Juliana Francis
I was doing a research on ‘Apprentice Yahoo’ when I came across a story that simply shattered my heart. It was the story of a boy in Senior Secondary School (SS2).
An undercover reporter went to a nearby joint in Ketu area of Lagos State, where Yahoo boys were having a lavish birthday party. The party was noisy and most of the guests were secondary school kids.
The reporter soon struck up a conversation with the boy. He should be about 14 years. The reporter pretended that he wanted to learn how to become a ‘Yahoo boy.’ He was told that he needed first to be an apprentice.
After a few bottles of beer, the boy told him his story. His father had three wives and too many children. His mother was one of the wives. He remembers most about his life and that of his siblings was them always being poor and hungry; never having enough.
And then he met some guys that taught him about cybercrime and life took on a new meaning.
You’re probably wondering where the heck I’m heading with this sob story.
Let me cut to the chase. He got money and rented a flat for his mom and she moved out of the troublesome, turbulent polygamous home. She moved with the boy’s siblings.
Now, this is my grouse; why the heck would a mother in her right senses allow a kid still in secondary school to rent a flat for her?
Yeah, I know what’s going through your mind; that I have gone down this lane before. Yes, God knows that I will walk this path again and again. I will not get tired of the walk until our government starts taking issues of youths’ involvement in crime seriously.
I also read that in a particular community in Lagos State, pilfering and robbery had reduced because most of the youth has embraced cybercrime.
For crying out loud, what the heck does that even mean? They make it sound like cybercrime is a ‘fantastic job.’
Hello somebody, crime is crime, no matter the colour you chose to paint it, no matter the expensive clothes you chooses to dress it with.
My argument has always been; a law should be promulgated, whereby children and parents are made to pay for crimes committed by the children. Especially, parents, who collect money from their thieving, cyber fraudster children, without asking questions.
Right from the beginning of life, even down to the animal kingdom, the rule has been that parents should fend for their little ones.
It has never been the other way round. When a child, who is in secondary school, is allowed to fend for his parents under the guise poverty, it becomes an aberration.
Our government keeps leaving ringworm, to treat craw-craw. Someday soon, the ringworm will consume us.
True, we have the Child Rights Law, but how many states have embraced it? And does it even cover these emerging crimes we’re witnessing every day?
As a mother or father, it’s your responsibility to fend for your child, no matter how tough the situation you’re facing right now. Everywhere may seem dark right now, but light cometh in the morning.
Let’s not give up on our children. Watch what they do on those phones and laptops. Monitor the type of companies they keep. Just do your best.
It’s when you don’t do anything that is worst. Don’t stop fighting and trying to mold them to become responsible and honest citizens. To create a perfect cast, the iron must go through fire.
I saw these words somewhere and copied; it touches my heart. I hope it touches yours. “If you continue to defend your child’s wrong behavior, one day you will be paying a lawyer to defend him.”
First Published 2019
