By
Amb. Valentine Opaluwa Ejeh, PhD
Historical researcher, Conflict, Religion & Peace Scholar, publisher National Ethics and Values Journal
Abuja.
*Introduction*
Who truly owns the future of a society? Is it the generation currently occupying political offices, or those who shape what the next generation believes, admires, and ultimately becomes?
Whether or not Vladimir Lenin actually uttered the widely circulated statement, “If you want to destroy a nation, destroy the thinking of its youth,” the proposition captures an important sociological and political truth. Historical scholarship has found no reliable evidence that Lenin made this exact statement. However, it accurately reflects a long-established understanding in political philosophy that whoever controls education, culture, and public narratives exercises profound influence over the future of society (Arendt, 1961; Freire, 1970; Gramsci, 1971).
The future of every nation is first conceived in the minds of its youth before it is manifested in its institutions. Young people inherit not merely a country but also its moral assumptions, social values, and collective imagination. Consequently, when those values become corrupted, the decline of society begins long before economic collapse or political instability becomes visible.
Nigeria presents one of the clearest examples of this phenomenon. Across many communities, disturbing social behaviours have gradually become normalized. Cybercrime popularly known as Yahoo Yahoo, ritual-related cybercrime (Yahoo Plus), political thuggery, electoral violence, internet fraud, examination malpractice, cultism, kidnapping for ransom, corruption, and the obsession with instant wealth increasingly define success in the imagination of many young people.
This transformation did not occur overnight. It represents decades of moral erosion, institutional failure, economic frustration, cultural distortion, and weak civic education. The tragedy is not merely that these
practices exist, but that sections of society now celebrate or tolerate them. Individuals who accumulate unexplained wealth are frequently honoured with traditional titles, celebrated at public ceremonies, and admired as role models despite questionable sources of income.
Such social acceptance represents what sociologists describe as normative breakdown or anomie (Durkheim, 1897/1951; Merton, 1938). When legitimate means of success lose their appeal while illegitimate means become socially rewarded, deviance gradually becomes normalized.
*The Destruction of Thought Before the Destruction of Society*
Every civilization survives because it transmits shared moral values from one generation to another. Families teach integrity. Schools cultivate discipline. Religious institutions nurture ethical responsibility. Communities reinforce acceptable behaviour.
When these institutions weaken simultaneously, society experiences what Pierre Bourdieu (1977) described as the reproduction of distorted social values. Young people begin learning that success is measured by wealth rather than character, influence rather than integrity, and appearance rather than substance.
This explains why internet fraud has become more than a criminal enterprise; it has evolved into a cultural aspiration among some youths.
Instead of asking:
“How can I become useful?”
many now ask:
“How can I become rich quickly?”
The shift is philosophical before it becomes criminal.
*Understanding Yahoo Yahoo Through Sociological Theory*
Robert K. Merton’s (1938) Strain Theory provides an important explanation.
Nigerian society celebrates wealth, luxury, expensive vehicles, mansions, and extravagant lifestyles. However, millions of young people face unemployment, poor educational opportunities, inflation, and shrinking economic prospects.
Unable to attain socially approved goals through legitimate means, some adopt illegitimate alternatives.
Cybercrime becomes viewed not as criminality but as innovation.
Fraud becomes interpreted as intelligence.
Crime becomes celebrated as entrepreneurship.
The problem therefore extends beyond individual morality to structural dysfunction.
Similarly, Edwin Sutherland’s (1947) Differential Association Theory argues that criminal behaviour is learned through interaction.
Young people do not wake up naturally desiring internet fraud.
They learn:
techniques,
justifications,
language,
and moral rationalizations
from peers, online communities, neighbourhoods, and increasingly through social media.
When successful fraudsters become celebrities, society unintentionally becomes their classroom.
*The Culture of Instant Gratification*
Modern digital culture has intensified what psychologists describe as immediate reward orientation.
Social media constantly projects images of luxury without revealing legitimate labour.
Young people encounter:
expensive cars,
designer clothing,
mansions,
private jets,
exotic vacations,
without witnessing years of education, discipline, entrepreneurship, or sacrifice.
Consequently, patience becomes viewed as failure.
Hard work becomes mocked.
Integrity becomes old-fashioned.
The desire to “blow” overnight replaces the dignity of gradual achievement.
This cultural psychology explains the growing attraction to Yahoo Yahoo and Yahoo Plus.
*Yahoo Plus: The Dangerous Convergence of Crime and Occult* Belief
Perhaps the most disturbing evolution is the emergence of Yahoo Plus, where cyber fraud becomes intertwined with ritualistic beliefs and spiritual manipulation.
Research by Nigerian scholars and reports from the Nigerian Police Force, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and media investigations have documented the rise of ritual-related criminal activities associated with the quest for supernatural wealth. Although many popular claims circulate without evidence, security agencies have repeatedly arrested suspects for crimes involving both cyber fraud and alleged ritual practices, reflecting a disturbing convergence of fraud, violence, and exploitative belief systems.
The philosophical implication is profound.
When a society begins to believe that wealth can be magically manufactured through violence rather than productive enterprise, reason itself becomes endangered.
Political Thuggery and the *Commercialization of Violence*
Another manifestation of moral destruction is political thuggery.
Thousands of unemployed youths are recruited during elections to intimidate opponents, manipulate voting processes, destroy public property, and sometimes kill fellow citizens.
Politics becomes an economic marketplace where violence is purchased.
After elections, many of these youths remain unemployed but retain the culture of violence.
Some graduate into armed robbery, kidnapping, cultism, and organized crime.
Thus political corruption reproduces criminality.
*When Society Celebrates the Wrong Heroes*
Albert Bandura’s (1977) Social Learning Theory explains that young people imitate individuals whom society rewards.
If musicians glorify fraud,
if communities celebrate unexplained wealth,
if politicians reward violence,
if corrupt individuals receive honours,
then moral education becomes impossible.
Children rarely become what they are taught.
They become what they consistently observe.
*Why the Acceptance of Social Ills is Dangerous*
The greatest danger facing Nigeria is not merely corruption or cybercrime.
It is the normalization of corruption.
Once society ceases to be shocked by wrongdoing, moral collapse accelerates.
Corruption becomes culture.
Fraud becomes ambition.
Violence becomes politics.
Dishonesty becomes intelligence.
This condition resembles what Hannah Arendt (1963) famously described as the banality of evil, where unethical conduct becomes ordinary because society no longer critically questions it.
*Diagnosis of the Crisis*
The current moral crisis may be understood through interconnected factors:
Weak family moral formation.
Poor quality civic and ethical education.
Mass youth unemployment.
Political corruption and elite hypocrisy.
Weak enforcement of criminal laws.
Social media glorification of wealth.
Declining influence of religious and traditional moral institutions.
Celebration of unexplained wealth.
Loss of trust in public institutions.
Poor leadership by example.
These factors reinforce one another to create a cycle of moral decline.
*The Way Forward*
Nigeria’s recovery requires rebuilding both institutions and values.
1. Rebuild Moral Education
Schools should strengthen civic education, ethics, philosophy, critical thinking, and citizenship education from primary through tertiary levels.
2. Restore the Family
Parents must become the first teachers of integrity.
Character formation cannot be outsourced to schools alone.
3. Reward Honest Success
National honours, traditional titles, community awards, and public recognition should prioritize integrity, innovation, scholarship, entrepreneurship, and service rather than unexplained wealth.
4. Youth Employment
Government and private sector investment in vocational education, technology, agriculture, manufacturing, and entrepreneurship would reduce incentives for cybercrime.
5. Responsible Media
Entertainment industries should consciously promote stories that celebrate perseverance, innovation, and ethical success instead of glorifying criminal lifestyles.
6. Political Reform
Political parties should end the recruitment of violent youths and enforce internal democratic processes that reward competence over coercion.
7. Religious and Traditional Institutions
Faith leaders and traditional rulers should consistently condemn fraud, ritual killings, political violence, and corruption irrespective of the social status of perpetrators.
8. Leadership by Example
Perhaps the strongest antidote to moral decline is ethical leadership. Citizens are more likely to embrace integrity when those entrusted with public office demonstrate transparency, accountability, and respect for the rule of law.
*Conclusion*
The future of Nigeria will not be determined solely by elections, constitutions, or economic policies. It will be determined by the ideas that shape the minds of its young people.
When a nation teaches its youth that shortcuts are superior to hard work, that wealth matters more than integrity, and that influence outweighs honesty, it plants the seeds of its own decline.
Conversely, when it nurtures critical thinking, ethical responsibility, productive enterprise, and civic virtue, it secures a more resilient future.
The real struggle for Nigeria is therefore not only against corruption, unemployment, or insecurity. It is a struggle for the moral imagination of its youth. Whoever wins that struggle will shape the destiny of the nation for generations to come.
*References*
Arendt, H. (1961). Between past and future. Viking Press.
Arendt, H. (1963). Eichmann in Jerusalem: A report on the banality of evil. Viking Press.
Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Prentice-Hall.
Bourdieu, P. (1977). Outline of a theory of practice. Cambridge University Press.
Durkheim, E. (1951). Suicide: A study in sociology (J. A. Spaulding & G. Simpson, Trans.). Free Press. (Original work published 1897)
Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. Continuum.
Gramsci, A. (1971). Selections from the prison notebooks (Q. Hoare & G. N. Smith, Eds. & Trans.). International Publishers.
Merton, R. K. (1938). Social structure and anomie. American Sociological Review, 3(5), 672–682.
Sutherland, E. H. (1947). Principles of criminology (4th ed.). J. B. Lippincott.
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. (2023). Global study on cybercrime. United Nations.
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. (2024). Annual report. EFCC.
National Bureau of Statistics. (2024). Crime experience and security perception survey. Federal Republic of Nigeria.
