We should give amnesty to yahoo boys
Nigeria as a country has been battling insurgency and acts of terrorism for years now. The Niger Delta insurgency and recently Boko Haram and its different breakouts.
Lives have been lost, resources destroyed and millions of people have been displaced. The collective loss these groups have caused the country cannot be quantified. These groups, led by different motives, have brought the nation to the negotiation tables at different times. In fact, critics have said they leave the table with the most deals and we’ve seen it happen time and time again.
One of the most brazen acts of terrorism the nation has experienced is the abduction of the Chibok girls by the terrorist group Boko Haram which sparked protests Worldwide tagged #BringBackOurGirls. After several futile attempts at finding the culprits and rescuing the girls, the negotiation table seemed to be the best option. A lot of discussions went on about if it was the right thing to do or not and if we weren’t providing them with funds for their cause. Some of the girls were released, and some others were held back. In the wise words of Kevin Hart ‘You don’t negotiate with Terrorists’ but hey, what do I Know?
News of some members of the terrorist group who surrendered and were granted amnesty by our government was another hot topic with different hot takes both on and off Social Media.
Some were of the opinion that how safe or feasible is it to integrate members of a terrorist group back into society after rehabilitation? Some others asked if we were sure they weren’t spies.
Over the years, the Nigerian political sphere has been wrought with corrupt and news of corrupt politicians. Some of these politicians have damning evidence against them but still, we see them being honoured, protected and upheld as if they’re the anointed ones we have been instructed not to touch.
Of the high profile convictions of a former officeholder in the country was celebrated and condemned with the same level of intensity, after the said politician had served his time, he came back home and was easily integrated back into society – still flaunting his ‘wealth’ and influence as if he was only on vacation in prison. We granted him behavioural ‘Amnesty’ and integrated him back into our society like we always do with situations, persons or groups that we should but cannot control or curtail. Way to Go Nigeria!
I read somewhere that the American approach is to throw money at a problem till it goes away, I wonder what our approach as Nigerians will be.
I would have gladly proposed one but I do not want to suddenly disappear. But if I may, I’ll propose ‘Money [and power] stops Nonsense’. If you have money and/or if you have power, you can literally get away with anything in Nigeria. Facts.
Our society, in general, does not quite have the ‘Moral Fabric’ that we oh so speak of a lot of times. If we did, I’m certain we would not be where we currently are as a country. The average Nigerian, if given the chance, will make maximum profit off the next Nigerian.
From our politicians, officeholders, heads of organizations down to artisans and service providers. The degeneration of our morals does not stop at Music Artistes having naked women in their videos or sex workers in the FCT. The net is far and wide.
That being said, I propose we extend this Amnesty that has been given to former members of terrorist groups and politicians to Internet Fraudsters AKA ‘Yahoo boys’. I don’t really care about their motives for committing this crime in the first instance, I don’t care whether its greed, poverty, unemployment or whatnot – I can’t remember if we asked rehabilitated terrorists their motives or if we ask corrupt politicians their motive when we gleefully welcome them back.
Surely, Yahoo boys are no longer a little number in the demographics of the country any more – they have made the rounds in local and international news.
I’m not sure if they have an association but they sure look organized. Wouldn’t it be better if we, hear me out, offer amnesty to people who may actually have something to give back to the society? They have quite a number of skills that can help our tech system, cybersecurity departments and a lot of other technical roles you can imagine.
Think about it. If we get more of them into the system, the EFCC will have more time and space to actually go after the criminals who ‘matter’ and is stealing from the country and maybe our security operatives will have less worries about young men who wear their hair in styles and carry laptops and expensive phones. That way, you’re killing three problems with one amnesty.
I get it, nothing is ever as easy as it seems but there’s absolutely nothing wrong with trying different approaches in making our society saner. If a terrorist can be rehabilitated, why not a thief?
Lives have been lost, resources destroyed and millions of people have been displaced. The collective loss these groups have caused the country cannot be quantified. These groups, led by different motives, have brought the nation to the negotiation tables at different times. In fact, critics have said they leave the table with the most deals and we’ve seen it happen time and time again.
One of the most brazen acts of terrorism the nation has experienced is the abduction of the Chibok girls by the terrorist group Boko Haram which sparked protests Worldwide tagged #BringBackOurGirls. After several futile attempts at finding the culprits and rescuing the girls, the negotiation table seemed to be the best option. A lot of discussions went on about if it was the right thing to do or not and if we weren’t providing them with funds for their cause. Some of the girls were released, and some others were held back. In the wise words of Kevin Hart ‘You don’t negotiate with Terrorists’ but hey, what do I Know?
News of some members of the terrorist group who surrendered and were granted amnesty by our government was another hot topic with different hot takes both on and off Social Media.
Some were of the opinion that how safe or feasible is it to integrate members of a terrorist group back into society after rehabilitation? Some others asked if we were sure they weren’t spies.
Over the years, the Nigerian political sphere has been wrought with corrupt and news of corrupt politicians. Some of these politicians have damning evidence against them but still, we see them being honoured, protected and upheld as if they’re the anointed ones we have been instructed not to touch.
Of the high profile convictions of a former officeholder in the country was celebrated and condemned with the same level of intensity, after the said politician had served his time, he came back home and was easily integrated back into society – still flaunting his ‘wealth’ and influence as if he was only on vacation in prison. We granted him behavioural ‘Amnesty’ and integrated him back into our society like we always do with situations, persons or groups that we should but cannot control or curtail. Way to Go Nigeria!
I read somewhere that the American approach is to throw money at a problem till it goes away, I wonder what our approach as Nigerians will be.
I would have gladly proposed one but I do not want to suddenly disappear. But if I may, I’ll propose ‘Money [and power] stops Nonsense’. If you have money and/or if you have power, you can literally get away with anything in Nigeria. Facts.
Our society, in general, does not quite have the ‘Moral Fabric’ that we oh so speak of a lot of times. If we did, I’m certain we would not be where we currently are as a country. The average Nigerian, if given the chance, will make maximum profit off the next Nigerian.
From our politicians, officeholders, heads of organizations down to artisans and service providers. The degeneration of our morals does not stop at Music Artistes having naked women in their videos or sex workers in the FCT. The net is far and wide.
That being said, I propose we extend this Amnesty that has been given to former members of terrorist groups and politicians to Internet Fraudsters AKA ‘Yahoo boys’. I don’t really care about their motives for committing this crime in the first instance, I don’t care whether its greed, poverty, unemployment or whatnot – I can’t remember if we asked rehabilitated terrorists their motives or if we ask corrupt politicians their motive when we gleefully welcome them back.
Surely, Yahoo boys are no longer a little number in the demographics of the country any more – they have made the rounds in local and international news.
I’m not sure if they have an association but they sure look organized. Wouldn’t it be better if we, hear me out, offer amnesty to people who may actually have something to give back to the society? They have quite a number of skills that can help our tech system, cybersecurity departments and a lot of other technical roles you can imagine.
Think about it. If we get more of them into the system, the EFCC will have more time and space to actually go after the criminals who ‘matter’ and is stealing from the country and maybe our security operatives will have less worries about young men who wear their hair in styles and carry laptops and expensive phones. That way, you’re killing three problems with one amnesty.
I get it, nothing is ever as easy as it seems but there’s absolutely nothing wrong with trying different approaches in making our society saner. If a terrorist can be rehabilitated, why not a thief?
Comments
Post a Comment