‘A Safer Internet: How the atrocities of some Nigerians are denying others life-changing opportunities’

Hushpuppi Atrocities of Nigerians on Internet

Many Nigerians who have travelled out of the country can attest to the fact that they have been stereotyped at a point due to the atrocities of a very few fellow citizens. While this is not new, it also calls for some time for reflection on the doors of opportunities we are shutting against the next generation. The things we do on social media today, and largely on the internet, would surely come back to us positively or negatively in the nearest of time. You can guess for yourself what you have been doing on the internet in your leisure time.

There is no point explaining what the internet is, it’s been around for several decades, and at this time, you either belong to the nomadic users or the indigenous users of the internet, or in between – half nomadic and half indigenous. While the nomadic users are those who aren’t savvy or know little to nothing about the internet, the indigenous are those born during this age of the internet boom. They know the nitty, maybe not the gritty of it, but they are born with the basic knowledge of the internet. So, it’s easy to determine where you belong.

Over 80% of visa denials are traced to fraudulent activities, like, theft, money laundering, and fake business identity. In 2019, over 80 Nigerians were indicted in Business Email Compromise (BEC) related fraud in the United States, these are youths between the ages of 20 and 38, the number has since gone higher in recent times, and this continues to deny innocent Nigerians opportunities overseas.

I write this to challenge you to do a background check on yourself on the internet, then ask yourself if you are proud of the results. With the result you can determine if you are impressed with yourself now and even in the nearest future.

Let’s consider this scenario about Chris, an internet savvy Nigerian between the ages of 18 and 35, who came across a Pakistani investor, and his life took a different turn from thereon.

Posing as a beverage producer with factories across Nigeria, Chris proposed to the Pakistani man how he would love to partner with him, and he succeeded with forging evidence and proofs to win the trust of the Pakistani billionaire. Little did he know that his gains are nothing compared to the losses. He forged the CAC certificate, forged the NAFDAC certificate, and sent them through the internet to the man who had earned his trust. Having done all that, it was time for the next move, samples of the said products were sent to him, and was then implored to get land for the proposed factory, but they must first meet with their lawyers for proper documentation.

Just as he has already made a sum of almost $20,000 from the Pakistani, Chris arranged fake lawyers, and the potential investors arranged an all-expense-paid trip for Chris and his lawyers to travel to Dubai for the finalization of their imaginary business deal. But because of his lack of contentment and sincerity, Chris couldn’t travel, nor could he produce the fake lawyers, and the last that was heard of him was that he had absconded to Ghana, because he was scared of being arrested. This is a true-life story.

The implications of his actions are, he lost the opportunity to change his generation forever, the opportunity to change the life of many Nigerians in the labour market, and he further contributed to the scammer stereotype innocent Nigerian have been subjected to.

What would you have done if you were Chris, and by implication do a background check on the internet today and see what it would bring of you? Social media never forgets nor does it sleep like us. It does not have a shallow memory. There are thousands of global opportunities not accessible to many Nigerians as we are constantly tagged ‘criminals’ due to the online activities of a few bad eggs among us.

What are the causes of these negative use, with eternal implications? Well back then in school, we were taught about three types of competitions, the first is the Animate competition, which is the man against man, trying to be better than your peers in all means that you can use. Usually, this type of competition end in tears and tragedy. We have the inanimate, which is man against nature, and is usually found in sporting activities, whereby man tries to beat nature to a certain limit, this is usually impressing unknown history seekers and makers as well. While we have the self-competition, originally we call this self-appraisal in our local parlance, this is trying to be better than your former self. Not impressing anyone or society and is the most important. But sadly, we dwell on the animate competition which has indirectly contributed to our negative use of the internet.

Where do we go from here, because we are Nigerians? Well while there are a few warnings about our colour globally, we also have a bigger number doing great things and in recognition of that, let’s use my last narration to encourage ourselves. It was in Florida, as spoken by the narrator, who had been invited to a programme. The hotel he lodged had several days before expiration, and because it was a self-funded programme, he had run out of cash. Worsening the matters, the card reader to his hotel room had logged him out because his time had elapsed. With nothing to do, or no one to turn to, he went to meet the hotel manager, seeking his assistance. Knowing his identity, the hotel manager asked him to come by 6 pm, for a better discussion.

When he came back, there were more white men in the room, six precisely, and on the table were files tall as a heap, and in bundles, they showed him and told him, these were applications and fake reports by different princes and princesses from Nigeria, making different forms of request with their fake identities. How then can we believe you? They asked him. Dejected, the only word he could mutter was, “here is my name, search it on the internet for my antecedent” and in less than a minute all about him popped up, and wonderfully he had used the internet positively, which even further helped him enjoy more days and loved larger throughout his stay in Florida. A proud Nigeria indeed, you too can be one.

These two stories are the realities millions of us are faced with, your decision should be based on the general good. I wish us all a safer internet day. It’s never too late to wish us a prosperous new year.