The news of the arrest of Azeez Fashola popularly known as Naira Marley by the EFCC generated a lot of widespread reception, encompassing both the negative and positive. Some had said he was only being victimised because he had spoken up for internet fraudsters also known as “yahoo yahoo” boys, while others were of the opinion that the it was right for the EFCC to remand him into custody as he only spoke in support of the fraudsters because he was one of them. The truth is that, until the case is handled in court and judgment have been pronounced, we may not be able to say for a fact if he is really guilty or not.
Before we go head deep into this topic, let us consider how Naira Marley got himself involved in all this whole brouhaha in the first place. Naira Marley had started getting attention on himself after he reacted to fellow musician Simi’s call after she had earlier condemned internet fraudsters. He had attacked her on the 20th of April, 2019 in the defense of the fraudsters, saying that Yahoo Yahoo is not a crime because, the slave trade carried out in the earlier centuries justifies it. He wrote on his Instagram page; “If u know about slavery u go know say yahoo no b crime..”.
It did not stop there as he went on to make a call on Nigerians four days later, via a video on Instagram, asking them to pray for Yahoo Yahoo boys as they were very integral to the circulation of money in the country.View image on Twitter
Do you think Naira Marley is right about is relationship between Yahoo and Slavery?
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On this Naira Marley and his stupid comments on Yahoo Yahoo, you have to understand he’s from a generation of Nigerians who don’t know any different. It’s not just him. There are millions of young Nigerians who believe Fraud is NOT a crime. They think everything na hustle.5606:32 PM – Apr 23, 2019Twitter Ads info and privacy412 people are talking about this
Moving on, the rapper was eventually arrested together with fellow musician Zlatan Ibile in the later’s house. Zlatan would be later released but Naira Marley was kept in EFCC custody and thus the saga began. The argument being that if the country was in a better state, there would have been a decrease in the rate of crime as poverty in the country would have been at a minimal stage, hence the need for young Nigerians to carry out criminal activities would have been near to non-existent.
While there should really be no excuse for carrying out criminal activities, those that have attacked politicians in the country as being responsible for the high spate of interest shown in cybercrime have said that the political powerhouses have abandoned the populace while only focusing on their own selfish interests, thereby leaving the masses with no choice than to engage in a life of crime. Those holding this argument may actually have brought to the fore a point that many have seem to be ignoring. So now, let’s ask this pertinent question, why are our politicians not living up to expectation? This is evident with the state of the country, having being ranked as the poverty capital of the world by the World Poverty Clock in 2018. Let us now consider what needs to be improved on by the Government to ensure that more youths are not enticed into a life of crime in order to make ends meet.
Minimum Wage
The issue of the minimum wage has sparked off debates and counter debates, which have even led to protests and threats of strike since the preceding year, 2018. The National Labour Congress, NLC, had stipulated a minimum wage of N56,000 to the Federal Government as opposed to the N18,000 which was obtainable for workers in the country. There was a whole lot of back and forth that went on between the NLC and the Federal Government before the sum of N30,000 was eventually settled for.
But if one were to look at things critically, is that even enough? Considering the rate at which prices of commodities have skyrocketed since the last minimum wage was set. Also, the Naira have depreciated in value since then, so the new minimum wage will not even be as valuable as the former minimum wage of N18,000 as at when it was set in 2011.
Ostentatious Lifestyle And Earnings of Nigerian Politicians
In March 2018, there was some uproar and public outcry when Senator Shehu Sani, decided to reveal the amount of money that Senators earn. The Senator made this known in a statement in which it was revealed that each member of the senate are paid N750,000 as salaries, but then went on to reveal that the lawmakers in the red chambers are earning N13.5 million monthly in total, which serves as running cost. The Kaduna Senator however stated his own position on the issue, saying that he believes that Senators should be paid just their salaries and nothing else.
Then some of the politicians in the country have been known to display an affluent lifestyle, with a showy display of luxury vehicles and motor bikes. For some other politicians in the country, they have the most finely built houses across the country and in the choicest locations as well.
This most definitely have not gone unnoticed by the majority of the populace who may be feeling slighted as they are not really living in comfort taking into consideration the World Poverty Clock 2018 report. Also, it is worthy to note that some of these very popular and rich Nigerian politicians currently have cases of corruption to answer at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), so a regular young boy or girl on the street may be moved to try to make some cool amount of cash in any way possible, legal or illegal, seeing the display of all these affluence being displayed by these allegedly corrupt politicians.
With Money, I Can Get Away With Anything Mentality
Again, sometimes these allegedly corrupt politicians always seem to buy their way out of trouble, so there is the belief held by these corrupt individuals that they can use money to bribe their way through any troubles at all. This have emboldened these Nigerian internet fraudsters to carry out their acts in a brazen manner, after all they could get seemingly go scot-free by just parting with some of their proceeds gotten from fraud.
With all said and done, it seems that the attitude of some of our politicians may have unwittingly contributed to the rot of Yahoo Yahoo that is currently demonising the country. Some of our big name politicians may not be totally different from Cybercrime suspects such as Naira Marley in the long run. While hardship and unfair treatment is in no way an excuse for delving into criminal acts, our politicians in the country certainly need to do more to encourage the youths from following in their ‘footsteps
Source: dailyadvent