Yahoo is a clear definition of a popular pidgin saying ” Monkey dey work , baboon dey chop ” . Crime has to do with illegal actions, While on the other hand , jobs are termed to be what one engage in to get income which could be daily , monthly and maybe annually but in Nigeria today , Yahoo is seen to be crime and a job.
419 started in Lagos during the early 80’s and 90’s. As time went by, it advanced to an extent and got into the internet, which is now popularly known as “Yahoo”.
The Yahoo business, formerly known as cyber fraud in Nigeria’s cybercrime law, is not a new phenomenon in the country. The illicit business mostly perpetrated by young men and sometimes women is an offshoot of the so-called “419 ” business of the 1980’s and 1990’s.
The 419 code is derived from section 419 (Advance free fraud) which frowns at obtaining money from people through pretense of impersonation, cheating, falsification, counterfeiting, forgery and fraudulent representation of facts . Internet fraud has now been here for decades and does not seem to be declining in spite of government’s efforts to stop them.
In Nigeria today, most especially youths ,do not believe in getting legal job or engaging themselves in handwork such as tailoring, mechanic, barbing and being self employed yo earn income rather, they have chosen to take the shorter paths that won’t last for long.
Boys and girls at tender ages ranging from 15 above could easily gain access to internet gadgets like phones and computers making use of some online apps like Snapchat, Facebook, etc. In duping people, most especially foreigners. They form all sorts of lies like their names, place of residence, status , etc. in order to gain their trust.
Some foreigners are being deceived by the opposite gender with the exchange of pictures, not ordinary pictures though, rather they are nude pictures of naked opposite gender showing off breast and other private part of the body to their “client” , to get huge amount of money.
However, Yahoo has gone beyond duping people, it has now evolve into youths at tender and young age making sacrifices which most times requires human blood, as well as talking and acting weird at times. Some even go extra miles in getting powers from herbalist to enable them to hypnotize and control their clients. This set of yahoo is known as “Yahoo plus”
Taking a critical look at it you will know that yahoo has done more harm than good, if at all it has any good, further making other countries seeing Nigeria as a corrupt and unfulfilled nation. When youths and children who are to be cared for are being neglected and not well taken care of, their is a high tendency of leading them into committing crime (juvenile delinquency).
However, yahoo gives them the chance to “cash out ” and be able to cater for their needs at the moment. That notwithstanding, those engaging yahoo creates a bad name for themselves, their families and for the nation at large and stands a chance of facing the law when they caught.
To round it up, the rate of yahoo will decrease gradually if the government gets the youths fully engaged and empowered, both the educated and uneducated youths that have come of age, by creating job opportunities after school and can as well create part-time jobs where students can work from time to time in order to earn income.
A point to note is that the youths are the pillar of every country, at that it is important also fit their voice to be heard in the country also.
Using the above of what yahoo is, one can conclusively say that yahoo is a crime and not a job.
– Chinedu Oluchi Mary
Department of Mass Communication
Prince Abubakar Audu University. Kogi State.
