Juju: An Influence In Get-Rich-Quick Syndrome?

The 2003 classic film Billionaire’s Club revealed what Nigerians who had knowledge about spirituality already knew, while for those who were unaware, it was an eye-opener.

Tony Umez, a poor man who has tried everything to make himself up to par with his rich friends (Clem Ohaneze, Kanayo O Kanayo), asks his friend for financial assistance.

These men control the resources, organise parties, buy properties, cars, have access to women. To join the billionaire status, they ask him to sacrifice his wife and pound his baby.

In 2018, a viral video of a boy barking like a dog was posted by people assumed to be his friends in Ijebu Ode, Ogun state. To continue to maintain his entitlement and status as a “big boy,” his friends explain in the video that he must bark like a dog for 24 hours once a month.

What is more? Another story is told that you can fast forward your wealth to the present and die 10 years or a few years later. To succeed in this, a brave heart (can-do attitude), wits and a hunger for wealth mindset is essential. As they claim, despite the desire for wealth, an American witchcraft site claims, “If a person is lazy, then nothing in his life will help him, even magic.”

But are Yahoo boys lazy? Not really. In many cases, they manifest what could be called misapplication of energy and intelligence.

“Sometimes, you will work for six months or one year without seeing any returns. It is difficult to even get a client,” An internet fraudster (Yahoo boy) told Guardian Life.

“Once you get one, you invest time, money, sleepless nights and energy. This year alone, I have spent over $200 (N72,200) on tools and it is not a guarantee that I will get anything. Can a normal person spend tools of $500 (N180,500)? I spend N20,000 every month on subscription yet I haven’t seen $1 (N361).”

Credit cards, phones and laptops are tools used during by a Yahoo boy. Photo telanganatoday

The need to make the ‘investment’ count for something is the reason they infuse juju into their activities, he said. Sometimes, the need to make easy, quick money without breaking much sweat inspires them. Do you remember the latest craze of pant stealing fuelled by get-rich-quick among the fraudsters?

Yet, there are Nigerians who question the efficacy of black magic and believe it is a mere placebo.

Thanks to tracking technology, three Nigerians were arrested after siphoning a bank and some financial institutions of close to N806 million. Also, Emmanuel Nwude had sold an imaginary airport to a Brazilian bank, Banco Noroeste Brazil, for 242 million dollars (N86 billion) before he was tracked and arrested. The internet fraudster (Yahoo boy) spoken to insists that this could have only been done with the aid of juju.

Sceptics, therefore, question why the juju could not prevent him from being detected. Moreover, the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) has, many times, paraded internet fraudsters, the charms and their charm makers.

Does that mean charms are not a factor in the spread of cybercrime in Nigeria? The narration of the Yahoo boy who spoke to Guardian Life showed that it is.

Some explained that it was responsible for a viral video that showed a couple of white women asking the EFCC to stop arresting their “beloved Yahoo boys”.

Regardless of the efficacy of charms or juju or otherwise, there is no doubt that cybercrime has blighted the image of Nigeria, put paid to the lives of young men and women and also contributed to crime rates in the country.

It is a social disease that Nigeria needs to fight, juju or not.