A former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, has been trending on Twitter for nearly 16 hours for saying the societal values of Nigerian youths have disintegrated to the point that internet fraudsters, otherwise known as Yahoo Boys, have become their role models.
Alison-Madueke said this while delivering a lecture at a virtual event organised by the Ijaw National Development Group on Friday.
She stressed the need for hard work and mentorship of Ijaw youths at the event, which was also attended by ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, who was her former boss.
In the video of the lecture, the former Minister said: “The ones that have swag, the Yahoo Yahoo boys as my son would say, these, in short, are the role models they are looking at.
“These are the ones that reinforce negative societal norms and values.
“This is a travesty of an unfolding tragedy for us.
“Why have I spent time talking about fatherless homes and the impact it has on our children?
“The truth of the matter is that an irresponsible boy tends to become an irresponsible man and it is, therefore, a vicious cycle.
“If you plant yam, you cannot harvest plantain.
“There are no shortcuts to working your way up the ladder of life.
“Progressing in life, in work and relationships – marital or otherwise – is always dependent on consistent effort and hard work.
“As we create more responsible young men, we will generate more responsible fathers, which will, in turn, engender a more sustainable society and build a greater nation of successful Ijaw men and women.”
Some Nigerians took to Twitter to express their thoughts on Diezani’s comments:
@Bshizzle70: “It must take a certain level of CHUTZPAH (audacity) for her to lecture people on HONEST HARDWORK & building a SOCIETY’S STABLE ECONOMIC BASE after stealing billions of Nigerian people’s COMMON WEALTH . The HYPOCRISY??♂️?Hushmummy Yahoo Nigeria EFCC.”
@DozzyAsh: “I can’t believe that this woman was allowed to stage a lecture talk more of condemning the Yahoo boys. Diezani that looted more than the Nigeria annual budget was allowed to give a lecture. The annoying part was that the former president was there including other dignitaries.”
@Isah81Isah: “Basically yahoo boys’ have become role models in Nigerian society because they got inspired by the likes of Diezani Alison-Madueke, that milked the State dry with reckless abandoned, walk freely and still get an invitation to give a public lecture on societal decadence. What an irony!”
Recall that the former Minister is currently being investigated for alleged financial frauds committed while she was still in office under the Goodluck Jonathan Administration.
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