₦airaland Forum

Stepout23:
➜I believe it starts from home: Teaching values early.
➜ Talking openly about money, success, and failure. Showing them examples of people who succeeded with clean hands.
➜ Let me throw the question open: What would you do if your children came home and said they want to be a yahoo boy?
Let’s talk like real parents. Maybe someone out there needs to hear your view today.

Caaz:
Make he go find his birth parents....we dont birth kids that rip peoples sweat.








Fact

Kobojunkie:
Children are not eediots! Of what real worth will those values be to them and their future in a society where values are trampled and switched — the very Law is considered of little or no worth?

2. Having open discussions with your kids will not remove the fact that money/resources are necessary for achieving the success desired and that failure is what awaits the majority who fail to obtain the resources necessary for success.

3. I would begin by apologising to them for being a bad parent parent unable to provide for their basic needs and many of their desires. By acknowledging the fault to be mine, I should be able to better reason with them where they are. All those kids out there seeking to join YahooYahoo are not unreasonable beings. Rather, at this point, we should have realized that many of them are simply human beings who are sick and tired of the suffering associated with living a life colored by lack.

Kobojunkie:
Children are not eediots! Of what real worth will those values be to them and their future in a society where values are trampled and switched — the very Law is considered of little or no worth?

2. Having open discussions with your kids will not remove the fact that money/resources are necessary for achieving the success desired and that failure is what awaits the majority who fail to obtain the resources necessary for success.

3. I would begin by apologising to them for being a bad parent parent unable to provide for their basic needs and many of their desires. By acknowledging the fault to be mine, I should be able to better reason with them where they are. All those kids out there seeking to join YahooYahoo are not unreasonable beings. Rather, at this point, we should have realized that many of them are simply human beings who are sick and tired of the suffering associated with living a life colored by lack.

Stepout23:
✓ Do we then give them our blessing to go into fraud?
Or do we use that moment to plant a stronger seed to build resilience, to teach contentment, and to help them Find legal alternatives?
✓ Many parents are also suffering but still making efforts to help their children learn skills, find support, and walk a clean path. It’s not easy. But I believe it’s still worth trying.
✓ Because not every Yahoo boy ends well, and that's a truth the streets don't always show.

Kobojunkie:
This all depends on the parent in question. For someone like me, I would maybe dissuade the child from the act and proceed to take it all on my shoulders to provide at least those chairs that I feel he does deserve. Another parent might consider entering into the Yahoo Yahoo business on behalf of the child -- assuming Yahooyahoo is the only way he/she sees forward too --- so the consequences are removed from the child. It depends. 🤔

2. A clean path that leads to lack means absolutely nothing in the end though. We all know this and the kids also know this.

3. Ideally, the vast majority of those who engage in Yahoo Yahoo should end up behind bars. But when you are dealing with a society ruled by criminals in broad daylight, the line between that which is not acceptable and that which is becomes blurred day by day. Again, these kids are aware of this and are looking to using it to their advantage.

yemmit90:
As absurd as this may sounds, kids knows what is going on in their families right from little infant, and it mostly influence their decisions later in life. Those boys doing yahoo are mostly from poor homes or background, they are doing so to liberate themselves from abject poverty.

A boy that have access to everything from his parent is not likely going to do yahoo. Even if he is influenced by peer pressure, he won't be a serious yahoo boy.

Besides, before you condemn yahoo boys, blame our society and her leadership as well.

Stepout23:
➜Thank you for your honest take. It’s true that desperation can cloud judgment, especially in a society where injustice is often loud and opportunities are scarce. But here's my stance. Yahoo should never be an option. Not for the parent. Not for the child. We can’t justify wrong just because the system itself is broken. Two wrongs don’t make a right, they just make the future worse. Encouraging fraud, even with the intention of "removing the consequences from the child," is actually transferring moral and legal destruction to the entire family. Imagine a parent going to jail in place of a child, what then becomes of the home?
I strongly believe that there’s dignity in labour, and even if clean hustle starts slow, it comes with peace of mind and lasting progress. What we need more of are creative, honest alternatives, digital skills, tech jobs, entrepreneurship, trades, community support, and mentorship for our youths. That’s where we should channel our energy.
➜ Let’s raise children who see value in hard work, not shortcuts. Let’s be parents who model character, n[url]ot compromise.

Kobojunkie:
Ever heard the saying, "You are not what you think or believe but what you do"?

Your stance seems good to read on paper, but when it comes to the reality of things for the 10s of millions of children in Nigeria born into poverty by impoverished parents who had no reason to have them, you find that it means absolutely nothing at the end of the day.

2. That would make sense in the ideal world, but in a place like Nigeria, overrun and ruled by criminals, na story you dey talk there. We are talking here of a country where the Government, religious establishments —pastors, imams, traditional leaders—, the police, etc, are all roped in the business of YahooYahoo/crime.

If it were a child in the U.S considering the Yahoo-Yahoo line of business, this would go an entirely different way since the Law works here. But in Nigeria, where the law of the jungle prevails, preaching alone will not work at all.

Stepout23:
➜You're right to point out the harsh reality that many Nigerian children face. Poverty is real. Corruption is everywhere. And yes, even the institutions meant to protect us often fail us. But here’s the truth we must not ignore: "The fact that something is common doesn’t make it right."
➜ Yes, our society is broken in many ways, but we can’t fix a broken system by breaking ourselves further. If we all choose the crooked path just because others are on it, then who will stand for what’s right?
➜ It's not about preaching morality from a place of privilege, it's about preserving our dignity, even in hardship.
➜ Because when the government fails, when the system fails, the only thing left that can keep us from completely falling apart is our conscience and values.
➜ And when you say preaching won’t work, maybe not alone. That’s why I’m not just preaching. I’m also working hard to give kids something else to believe in skills, education, digital literacy, tech knowledge. Because exposure opens the mind and creates new paths.
➜ Let’s not downplay the power of doing the right thing, even if it feels small. After all, those who change the world didn’t do it because things were perfect — they did it despite imperfection. So let’s keep talking. Let’s keep pushing. And most importantly, let’s act.

Kobojunkie:
1. Again, the right thing is only established through action— doing the right thing — not by merely saying the right things. Corruption, poverty, and all that is bad can only be solved by doing the right things, not by saying or thinking.

2. Society is broken means that a majority in the society has already chosen the crooked path. This is no longer a matter of if but a fact that the majority have indeed chosen the crooked path. That is what these children are aware has already happened at this point. Those who were supposed to be role models are all criminals, even their parents are not innocent victims but part and parcel of the problem that is society. They know this very well.

3. Preserving some imagined dignity....really?

4. The system has already failed... conscience and values have been rendered of no worth. That is the current reality of life and living for 10s of millions of Nigerians today.

5. I am not certain what you mean you are doing. Saying you are giving them something to believe in without actually providing them with meaningful materials to support the belief is all the same meaninglessness... valueless values.

6. People typically know what the right thing is. You get into a conversation with any Nigerian, and you will be showered with talk of the right beliefs, etc. But when it comes down to where the rubber meets the road, these same Nigerians will choose all that is wrong to benefit themselves over anything else. What this means is that merely spewing the right things is not the same as solving problems. It could be perceived as making unnecessary noise at that. So, yes, until action meets belief, we will probably find we have no option but to deal with reality as it is.

Kobojunkie:
5. I am not certain what you mean you are doing. Saying you are giving them something to believe in without actually providing them with meaningful materials to support the belief is all the same meaninglessness... valueless values.

Stepout23:
That’s a fair challenge, and I understand your skepticism. But here’s the thing , I’m not just preaching empty values. I’m actively involved in creating real alternatives.

I teach coding and robotics to children and teenagers in primary and secondary schools so they can see that there are real, legal, and sustainable paths to success. I’ve seen firsthand how introducing children to tech sparks new dreams, new possibilities.

I’m not just saying “believe in better.” I’m giving them tools to do better.

Of course, I’m not solving the entire system alone. But if every teacher, parent, or leader does a little talking, guiding, correcting, and providing options, we create a ripple.

So yes, belief without support is empty. But I’m backing my words with action. And I will keep using my voice because silence is what gave fraud and Yahoo boys the space to grow unchecked in the first place.

Stepout23:
It started as "reparations." Now it's just greed.

Many of our Yahoo boys justify their actions by saying they’re taking back from the white men who enslaved our forefathers.

But here’s the bitter truth:
They’re no longer scamming whites. They’re scamming fellow Nigerians.
Their own people. Their own community.

Because one thing about greed, it’s never enough.
It doesn’t stop at "foreigners."
It moves from one victim to another, aunties, uncles, parents, neighbors, even strangers praying for a better life.
They scam them all.

And now that it's harder to scam, they’re turning to rituals, blood, and fetish acts. This is no longer about revenge. It’s about the darkness that grows when no one speaks up.

Don't justify it. Don’t romanticize it. Don’t be silent.

If we keep turning a blind eye, we become part of the problem.

Speak up. Guide the young. Show them a better path.

EDGEof2MORO:
It was never about reparations! NEVER!! Criminals in that business will say any and everything to justify their actions.

Do you know those slaves were also betrayed by their kinsmen who sold them into slavery? It was a business. If you check some of the rich/wealthy Nigerian families today, you will find out they started making money by selling slaves! Please read good books.

Even today, do you know our politicians continue to sell us out economically by signing deals that will destroy your future and those of unborn Nigerians? Tell me if it was the white that signed off on those deals and not your greedy Nigerian politicians and kinsmen... just like their forefathers.

Crime is crime Madam

Dogalmighty17:
There's nothing like Yahoo boy. A thief should be called a thief and nothing else. Who wants to be a parent to a thief?

Stepout23:
Of course, crime is crime. And I have never and will never support anyone with a Yahoo mentality.

I know all the talk about slavery and "getting back resources" is pure nonsense just to justify their crime.