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Ever wondered what this term Yahoo yahoo means? Its an all pervading phrase that now it has become part of our everyday speech. Simply put it means using the Internet as a means of ‘making money’. Not by any legal means however. Youth of nowadays in Naija do not want to work a regular nine to five anymore. The most common means is to defraud unsuspecting white men/women of their hard earned money. Many a time I have gone to a Cyber café to find young boys chatting with women or men of an older age with different pictures as their profile. Which makes me wonder “Why would anyone want to go on the Internet to find love???”The next thing you know you see one of these so called yahoo boys in sleek cars and a lot of them in their favorite apparel(don’t ask me why)which is usually long sleeved shirts with high collars. I happen to live in a particular area in Lagos where they abound.Once some unsuspecting ‘mugu’has been defrauded-as these white guys are called-it is straight to the bank to receive their payments through Western union which is one of the means of payment.

I have had the privilege (should I say?) of associating with some of them.Meet Abbey, a final year student of the Lagos State University. Abbey has had an extra year 2 times and needs a way of venting his anger friend takes him to the Cybercafé to learn the trade. He soon becomes so proficient that he introduces his younger brother. Abbey happens to be a friend of my cousin. The shocking part of this is that some of their parents know what they are up to.My cousin goes to visit Abbey on this fateful day and Abbey’s mum asks him in Yoruba “Kunle are you also doing yahoo?’’.Kunle was too stunned to reply. He could only smile and shake his head. Apparently the mum doesn’t mind as long as she gets her ‘cut’ when they get the loot. When I heard the story I could only shake my head in disgust-the youth are not totally to blame. Enter Emeka.Emeka stays with his parents in a Boys Quarters attached to a duplex. They barely have enough to eat.Emeka gets introduced into this lucrative business. Two months later I hear Emeka has rented a 3 bedroom flat.He approaches Kunle to help him organize some girls from Ogun State University for them to have a nice time.Kunle is also a student in Ogun State university and is willing to get the girls provided Emeka greases his palms.Kunle arranges some girls who agree to meet Emeka-after all he has a lot of money to throw around. Like the proverb goes: A fool and his money are soon easily parted.Emeka meets the girls at a
popular supermarket somewhere in Ogba where they are reputed for their Chinese delicacies.The first thing Emeka does is to take the girls upstairs for a shopping spree. I hear the two girls bought goods well over N12000.He then orders a sumptuous meal for Kunle, himself and the girls. When narrating the story Kunle told me he was thinking Emeka would invite the girls to his flat to round up the day on a sound note –if you know what I mean.

Emeka simply asks the girls if they are ready to go back.Kunle simply drives them with Emeka to the car park to board a bus to OSU.

Emeka then proceeds to do something which further stuns my cousin. He dips his hand in his pocket and gives the girl he fancies 10 dollars.Kunle wanted to go nuts. All this just to
impress some girl you might never do anything with?Kunle narrates the whole story to me and I wonder why the moneybag couldn’t have invested the money in stocks to make it last.But,there is an unspoken rule among these Yahoo boyz.Once you get the money, spend it as much as possible so as to show you have arrived.

The fear of EFCC however has become the beginning of wisdom for a lot of them.The popular cafes have been raided several times by both policemen and EFCC officials. A lot of them have resorted to getting laptops and internet connections. The urge to be a Yahoo boy is still there but it has been some what curbed .I remember reading in an online newspaper of this guy who had N18 million in his account and his parents were dirt poor. The police eventually nabbed him upon alert by the bank where he was to withdraw money .When his father heard about the millions he could only rain curses on him for keeping such an amount form the family. The economic situation is also to blame for the rise in this practice.One amusing justification I have heard yahoo boys say is that the white man took slaves from Africa, so this is our own way of getting back at them.Which,I believe is the reason the international community is so skeptical about allowing Nigerians to participate in online transactions until they are sure such an individual has the means to transact. The really amusing part of it is that Nigerians are so notorious outside the country.If only we could channel these devious ideas into ways of developing the country then we could truly be the Giant of Africa.

To top it all a track of this title was released by Olu Maintain of the former Maintain duo. I wonder if he was lambasting Yahoo boys or really giving them props instead. But then that should be a story for another day.

Ever wondered what this term Yahoo yahoo means? Its an all pervading phrase that now it has become part of our everyday speech. Simply put it means using the Internet as a means of ‘making money’. Not by any legal means however. Youth of nowadays in Naija do not want to work a regular nine to five anymore. The most common means is to defraud unsuspecting white men/women of their hard earned money. Many a time I have gone to a Cyber café to find young boys chatting with women or men of an older age with different pictures as their profile. Which makes me wonder “Why would anyone want to go on the Internet to find love???”The next thing you know you see one of these so called yahoo boys in sleek cars and a lot of them in their favorite apparel(don’t ask me why)which is usually long sleeved shirts with high collars. I happen to live in a particular area in Lagos where they abound.Once some unsuspecting ‘mugu’has been defrauded-as these white guys are called-it is straight to the bank to receive their payments through Western union which is one of the means of payment.

I have had the privilege (should I say?) of associating with some of them.Meet Abbey, a final year student of the Lagos State University. Abbey has had an extra year 2 times and needs a way of venting his anger friend takes him to the Cybercafé to learn the trade. He soon becomes so proficient that he introduces his younger brother. Abbey happens to be a friend of my cousin. The shocking part of this is that some of their parents know what they are up to.My cousin goes to visit Abbey on this fateful day and Abbey’s mum asks him in Yoruba “Kunle are you also doing yahoo?’’.Kunle was too stunned to reply. He could only smile and shake his head. Apparently the mum doesn’t mind as long as she gets her ‘cut’ when they get the loot. When I heard the story I could only shake my head in disgust-the youth are not totally to blame. Enter Emeka.Emeka stays with his parents in a Boys Quarters attached to a duplex. They barely have enough to eat.Emeka gets introduced into this lucrative business. Two months later I hear Emeka has rented a 3 bedroom flat.He approaches Kunle to help him organize some girls from Ogun State University for them to have a nice time.Kunle is also a student in Ogun State university and is willing to get the girls provided Emeka greases his palms.Kunle arranges some girls who agree to meet Emeka-after all he has a lot of money to throw around. Like the proverb goes: A fool and his money are soon easily parted.Emeka meets the girls at a
popular supermarket somewhere in Ogba where they are reputed for their Chinese delicacies.The first thing Emeka does is to take the girls upstairs for a shopping spree. I hear the two girls bought goods well over N12000.He then orders a sumptuous meal for Kunle, himself and the girls. When narrating the story Kunle told me he was thinking Emeka would invite the girls to his flat to round up the day on a sound note –if you know what I mean.

Emeka simply asks the girls if they are ready to go back.Kunle simply drives them with Emeka to the car park to board a bus to OSU.

Emeka then proceeds to do something which further stuns my cousin. He dips his hand in his pocket and gives the girl he fancies 10 dollars.Kunle wanted to go nuts. All this just to
impress some girl you might never do anything with?Kunle narrates the whole story to me and I wonder why the moneybag couldn’t have invested the money in stocks to make it last.But,there is an unspoken rule among these Yahoo boyz.Once you get the money, spend it as much as possible so as to show you have arrived.

The fear of EFCC however has become the beginning of wisdom for a lot of them.The popular cafes have been raided several times by both policemen and EFCC officials. A lot of them have resorted to getting laptops and internet connections. The urge to be a Yahoo boy is still there but it has been some what curbed .I remember reading in an online newspaper of this guy who had N18 million in his account and his parents were dirt poor. The police eventually nabbed him upon alert by the bank where he was to withdraw money .When his father heard about the millions he could only rain curses on him for keeping such an amount form the family. The economic situation is also to blame for the rise in this practice.One amusing justification I have heard yahoo boys say is that the white man took slaves from Africa, so this is our own way of getting back at them.Which,I believe is the reason the international community is so skeptical about allowing Nigerians to participate in online transactions until they are sure such an individual has the means to transact. The really amusing part of it is that Nigerians are so notorious outside the country.If only we could channel these devious ideas into ways of developing the country then we could truly be the Giant of Africa.

To top it all a track of this title was released by Olu Maintain of the former Maintain duo. I wonder if he was lambasting Yahoo boys or really giving them props instead. But then that should be a story for another day.

Ever wondered what this term Yahoo yahoo means? Its an all pervading phrase that now it has become part of our everyday speech. Simply put it means using the Internet as a means of ‘making money’. Not by any legal means however. Youth of nowadays in Naija do not want to work a regular nine to five anymore. The most common means is to defraud unsuspecting white men/women of their hard earned money. Many a time I have gone to a Cyber café to find young boys chatting with women or men of an older age with different pictures as their profile. Which makes me wonder “Why would anyone want to go on the Internet to find love???”The next thing you know you see one of these so called yahoo boys in sleek cars and a lot of them in their favorite apparel(don’t ask me why)which is usually long sleeved shirts with high collars. I happen to live in a particular area in Lagos where they abound.Once some unsuspecting ‘mugu’has been defrauded-as these white guys are called-it is straight to the bank to receive their payments through Western union which is one of the means of payment.

I have had the privilege (should I say?) of associating with some of them.Meet Abbey, a final year student of the Lagos State University. Abbey has had an extra year 2 times and needs a way of venting his anger friend takes him to the Cybercafé to learn the trade. He soon becomes so proficient that he introduces his younger brother. Abbey happens to be a friend of my cousin. The shocking part of this is that some of their parents know what they are up to.My cousin goes to visit Abbey on this fateful day and Abbey’s mum asks him in Yoruba “Kunle are you also doing yahoo?’’.Kunle was too stunned to reply. He could only smile and shake his head. Apparently the mum doesn’t mind as long as she gets her ‘cut’ when they get the loot. When I heard the story I could only shake my head in disgust-the youth are not totally to blame. Enter Emeka.Emeka stays with his parents in a Boys Quarters attached to a duplex. They barely have enough to eat.Emeka gets introduced into this lucrative business. Two months later I hear Emeka has rented a 3 bedroom flat.He approaches Kunle to help him organize some girls from Ogun State University for them to have a nice time.Kunle is also a student in Ogun State university and is willing to get the girls provided Emeka greases his palms.Kunle arranges some girls who agree to meet Emeka-after all he has a lot of money to throw around. Like the proverb goes: A fool and his money are soon easily parted.Emeka meets the girls at a
popular supermarket somewhere in Ogba where they are reputed for their Chinese delicacies.The first thing Emeka does is to take the girls upstairs for a shopping spree. I hear the two girls bought goods well over N12000.He then orders a sumptuous meal for Kunle, himself and the girls. When narrating the story Kunle told me he was thinking Emeka would invite the girls to his flat to round up the day on a sound note –if you know what I mean.

Emeka simply asks the girls if they are ready to go back.Kunle simply drives them with Emeka to the car park to board a bus to OSU.

Emeka then proceeds to do something which further stuns my cousin. He dips his hand in his pocket and gives the girl he fancies 10 dollars.Kunle wanted to go nuts. All this just to
impress some girl you might never do anything with?Kunle narrates the whole story to me and I wonder why the moneybag couldn’t have invested the money in stocks to make it last.But,there is an unspoken rule among these Yahoo boyz.Once you get the money, spend it as much as possible so as to show you have arrived.

The fear of EFCC however has become the beginning of wisdom for a lot of them.The popular cafes have been raided several times by both policemen and EFCC officials. A lot of them have resorted to getting laptops and internet connections. The urge to be a Yahoo boy is still there but it has been some what curbed .I remember reading in an online newspaper of this guy who had N18 million in his account and his parents were dirt poor. The police eventually nabbed him upon alert by the bank where he was to withdraw money .When his father heard about the millions he could only rain curses on him for keeping such an amount form the family. The economic situation is also to blame for the rise in this practice.One amusing justification I have heard yahoo boys say is that the white man took slaves from Africa, so this is our own way of getting back at them.Which,I believe is the reason the international community is so skeptical about allowing Nigerians to participate in online transactions until they are sure such an individual has the means to transact. The really amusing part of it is that Nigerians are so notorious outside the country.If only we could channel these devious ideas into ways of developing the country then we could truly be the Giant of Africa.

To top it all a track of this title was released by Olu Maintain of the former Maintain duo. I wonder if he was lambasting Yahoo boys or really giving them props instead. But then that should be a story for another day.

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