YAHOO IS NOT THE PROBLEM
NNOLI SYLVESTER CHIKELUE@sylvesternnoli140312
3 months ago
Each breathe we take, breaths in a new era and everything in life changes, except for the beat of one’s heart. These various stages in life, pops up so many life experiences, the good, the bad and even the ugly ones too. Amidst all the positive changes, negative ones become inevitable. That’s why we normally observe many social vices which aren’t in existence couple of decades ago in our society. Its undeniable that back in our history, we have been experiencing some social vices, like the snatching of items from victims, stealing from someone in his absence and also lying to cover-up for one’s misconduct. But at some other point, armed robbery dives in to the system like an occupation, growing so big like turmoil in the system. This was now elevated, probably because of the various chastisements melted down on the culprits to a more destructive vice popularly known as ‘yahoo’ where the culprits now operate unanimously for the fear of being caught in a jungle justice, so sad.
The advancement of the modern technology has ushered in so many opportunities in our society but just as was stated earlier, it didn’t leave behind the menace of fraud. This is a situation where the wrongful or criminal deception intended to result in financial or personal gain has become the order of the day. These obnoxious distractions have eaten deep in to the hearts of many, especially the youths who are the supposed leaders of tomorrow, showing the futility in the whole process of trying to see the light at the end of the tunnel. This covers various cybercrime activities that take place over the internet or on email, including crimes like identity theft, phishing, and other hacking activities designed to scam people out of money.
The devastating effects of these fraudulent acts in our society cannot be over emphasized. Victims of these fraud often tend to suffer long term mental and physical trauma, seeing that their businesses or organizations have lose great opportunities and irreparable financial losses as a result of these fraudulent acts. It can also damage the reputation of an organization with a potential legal repercussions and a decline in employee morale and trust which can ultimately jeopardize the survival of the entity and even beyond, because it goes ahead in crippling the economy and reputation of a nation at large.
Thing do not just happen, they are caused. The unending list of these effects are too numerous to mention but the big question which stands very tall before us remains, is this ‘Yahoo’ actually the problem in our society? I really don’t think so, owing to the fact that you cannot shave a man’s hair in his absence. In order to succeed, a fraudster exploits human vulnerabilities, finding ideal targets by cycling through large groups of people. These cybercriminals may only get a handful of responses for every thousand of emails sent out. Nevertheless, only few of these replies, might be enough to translate to thousands of dollars. Most people usually get scammed these days because they are neglecting to conduct a proper research and are failing to verify the authenticity of communications or offers presented to them. Some fall victims because of inadequate protection of their personal information which leaves them vulnerable to be scammed. But in all, the two probable reasons people fall for frauds are greed and need and both greed and need can come into play on a personal or on a corporate level.
Furthermore, the government abets the problem by being unable to provide and equip adequate the law enforcement agencies to combat this scourge. Even most top government officials are being negative influences on the youths with their extravagant lifestyles. These government’s monumental failures have negatively impacted the minds of most gullible youths in our society, so awful! The government should ensure that the various law enforcement agencies become stricter on discipline of defaulters because through a survey research which I conducted recently, the light punishments on conviction seem not to be helping in curbing this scourge, though an enabling environment should be provide to reduce to a bearable extent, the level of poverty in the society. Because when the youths are being provided with necessary resources and guided with proper orientation, they will positively soar like the eagles in their various endeavors. Government should as a matter of urgency, empower the already existing bodies like the National Orientation Agency [N.A.O] with the sole aim of re-orienting the youths on the right paths in the race for survival. They shouldn’t just be there doing nothing, they should be impactful. Let them spread their already found wings, being in existence in every state of the federation. This network chain should be used to engage the youths through various government sponsored programs like the one I once proposed to the former Director of National Orientation Agency, Anambra state, Barrister Charlse Nworji couple of years ago. The proposal was actually intended to create a program for the youths of the entire state where they will be given proper orientation on the awful impacts of these juvenile delinquencies as we observe in our today’s world through a book which I published that is tittled, ‘Immoral courage; it’s time for a rethink’. The book also proffers solutions on the right path in the race for survival, seeing that these vices have brought dislocations in the polity, harming the perpetrators and the society at large in the processes. Such programs will definitely go down well in re-focusing the mindset of our great youths, positively. Youth empowerment should be injected in to the society through such government sponsored programs also, where the youths will be trained in various skill acquisitions programs, after which they will be given startup grants to soar like eagles in their various fields.
Parental upbringing should not be swept under the carpet. Just like the popular saying goes, train-up a child in the right way and he will never depart from it when he grows. Family is the first institution of learning in life. Our parents should endeavour to be inculcating good morals on the youths from their tender ages. It helps in focusing their mindset towards a more positive direction. Always sound it like a bell in to their ears from their earliest stages and the echoes will never depart from them even when they eventually grow up. Because in recent times, we see cases where some parents encourage their children to indulge in fraudulent practices, just to bring back ill gotten wealth home, either directly or indirectly through their attitudes towards these youths. I recently met a divorcee who was telling me how proud her 18years old son would make her soon. I was excited to hear the kid’s achievements but was taken off my heels when she disclosed to me that her son was indulging in ‘yahoo business’ like she called it. She added that she is giving the son all the necessary support just to prove a point to the ex-husband when the boy eventually hits it big. When you imagine the mindsets of some of our modern day mothers, you will begin to see the level of damages already caused because a dysfunctional family can only produce dysfunctional youths who despite their great ambitions in life, will always act with dysfunctional traits which is encased in them and this, no doubt, will give birth to a dysfunctional society like we are witnessing today. With this, the need for a re-orientation and sensitization of the youths from the family level on the unfavorable impacts of these vices becomes a call we all must heed in order to create a decent society for future living and also leaving a good legacy for the generations to come.
The truth is, it really pays to be positive in ones thinking. There are so many legitimate means to earn good living on the internet in this modern era. That’s why yahoo is not really the problem that we have. The problem is that of choice. Because it takes a brilliant youth to indulge in yahoo so why not use that same intelligence to explore the positive ‘goldmine’ on the internet? The choice is ours to make. The earlier we start thinking towards the various positive directions, the better it becomes for us individually and as a people at large.
BY: SYLVESTER CHIKELUE NNOLI
