The Yahoo Mothers Association

PARENTS of youths who are engaged in digital fraud and cybercrimes in Ekiti State have reportedly formed a ‘pressure group’ christened the Yahoo Mothers Association, ostensibly to celebrate their delinquent children and, more significantly, to prevent law enforcement agencies from apprehending and holding them to account. This sordid development eloquently signposts the society’s descent into the abyss, arising from the intolerable level of moral decadence that has crept in. It beggars belief that some mothers are not only giving tacit approval to their children’s criminal activities but are also acting as a pressure group to shield them from accountability. It is deplorable.

The ignoble sobriquet of the association leaves no one in doubt that the children of these shameless mothers are involved in advance fee fraud and cybercrimes, also known in local parlance as yahoo yahoo. And rather than persuade or chastise their obviously misguided children to rein in their criminal and morally reprehensible activities, these ‘mothers’ are coming out with their full chests to egg them on! It turns out, and sadly so, that mothers who should be striving to bequeath an enduring moral compass to their children to navigate the challenges of the real world are themselves bereft of morals and acceptable values. It is most unfortunate.

There are many ironies around this unwelcome development, but two of them stick out like a sore thumb. One is the geographical location, Ekiti State, where this digital fraud is said to have assumed the status of an enterprise. The location is ironic because the largely homogenous people of Ekiti State are known for academic excellence and industry. It is therefore surprising that the preponderance of their youths now want to become wealthy without breaking a sweat. Again, the Ekiti people are also reputed for their bravery and principled stance on issues, especially those that verge on honesty and integrity, a disposition that many often misconstrue as stubbornness or recalcitrance. That those who constitute the future of this honourable people are living by deceiving and stealing from their victims is a painful reversal of fortunes.

Perhaps more disturbing is the encouragement, as it were, being received by the aberrant youths from the most unexpected quarters — their mothers! It is sadly the case that mothers of yahoo boys now protest against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for holding their children to account for their fraudulent activities. In Ado Ekiti and Ikere Ekiti, in particular, these women are said to have organised themselves into an association of ‘Iya omo-ologo’. The literal translation of this Yoruba phrase is “mothers of glorious children”. This characterisation betrays the warped values of these irresponsible adults. How can any sane adult refer to cyber criminals as glorious children? What is glorious about children who engage in deception and larceny? Are they glorious because they have gained sudden wealth, and it does not matter the source or the means by which the wealth was gained? It is really disappointing to see the awful and dangerous direction that parenting seems to have taken in the state. Rather than pointing in the direction of hard work and moral rectitude, some parents are actually applauding their children’s criminal conduct because of the seemingly rewarding outcomes.

The idea of teenagers who should ordinarily be preparing for examinations spending hours learning online scamming techniques, creating specious social media profiles, communicating with foreign victims and searching for ways to make fast and easy money is worrying. It imperils society ultimately. It has been established that many students no longer take their studies seriously because they believe that academic qualifications are no longer necessary for financial success. “School na scam” is their common lingo — a perception that erroneously suggests a lack of nexus between education and future prosperity. It is a colossal betrayal of parenthood that mothers are giving their children a pat on the back to tread along this perilous path for temporary convenience. Pray, why would mothers support their children to put other people’s mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters in jeopardy? Are they not telling society that they are worse than their children and far from being exemplary? There was a time when people were ashamed of associating with anyone who was suspected of not making an honest living, when communities sanctioned aberrant behaviour, including social isolation of offenders, in addition to the law taking its course. But today, some community members, including parents, are literally incentivising bad behaviour. That is the situation in Ekiti State.

There can be no justification for acts of criminality in any society. Some have tried to rationalise stealing from white people as just, because they allegedly stole from Africa during the colonial era. This is a puerile argument. Whatever the colonialists stole from any country was done against the collective interest of the affected nation, not individuals. Why should the ‘reparations’ go to private pockets instead of the common till? Again, while it is true that having questionable leaders at the helm of affairs may send a wrong signal to the youths that it pays to be crooked and dishonest, it should never be pushed as a justification for any shade of crime. Otherwise, society may have to deal with a vicious cycle of criminality, including in high places.

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The veritable issue that requires special focus is the bloated valuation that many in society place on money and those who have it in abundance. Virtually everyone in society ‘worships’ money. Once you are rich and you engage in philanthropy, even if it is a facade to obfuscate the opaque nature of the source of your wealth, you will gain the attention and respect of all. And institutions — family, community, traditional, religious and even governmental — that should ordinarily act as custodians of societal morals and values will be falling over themselves to give you awards and titles without caring a hoot about how you came by your wealth!

Society should revert to the old practice when it accorded recognition and honour only to individuals who were adjudged honest and upright. If this old order is restored, the rat race for easy money will reduce, and ultimately, stakeholders, including mothers of digital fraudsters, may regain their moral consciousness and dignity. When mothers, arguably the most important stakeholders in shaping the lives of their children, especially in the formative years, are no longer pointing in the direction of honest living, decency and decorum, it is an ominous sign that society is living dangerously. And it will need a moral reset and reorientation of values in order to revamp the extant system that seems to encourage this tendency because it rewards bad behaviour.