By Maria Famakinwa

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The frightening dimension at which youths crave for wealth is causing concerned citizens nightmares. This also call for drastic steps to nip in the bud this evil trend to save the country from further socio-cultural degeneration.

Hardly will a week pass without gory stories of  ritual killings. Recently was a reported case of how three teenagers, Wariz Oladehinde, 17, Abdu Gafar Lukman 19 and Mustakeem Balogun, 20 were arrested in Ogun State, Abeokuta for killing Rofiat.

The report had it that Rofiat, one of the boys girl friend was lured by his boyfriend in connivance with other two friends to where her head was cut off and burnt in a local pot, purportedly for money ritual.

According to the report, luck ran out on the teenagers when a community guard, Segun Adewusi, sighted their activities and reported to the police at Adatan. As Nigerians were still finding this hard to believe, came another shocking news of three teenagers who travelled from Warri, Delta State, to Benin to learn yahoo (Internet fraud)

The boys identified as Frank, aged 16, Happy aged 15 and Kelly aged 14 when caught said they were driven out of their houses hence they decided to come to Benin to learn yahoo.

In the wake of these heinous incidents, Nigerians who could not hide their disdain for the teenagers blamed the sad incidence on the get -rich-quick syndrome that is gradually becoming the order of the day. While others who blamed it on the dwindling value system in the country charged parents and guardians to be alive to their responsibilities.

In his reaction, a parent, Mr Ayodele  Olusina, said that the economy is so bad that people could no longer find jobs which make it difficult for them to feed. This according to him is the consequences of a bad economy and added that things might get worse, if the government fail to look into the area of job creations for the youth.

His words: “ The country is gradually getting to a situation where parents will be eating their children as the case in the Bible. That is if it’s not happening already. If you take a plebiscite on the number of jobless youths in the country, you will agree with me that the country is sitting on the keg of a gun powder just as the former President Olusegun Obasanjo said years ago.  If the government fail to engage them positively, they will engage themselves any how and it will latter affect the country.”

When told that government at every level encouraged jobless youth to acquire skills said:” As good as this advice may sound, it is not all the youths that welcome it. You still need to spend money before acquiring any skill and you also need start-up capital after completion, where do you expect them to get the money? Don’t forget that some of these youths had spent four to five years in higher institutions expecting to be gainfully employed.

“If the Federal and State governments want to be sincere with their campaigns for youth employment through skill acquisitions, why can’t they set up a  centre in each of the State where youths can learn any skill of their interest for free and give them money to start  after completion? Besides, how many of our leaders’ children are learning skill acquisitions? These are the issues the country leaders must address before things get out of control,” he said.

Sharing a similar view, a teacher, Mr Ibrahim Kukoyi, who described the act of ritual killings among youths as worrisome blamed it on the society and lack of value.  He said that the society has not been doing enough to punish those arrested in the past to serve as a deterrent to others.

His words: “ If there is a law in place that anyone caught involving in internet fraud will be jailed for life and such is back up with actions, teenagers who want to engage in such will think twice. But this is not so, in fact, some of them who were caught in the past for yahoo crimes were released after bribing the law enforcement agency. The society also celebrate people whose sources of wealth are questionable. Our leaders must be responsive and responsible to win the war against internet fraudsters.

“Youths now have links through which they recruit others into yahoo business. Most youths want to flaunt their wealth like Davido, Bunna Boy, Wizkid among others whom they worship as idols. We don’t have any value again, all we are after is how to make money illegally. Little wonder teenagers killing girls and ladies for rituals. The situation is very pathetic. How do you expect a country like ours to move forward when basic issues are not addressed? Look at the music our youth now listening to, how does it impact their morals? What does teenagers need money for that push them into killing a young lady and burnt her head in a local pot? Where goes out values and morals? Enough of praying to God without doing the right things.

“Even the young lady that was murdered would not have been a victim if she did not involve in illicit affair with one of her killers. That was why the boy succeeded in convincing her to her untimely death. Let’s go back to the time when our values and morals were upheld. Let everything we do preach morals including music we listen to. Let parents have family get-together where they will talk to their children, let the society make laws that favour family cohesion. These will help to solve some of the social vices and challenges we are facing because the family brings about the society,” he said.

A Guardian and Counselor, Mrs Olubumi Olatunji, in her opinion stressed the need for parents and guardians to up their games by creating time for their children. The woman, who blamed misplaced priorities for the heinous trend among the youth said: “Today, most parents and guardians who should be role models have missed it, they compare their children with their mates who are above them, thus putting them under pressure to make it. Forgetting that we run life race differently and God have different plans for everyone.

“The first step is that a child must acquire education or skill to better his/her future but today, youths no longer see it that way, they want to become millionaires at age 13, riding latest cars that their parents could not afford. That is why they see internet fraud as the way out. When I read how a lady was killed and her head burnt in a local pot for money ritual by the three teenagers in Ogun State, I wept for today’s parents with the kind of orientation they are giving their children. Parents who suffered to make it no longer see legitimate work as rewarding. The future of this country is bleeding, there is need for urgent steps to address misplaced priorities,” she advised.