By Adedotun Ajayi

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Nobody can meet all his needs on his own, he has to convey his desires, his needs and his subject to others. This process of delivery is called “communication”. Social media is the fastest growing source of information that has made the world a global village. Now, wherever we are, whatever information we need, we receive it instantly. The positive and negative effects of social media are spreading fast.

A teenager, Soliu Majekodunmi, who slaughtered his girlfriend, Sofiyah, for suspected money ritual purposes has explained that he learnt the practice through Facebook.

Majekodunmi said he typed ‘how to make money ritual’ on Facebook and got the detail, adding that the link instructed him to behead and burn a female skull in a local pot.

He stated this on Monday while being paraded at the State Headquarters, Eleweran, Abeokuta.

It was reported last Saturday, Sofiyah was beheaded and her skull crushed in a pot by some boys at Aregba.

According to the boyfriend Soliu, his accomplice, Mustakeem brought the idea of befriending the girl, and using her for money ritual.

Ayobamidele Ayodele, a kidnap suspect who was recently nabbed by the security operatives in Ogun state for abducting a six-year-old, Ebube Eze, confessed that he had learnt the act of kidnapping by watching the films of Nollywood actor, Zubby Michael.

A few months before Ayodele’s confession, ace Nigerian movie star, Yul Edochie, popularly known for his roles as an occult member cried out to young people motivated by his ‘ritualism-themed’ movies that he was just a very good actor and not an actual ritualist

Yul Edochie in his statement noted he is only an actor that acts according to storylines given to him, and that doing money rituals in the movies did not mean he does it in real life.

The Oyo State chapter of Traditional Religion Worshippers Association, has said no Yoruba deity is allowed to use human beings or parts for wealth. This was disclosed in a statement released on Tuesday.

The statement read, “We have to therefore put the record straight that Ifa oracle does not support the use of human parts to make wealth. Prayers can be offered for an individual who is engaged in a job for him to be prosperous.

“The world no longer has respect for our traditions, they think we are all guilty of human rituals, no history of Africa or Yoruba gave credence to wealth through the use of humans for rituals.

“We should lay much of the blame on the doorsteps of our leaders in the society, their display of wealth in the face of widespread poverty, where the majority of youths are jobless and  what belongs to the people are kept in the hands of a few, they are the major cause.”

According to them, such projections push unguided youths to believe in money rituals, especially killing people and selling of human body parts.

“We are calling on Federal Government to, as a matter of urgent cause, clamp down on Nigerians proclaiming to have the power of wealth through rituals on social media and other platforms. They should be brought to justice, we are ridiculed all over the world today because those in power have failed to be proactive against this horrendous development.

“Our government went after Twitter the other time for whatever reason they claimed and the platform was banned.

“Today, TikTok, Instagram and other social media platforms are being used by these people to escalate the rate of killings in our society as our young ones now believe it is easier to have wealth through rituals with human parts than  diligent work, we call on the government to quickly work alongside the owners of the social media platforms to either ban those exhibiting horrible contents on the platforms or make it totally impossible for  uploading such.

“We also call on all religious bodies to start working on reorientation of their congregation, no human society survives the slope we are descending, a nip in time, saves nine.”

Sometimes last year, Femi Gbajabiamila, Speaker, House of Representatives said that  social media must be regulated to prevent its “evil’ from taking root in the country.

He said the National Assembly had been considering regulating social media for a long time, but that it was reluctant due to outcries by Nigerians.

While acknowledging the good of the platforms, he noted that the social media is “the most potent weapon for good and evil.”

Now, Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information and Culture, is planning to reintroduce the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) Act amendment bill through the executive bill route.

On several occasions, CSOs and media stakeholders have rejected amendments to the NBC code by the Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

The amendment sought to give NBC the power to regulate contents on social and online media in Nigeria, including licencing them.

It also sought to regulate content exclusivity, enforce content sharing and empower NBC to determine prices at which content is sold to sub-licenses by right holders.

Since his appointment as Information minister, Mohammed has continually called for  regulation of social media.

In October 2020, the Minister said social media will destroy the country if the Federal Government does not regulate it.

In August 2021, the Minister again said that Federal Government will not rest until social media platforms are regulated.

Nathaniel Richard, stock trader and a father of two, said  we all know social media has its advantages, but I feel the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. The big question is what’s the point of social media?

All these kidnappings, human parts dealers and fraudsters are all product of social media pressure. You see people living fake life and flaunting both legal and illegal wealth and then it puts pressure on our youth to do whatever it takes to also be like them. we’re living in a lawless country where going into crime is a piece of cake.

To be candid, bringing back SARS will not be a bad idea. The rate of crime in Nigeria is alarming and most of these things stem from greed.

Nobody is contented because we have put material things above moral decency, contentment, virtues and values you can think of.

Think about the society before social media era, was it this bad?

Okunade khalid, a legal practitioner, said “I feel social media should be regulated. Before now, all these social media menace and show off of lavish lifestyle was never in vogue, there was nothing like kidnapping or ritual killing, the pressure these youths get from social media is affecting their mental health and how they reason, ritual killings have become a common phenomenon. It has become a regular event where  several Nigerians have lost their lives to ritual killers, it is  so disheartening. Why would anyone think that a burnt human head would turn into money?