of dollars obtained from victims in the US, Britain, Japan and other parts of the world.
As if that was not enough, Saudi Arabia released a list of over 20 Nigerians facing the death penalty in the country for various drug trafficking offences. Not forgetting that hundreds if not thousands of Nigerians languishing in Asian jails – with most facing the death penalty for drug trafficking offences.
It is good that the federal government has condemned the activities of these fellows and has taken steps through the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), to arrest and prosecute the offenders in Nigeria and also collaborate with the US authorities in arresting and extraditing those wanted in the US for fraud.
However, much more needs to be done; and a starting point is to interrogate the degeneracy of the moral compass of the nation and the grim consequences staring the nation in the face and exposing it as a moral burden on the rest of the world.
We must begin by acknowledging that the entire society, and not just the desperate youth, is out of joint. The time-cherished values of hard work, honesty and contentment have been replaced by the craze for power, instantaneous wealth and flamboyant living. This culture evolved principally because the society began to celebrate wealth and power without questioning their sources.
Consequently, Nigeria is perhaps, one of the few countries in the world where public office or leadership is not about service but a gateway to instant wealth and influence. So bad is the practice now that looting or stealing of government money is not considered a crime or something bad by the society. This has given rise to a massive culture of corruption, lawlessly, impunity, and depravity that has never been seen before in governance, aided, no doubt, by the free money coming from oil.
Of course, this has consequences for the economy and the well-being of the society. The economy remained largely underdeveloped, oil-dependent, import-dependent and without the capacity to create the jobs to engage its population especially the youth that are clearly in the majority.
The youth therefore, remain on the margins of society., incapable of playing any meaningful role in the political, economic, social and cultural processes of the society and becoming what Donald Cruise O’Brien describes as the “lost generation”; a disempowered, stunted, and now bitter youth with fewer access to the means of becoming adults and their “youth” at “risk of becoming indefinitely prolonged”, hence their resort to violence and lately, criminality to make a living and gain the respect of the society.
A necessary condition for refurbishing and boosting Nigeria’s image will involve changing Nigeria’s political culture to one that is truly representative and accountable to the people and revamping the economy to create jobs for our people.
Hard-working companies and individuals must also take special care to comply with all extant laws, do business and collaborate with only genuine and trusted groups and individuals.
