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Abstract
In the traditional Igbo context, the earning of money is punctuated with patience and 
hard work and maintenance of one's integrity. The acquisition of wealth depends on 
how far one has honestly and properly invested his/her energy, resources and talent. No 
one claimed to be self-sufficient. Everyone needed the help of the other. This virtue of 
hard work was transmitted in the process of family education. Since the Igbo society 
was not a closed one thanks to its extended family system, it was therefore community-
oriented; and thus everybody cares for the other. To that effect, in business ventures, 
apprenticeship was highly promoted. Mentoring was fully in vogue. The ? ga (Master) 
has some ?m?-boi (apprentices) under him who he guides in learning a particular 
trade. The apprenticeship lasts for years after which, all things being equal, the ? ga 
settles the nwa-boi (apprentice) with a reasonable sum of money to help him begin his 
own trade. The nwa-boi based on his acquired trading skill gradually grows in wealth. 
In that context, acquisition of wealth was dependent on trading skill, patience and 
doggedness, hence the phrase ?kpa ego (that is, scouting for money) adopted from ?kpa 
ak? (scouting for palm kernel nut). Usually scouting for palm kernel in the bush is a 
painstaking exercise demanding hours of engagement in search of palm kernel which 
can at times meet with disappointment when one ends up picking ak? ufulu (palm 
kernel without the edible nut). This research has the objective of investigating into the 
sharp transition from ?kpa ego to ibute ego (quick money) among our youth and proffer 
ways of returning to the status quo ante since it is more value-oriented. Our 
methodology is descriptive and analytical. The researcher will make use of existing 
literature in this regard; explore into the various contexts that nourish this illicit quest 
for money and propose way forward.

Keywords: Youth, Leadership, Diverse contexts, Ikpa ego, Ibute ego

Introduction
The young people form a formidable part of any society. A society that suffers persistent 
demographic shortage of young people gradually goes into extinction. That goes to say 
that the future of any society is fundamentally dependent on its youth. Consequently, that 
calls for unstoppable effort in the proper and integral education of young people in order 
to guarantee the tomorrow of the society. Incidentally the young people are the children of 
their societal environment because they are influenced and groomed consciously or 
unconsciously by the various environments or contexts within which they grow. The 
young people that grow up in a “country of one of the world's most traumatized, 

From ?kpa ego to ego mbute: investigating into the intergenerational 
crisis of illicit financial quest among the Igbo youth

Evaristus Ifeanacho, (PhD)
Department of Religion and Human Relations

Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka.

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pauperized and terrorized people” (Dahiru, 2022, p.32) will surely have the same tapestry 
of contagious ills in their process of growth. Aware of the fact that the future of humanity 
depends on how formidably the young people are founded on sound moral and Christian 
values, the onus lies on those occupy the mantle of leadership not to dash their hope 
against the wall of immoral conduct and hopelessness.

The Igbo traditional set up of the earlier generation places high premium on integrity and 
training of young people. The extended family system makes the training of children a 
joint affair. Everyone takes part in it. No one turns aside in the sight of misbehavior; rather 
a child is instantly corrected or even punished by anyone that is present in the occasion of 
any misconduct. The parents usually thoroughly cross-examine a child that comes home 
with any foreign item. Such a child must explain every detail of how he came about such 
item. Where he/he she is unable to give a reasonable explanation, he/she is mandated to 
return the item to its owner. This is the usual Igbo context in the training of young people
At the early time, many parents did not see the importance of education especially for 
their male children. Consequently, some easily sent out their young children to business 
apprenticeship (igba boi/igba odibo/imu-ahia) in order to be guided by their master (Oga) 
in learning a trade with the aim of being stabilized in a particular trade after few years. 
Later, there was emphasis on education and many embraced education and enrolment to 
igba boi gradually dropped. Nevertheless after secondary or tertiary education many also 
went back to business apprenticeship on account of the dearth of white collar job. 
In the recent generation of parents and young people, there came a new trend and a shift in 
mentality occasioned by some environmental trappings fueled by the get-rich-quick 
syndrome. Parents gradually began to abdicate their responsibility towards their children. 
Sequel to that, the inculcation of moral and social values began to suffer neglect. Hard 
work and giving primacy to integrity came to be relegated to the background. Hence, ill-
gotten wealth was celebrated.    The so-called 419 syndrome (419 scam is technically 
known as "advance-fee fraud", and is named after the article numbered 419 in Nigerian 
criminal code, which deals with fraud  drug trafficking, promotion of illicit wealth 
disseminated by the film making industries, and a more recent one which is Yahoo Yahoo 
and Yahoo plus founded on indiscriminate electronic and internet robbery and hacking of 
accounts became the order of the day. With this, virtue of patience that accompanied 
commercial spirit of ?gba-b?i sharply turned to inordinate ambition to by the young 
people to get rich overnight in popular parlance called ego mbute (quick money).
The research will delve into the exposition of ?kpa ego and ibute ego, the various contexts 
that have nourished the tendency of ibute ego among our young people, and the leadership 
spirit that is needed to overturn this ugly situation for a mental redirection of our young 
people.

Intergenerational Relapse from ikpa ego to ibute ego
One of the village experiences of young people in the traditional Igbo socio-cultural set up 
is the adventure of ?kpa ak? (scouting for palm kernel) in which they search for palm 
kernels in the bush. It is a painstakingly patient exercise that guzzles a lot of time before a 
reasonable quantity is gathered. Since in the search palm kernels are not heaped at a spot 
but scattered and traceable at different locations, it usually takes several days of persistent 

),

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and skillful search. Knowing the suitable places where they could be discovered in greater 
number is usually an advantage; and as such places one at level above others. One is more 
successful in ?kpa ak? depending on how one is informed about the lucrative locations 
where ak? could be found. Such knowledge helps in accumulating a big quantity which 
could be sold for a more profitable earning. The height of one's richness depends how 
he/she progresses in the ?kpa ak? which ultimately results in ability to have different 
heaps that could be sold. The joy of the whole adventurous exercise depends on what is 
gained after sale. 

However, misfortune could strike when it happens that the heap of palm kernel one has 
gathered is dominated by ak? ufulu (that is, palm kernel without the nut inside). It is 
usually an unfortunate situation that leaves one without much gain after having tirelessly 
laboured for many days. Therefore, it was as rewarding as it was therapeutic but also 
dotted with some dangers that could sometimes rear up their ugly heads like being stung 
by scorpion or bitten snake etc.

The nomenclature is equally applicable in the business ventures of the Igbo people where 
it is referred to as ?kpa ak? or ?kpa ego (scouting for wealth or scouting for money). 
Following from the Igbo verb ?kpa, it demands a regular perambulation in search of 
something; and in this case in search of wealth or money making ventures. That goes to 
say that the making of wealth abhors laziness; and demands hard work because onye lu? o 
rie (He who works eats) and aka aja aja na-ebute ?n? mmanu mmanu (hands soiled while 
working in the farm brings about oily). Simply put, hard work pays. One should be up and 
doing; and ready to sacrifice leisure and pleasure in an avid search for resourceful outlets 
for making money. 

This process of ?kpa ego is corroborated by the phenomenon of ?gba-b?i (business 
apprenticeship).  According to Okonkwo (2022), ?gba-b?i is a “locally generated venture 
capital” that requires a business owner who takes an apprentice and 'settle(s)' him at the 
end of a term of engagement by assisting in setting him up in a business through cash 
infusion, the payment of rent or offering of goods to the apprentice to sell and share in the 
profit.” This is consolidated by the fact of ?gba mb? (struggle) divested of every slothful 
attitude. In this entrepreneurial venture, it is gainful struggle that increases one's income 
and in the end creates wealth. For Chinweuba and Ezeugwu,

To overcome this disdainful condition, the Igbos tend to engage in economic 
struggle (?gba mb?) displaying a resounding entrepreneurial initiative, skill, 
ambition, competition, enterprise and hard work. Consequently, the Igbo embrace 
entrepreneurial ventures as a means of dominating nature, achieving economic 
reliance, satisfying their competitive innate drive for achievement, leaving 
human imprint, and improving the quality of human life. (2017:17)

This ?gba b?i is strongly founded on the “Igbo philosophies of communality, co-
prosperity and interdependence, the model is characterized by the transgenerational 
transfer of entrepreneurial skills and the reproduction of business champions”. 
(Oyewunmi, Oyewunmi and Moses, 2020). Inasmuch as the Igbos work unstoppably and 

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put in every form of ingenuity to create wealth and also help others to prosper, it is usually 
based on moral principles. Honesty and maintenance of one's integrity are the pillars of 
their conduct even in business ventures. Hence, the Igbo saying, ezi afa ka ego (good 
name is greater than money or wealth). That is why parents can go long way to cross 
examine their children whenever they come home with any foreign material. In ability to 
explain its source will merit the child a merciless lashing with cane. In the end, he/she is 
compelled to send back the item from where he/she got it. Chinweuba and Ezeugwu 
(2017) gave a detailed expose of how the traditional Igbo people detest ill-gotten wealth 
of any sort thus,

wealth acquired through dubious means and circumstances does not earn intrinsic 
respect in Igbo land. As such, wealth acquisition is expected to tow the means of 
hard work, integrity and honesty. In fact, the Igbo assertion of ak? luo ?n? okwuo 
ebe o si (when wealth gets home, it declares its source) depicts Igbo probe for 
sources of wealth that enters the community. Even in this present epoch when 
global forces of westernization have disorganized some Igbos into reproachable 
ventures, the true Igbo communities still revere wealth made through honest 
means (ak? akpalu na ?z? kw? ?t?) and repudiate ill-gotten wealth or money (aj? 
ego). It is generally believed among the Igbos that ill-gotten wealth is a curse 
rather than blessing. Thus people are reluctant to associate with people whose 
source of wealth is suspected to be questionable. This is more so when it is money 
made through charms (?gw? ego) and shading blood (ego ?bara). (p.19)

Unfortunately, with the passage of time, the influx of western culture and its attendant 
eroding of  some of our cultural values, the younger generation gradually became very 
much infested with the desire to be rich overnight without hard work. There was 
exaggerated and irrational admiration of the rich without thinking through on how far and 
how long it took the wealthy neighbor to attain his/her financial status. Proper thinking 
should have informed one on the necessity of making proper judgement before desiring 
unfounded and hurried admiration. But the flamboyant celebration of wealth 
demonstrated rampantly in Nollywood films, in Pentecostal prosperity gospel that 
centred on cross-less Christianity, in the inhumane amassing of wealth by most of our 
political leaders speedily began to collapse the social values of hard work, patience, 
honesty and integrity associated with ?kpa ego. To that effect, inordinate quest for wealth 
culminating in ego mbute (quick money) began to assume the centre stage in the mentality 
of the young people. This has begun to increase in geometric progression because the 
recent dimension has been nourished by cybercrime.

Cybercrime: the Aiding of Ego Mbute
 For Cross (2002), cybercrime refers to “any criminal offence committed using the 
internet or another computer network as a component of the crime” (p.2). Further still, 
cybercrimes are “offences that are committed against individual or group of individuals 
with a criminal motive to internationally harm the reputation of the victim or cause 
physical or mental harm to the victim directly or indirectly using 
modern/telecommunication networks such as internet and mobile phones” (Halder, D. 
and Jaishankar, K., 2012). 

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Nonetheless, cybercrime incorporates wide range of fraudulent conduct, such as cyber-
bullying, cyber-building, cyberstalking, cyber terrorism, cyber espionage cyber 
fraudsters (Yahoo-boys) and a string of others. In the Nigerian context, Yahoo-boys is also 
connected with Advanced Fee Fraud (AFF) or “419” (Igwe, 2007; Adogame, 2009). It is 
important to note that in 1993 a giant stride was made in the area of information 
technology with the coming of the World Wide Web (WWW). But 1997 saw the 
introduction of the World Wide Web Technology known as “Yahoo E-mail”. This was 
aimed at speeding up and easing off communication in the global context. With that, the 
sourcing of information for research and personal improvement in the learning process 
was upgraded. Later, Yahoo Mail Plus came with many more improved and advantageous 
features for its users both in the storage capacity and accessibility to wide range of useful 
features. 

However, just as this innovation was going on in the field of information technology, it 
was equally being malevolently accompanied by cybercrime. What was meant to 
alleviate the difficulties in the sourcing and dissemination of information became an 
instrument for an unimaginable rate of crime wave. Without ever intending it, Dalal 
(2006) notes that the advancement in science and technology has not only made a 
tremendously noticeable impact in every segment of human life like wireless 
communication, e-commerce, e-governance, e-library etc., it has also generated certain 
deviances and criminal tendencies like hacking, spamming, pharming, pornography, 
privacy violations, phishing etc. Thus cybercriminals are on the increase by day. In the 
same vein, juxtaposed with Yahoo Mail is Yahoo-boys. According to Lawani and Osagie-
Obazee (2019) the Yahoo boys' mode of operation involves sending deceptive e-mails 
using Yahoo mail to unsuspecting victims which will finally lead to defrauding and 
swindling their victim(s);” hence the name Yahoo-boys. As time went on, the “yahoo-
boys phenomenon metamorphosed and assumed new dimension; and came to be known 
as Yahoo Plus. Tade (2013) observes that, 

the 'plus' in yahoo plus implies the addition of spiritual ingredients to yahoo 
yahoo. Within the yahoo yahoo family, a line is drawn between those who surf the 
net and defraud plainly (yahoo boys) and those who surf the net and employ 
spiritual assistance for increased defrauding (yahoo plus). The different 
approaches employed are esoteric to those involved in cybercrime while the 
larger society refers to both groups as yahoo boys. (p.690)

In fact, Lawani and Osagie-Obazee (2019b) maintained that most of them have 
discovered a new strategy of blending spiritual elements with internet surfing to enhance 
the chances of their success in defrauding their unsuspecting victims. The victims of this 
crime are the young people who are desperately sunk deep in unquenchable thirst for ego 
mbute. What matters to them is to be rich; the means is not called to question. These young 
people involved in cybercrime, generally known as the yahoo-boys, have been widely 
recognized as maintaining a distinctive lifestyle that confers a unique and/or a notorious 
identity on them in the society” (Lawani, C. & Osagie-Obazee, G.   2019b). Their life 
style is nothing to write home about. They cruise in flashy and classy cars, live in exotic 
apartments, dress in an outlandish manner, use scandalously expensive mobile phones, 
enroll in a club and possess a bevy of ladies,  make a public bazaar of wealth at eateries 

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and most often sleep during the day and stay awake in the night for their ungodly ventures. 
Most of the young people who get involved in these odd jobs are equally addicted to 
Methamphetamine (mkpulu mmiri) or other related drugs.  Definitely, such a lifestyle 
does not in any way correspond with their age. Outrageously, most of the parents do not 
query their children on how they acquired such wealth. Rather, these “young money 
bags” are celebrated by all and sundry as having attained an honorable feat; and in some 
cases chieftaincy titles are conferred on them by the traditional rulers whom they have 
mesmerizingly blindfolded with money.

The resultant effect is that many young people drop out of school and go into the yahoo-
yahoo business with the desire of getting rich quick. This attitude creates a serious dearth 
in professionalism. Consequently, key areas that could boost the economy gradually 
begin to dwindle due to lack of competent hands. More so, leadership role that demands 
qualification in character and learning will be found wanting. For any society to grow 
there is need for transformational leadership, but when the young people who are the 
leaders of tomorrow engage in an untroubled manner in cyber fraud with the aim of 
amassing wealth, then the future will be very bleak as far as leadership is concerned. For 
no one gives what he does not have (Nemo dat quod non habet).  
However, it is pertinent to note that these young people do not grow in a vacuum. To that 
effect, the various contexts in which young people grow help in a big way to either mar or 
channel them in the right direction.

Socio-cultural Context
Ordinarily, Nigerian society values family and human relation. In contemporary Nigeria, 
the nuclear family exists side by side with the extended family.  The family includes not 
only the immediate siblings but also grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, nephew nieces 
etc. The family according to Mbiti (1992:143) also includes the departed relatives, whom 
may have designated as the living/dead.  In family there is openness to life in which 
children are valued as a blessing from God. Therefore 

children can contribute an enduring source of emotional satisfaction and joy to 
their parents. Parents look upon the development and growth of their children as 
their work. The successes and failures of their children are their successes and 
failures. If the parents have not achieved all their youthful goals in life, they 
rejoice in the thought that they will see these goals fulfilled in their children. 
(Getui, 1998:72)  

Generally, Igbo traditional system is marked with the responsibility of the upbringing of 
children with regard to values, skills and techniques of traditional cultural heritage. The 
family structure also serves as a place for formal and informal instruction during initiation 
rites that prepare the child to assume adult responsibilities. The extended family also has a 
system of social control, which guide the youth in their daily choices. These inbuilt 
mechanisms therefore help to a great extent in ensuring the stability of the family. The 
parental care and nurturing of children depend to a large extent on the economic, social, 
intellectual and the emotional situation of parents, which go to contribute in making the 
home the first school for youth formation. 

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Nigerians especially Igbos express their culture in customs, values, social norms, religion 
and beliefs and their day to day living and interactions. The richness of this culture is 
being reinforced and manifested also in their mode of greeting, clothing, arts, music, 
dance, drama, proverbs, traditional marriage and other ceremonial activities. 

However, fundamental to culture is knowledge.  All these play prominent role in the life 
and behavior of the Igbo people. For example, storytelling is used in teaching moral to 
children and the young ones thereby stimulating them toward good conducts. It also 
serves as a documentation of some actual events and people's life in a given period of 
time. Proverbs serve to communicate the wisdom of the past generation. Unfortunately, 
because of social changes, we are gradually experiencing the disappearance of some of 
these cultural values. Nowadays, no pain no gain does not very much hold again. Aka aja 
aja n'ebute onu mmanu mmanu (soiled hands bring about oily mouth; meaning that hard 
work pays) is becoming obsolete. People today are less interested in hard work but want 
quick money and wealth. Today people want promotion without merit, employment 
without certificate, certificate without studying, marks without sitting for an 
examination; to pass through celebrated malpractice etc. In fact, oddities are boldly being 
celebrated. Solidarity is gradually becoming a thing of the past; everybody thinks of 
his/her own without looking out to see how to help the other. 

The famous dictum of Bacon (1996) “Knowledge is power” is gradually being consigned 
to the literary lumber-room of forgotten events. The young people see money as power. 
The greatest culprit appears to be what Achebe (1996:1) identifies as 'the failure of 
leadership,” in all its ramifications. Some parents are bereft of moral values and as such 
have nothing to offer to the young people. The young people then become guides unto 
themselves.
The consequences are affecting everybody. These values used to be part of every Igbo 
person, because it is incorporated into the daily activities of people, as such, being a way 
people are being formed spiritually. Unfortunately, today's socio-cultural state in which 
our young people find themselves is marked by insecurity in the highest order and 
complacent collusion. The atmosphere is charged with anger and aggressive tendencies. 
The odour of corruption is oozing out from every corner to the utter consternation of the 
rest of us. It is inexhaustible.

Political Context
“Man”, said Aristotle (1995), “is by nature a political animal” (p.1987). Being so 
constituted by nature, he/she lives in a community and associates with others thanks to the 
gift of speech with which he/she is endowed. Consequent upon this living together, comes 
the need to have leaders who will direct, make laws and guide the citizens towards a 
common good and who will fight for the welfare of the people. This will help to avoid a 
lawless situation where each person makes his/her own law as it suits him/her. An 
authority is therefore needed to guide the people towards a common good. Thus, the 
leaders should always bear in mind that, 

there is no better way to establish political life on a truly human basis than by 
encouraging an inward sense of justice, and of service to the common good, and 

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by consolidating the basic convictions of all as to the true nature of the political 
community and the aim, proper exercise, and the limits of political authority. 
(Flannery, 1998:n.73)  

The political authorities on their own part are urged to act within the limits of the law and 
not place themselves above the law. In the Nigerian context, what does the political 
situation look like? The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999) in its 
preamble states that its purpose is for “promoting good government and welfare of all 
persons in our country on the principles of freedom, equality, justice, and for the purpose 
of consolidating the unity of our people.” To what extent these values are realised remains 
another question. In fact, Nigeria has experienced and is still experiencing unhealthy 
political arrangement that has engendered and almost institutionalised corruption in 
every imaginable dimension. More still, the endemic corruption that has eaten into every 
fabric of Nigeria further makes young people to jettison hard work and desire to become 
rich at all cost.  Democracy is gradually metamorphosing into plutocracy that culminates 
in “selectocracy”, with the eventual relapse into kakistocracy and finally degenerate into 
ochlocracy.  There is unguided sycophancy and public fund is embezzled with impunity.  
In fact, the Nigeria's political process has degenerated into a criminal franchise of power 
purchase by the highest bidder for self-service to the detriment of public service…. To put 
it simply, Nigeria suffers from acute leadership challenge” (Dahiru, 2022, p.32).Vote-
buying is dangerously becoming the order of the day. According to Uchegbu (2022, p.16), 
“vote-buying is coming up very strongly as offshoot of the dollarization of the leadership 
recruitment process. The situation is as woeful as it is regrettable. It is the highest bidder 
that wins and not necessarily the right candidate.” Too appalling!
Unfortunately, this is the political environment within which the young people grow. In a 
similar vein, the young people in some cases have been used as instruments of violence 
during political campaigns and great have been the damaging effects. It is now the duty of 
the young people to be firm and act with right reason in every circumstance.  John Paul II 
(1982) admonished them thus: “As true youth you will see, judge and then act according 
to the criteria of the Gospel of Jesus Christ” (n.5). This admonition stretches to all sectors 
of community life in which the young people find themselves because their duty is an 
integral and not a lopsided one. 

Religious Context
Section 38(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria states that “Every 
person shall be entitled to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including 
freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom (either alone or in community with 
others, and in public or in private) to manifest and propagate his religion or belief in 
worship, teaching, practice and observance.” Corroborating this stipulation, the Fathers 
of the Second Vatican Council (1998) declared that,

Every person has a right to religious freedom. Freedom of this kind means that all 
men should be immune from coercion on the part of individuals, social groups and 
every human power so that, within due limits, nobody is forced to act against his 
convictions nor is anyone to be restrained from acting in accordance with his 
convictions in religious matters in private or in public, alone or in association with 
others. (n.2).

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Based on this liberty, people have constantly exploited the gullible masses in the name of 
religion. In some religious houses, there is a mixture of evangelism with African 
traditional beliefs. Some Pentecostal churches for instance depart radically from the 
preaching of the crucified Christ; offer wishy-washy holiness and continue to inundate 
their followers with the doctrines of prosperity. The young people begin to hanker for 
prosperity at all cost. Such prosperity gospel Anyaegbu (2020) affirms is “essentially the 
message that God does not want us to be poor but that he has destined riches, good health, 
and wealth for his children. It is a type of Christianity that chooses only what is 
comfortable and sweet at the rejection of every discomfort.” (p.64) This religious context 
thus propels the youth to go in search of wealth by hook or by crook. Unfortunately, this 
state of religion throws the youth who are not grounded in their faith into a confused state. 
The next line of action for them is to begin desperately to attempt any means that could 
yield money for them. In the end, they pay back with a handsome tithe believing that in 
such a manner God is appeased and their conscience is tranquillized. 

Factors Leading to Ego Mbute among young People
The young people are drawn to this tendency of ego mbute as against ikpa ego based on 
some obvious facts that surround them.

False Cult of Youth
This refers to those who build a future without deep roots. It is impossible for us to grow 
unless we have strong roots to support us be it academic, spiritual, proper use of reason, 
etc. It is a cult that dismisses hard work and seeks unstoppably for easy life. Such easy life 
seeks to amass wealth without hard work. To that effect, they can go to any imaginable 
length to get rich. That has lured many into hacking of accounts and such related cyber 
criminality.  It is a massive deception if one rejects attention to academic work but wants 
to work in a government office after schooling; a generation of young people without 
academic roots that ground them is easily manipulated. However, there is need for them to 
interact with the wise and trustworthy elders because their wisdom and influence are keys 
to developing those roots. According to Pope Francis (2019)“If we journey together, 
young and old, we can be firmly rooted in the present, and from here, revisit the past and 
look to the future.” (n.199).

Peer Influence
There is no gainsaying the fact that peer influence remains a very crucial factor especially 
when students leave home with meagre resources to meet their basic socio-economic 
demands in the school. This situation is not limited to children of poor family background 
but also those of the rich. These students as soon as they are set free from the apron strings 
of their parents will find themselves unable to manage their freedom. Consequently, most 
of them are blown away by any passing wind of deviant behaviour. 

Although parents are supposed to be the primary teachers of their children and wards, it is 
often evident that at times peer groups have greater influence. This is sequel to the fact 
that some of the parents get terribly engaged with their economic activities and thereby 
abdicate their responsibility to their children. Such children find succor in Internet and 
their peers. Evidently, they are not guided and they end up guiding themselves in 

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cybercrimes of every sort. Others are lured into ego mbute by their peers who are glued to 
Yahoo Yahoo business. This is very rampant in the tertiary institutions in Nigeria today. 
At times the parents make effort to inculcate Christian values on their children, but the 
peer group pressure often deletes these values from their head and reteaches their fellow 
peer the wrong attitudes that appeal to them. Incidentally, young people spend more time 
with their peers than with their parents. Therefore, young people must be vigilant and 
evaluate properly before adopting another's way of life.
 
Abdication of Parental Attention 
Inattention of parents towards their children is tantamount to irresponsible parenthood. 
This is another obstacle that could negatively redirect the mind of the young people away 
from their rightful decisions in life. It is worthy of note that parents are the primary 
educators of their children at every level of their growth. This education entails taking 
care of their material and spiritual needs in order to help them grow into responsible adults 
that could be of desirable help to themselves, to their parents, to the society and eventually 
gain eternal life hereafter. When parents neglect this duty, the resultant effect is most often 
manifested in irresponsible children. Such irresponsibility in young people will 
culminate in making wrong choices in life like drug-trafficking, cyber fraud and 
inordinate hunger for money. In the words of Benedict XVI (2010), “young people need 
witnesses and teachers who can walk with them, teaching them to love the Gospel and to 
share it, especially with their peers, and thus to become authentic and credible 
messengers” (n.104). When there is lack of proper guidance on the part of the parents, 
surely the young people remain in the words of Erasmus of Rotterdam like a “rolling stone 
that gathers no moss.” The gap could make them susceptible to succumb to the tendency 
of cyber fraud of any sort with the aim of getting rich quick (ego mbute).

Near Collapse of Academic Learning 
The main undoing of the young people is the speedy collapse of academic learning in 
Nigeria. More so, there is the tendency of seeing education solely as a means instead of an 
end. When education is seen solely as means of gaining white-collar job, then we got it all 
wrong. Education is to be seen primarily as an end through which one becomes a cultured 
human being and a well-balanced person. One who knows his onions has got to prove 
himself in his own field of learning. Education as a means also counts but it is purely 
secondary. In consequence of that, when education begins to collapse from its foundation 
as it is happening in Nigeria, then institutions of learning will be churning out a bunch of 
mediocre and half-baked graduates that parade about with certificates which they cannot 
creditably justify in the field of work. Terribly shameful! Nonetheless, given the fact that 
education should be seen also as a means but not primarily as such, it becomes pitiable 
when government has no plan in place for the absorption of young people in the field of 
work. Worse still, when education is made to be purely theoretical without a bent on the 
practical aspect that could promote self-reliance, it makes some young people to change 
their mind against the pursuit of learning that does not engage them at the end. Though 
such change is not right but not everyone has such intellectual capacity to reason in that 
direction. Many want to have something doing after their academic pursuit in order to 
help themselves, their parents, their younger ones and others.

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When education is almost messed up as it is now happening in Nigeria, young people will 
now have reasons to look for criminal alternative like cyber fraud of every kind aimed at 
ego mbute, drug trafficking, and in some cases kidnapping in order to get rich from the 
ransom. There is a serious need for a positive turn around with regard to education; 
otherwise the nation will be sitting on a keg of gun powder with regard to her future 
leadership. A nation populated by uneducated young people who are zealously aiming at 
ego mbute is dangerously heading to ruin. 

Unemployment 
John Paul II (1981) laments: “it is particularly painful when unemployment especially 
affects young people, who after appropriate cultural, technical and professional 
preparation fail to find work, and see their sincere wish to work and their readiness to take 
on their own responsibility for the economic and social development of the community 
sadly frustrated.” (n.18)
The case of Nigeria is pathetic because one doesn't see any light at the end of the tunnel 
because there is no evident plan in place regarding nipping the problem from bud. Such 
situation can generate any imaginable crime: violence, drug abuse, young people being 
used as political desperadoes etc.
It is however an education that aims at self-reliance that can help in remedying this 
situation. When that is done, the young people can engage themselves in some concrete 
job without depending so much on white-collar jobs. But to realize that objective, there is 
need to diversify education. A nation like Nigeria with the huge population of young 
people but without diversifying her educational system in order to make for self-reliant 
learning can in no way absorb such a teeming population of young people in the labour 
market. 
Sequel to that, the young people seek for an easy alternative which is readily at hand in 
cyber fraud and other related crimes in order to make quick money (ego mbute).

Conclusion 
We make haste to say that the youth form a formidable part of the Catholic Church in 
Nigeria. In fact, it is a common-place opinion as Okafor observes (2004) that the “future 
of the Church and indeed of humanity is in the hands of the young. It depends on the 
fundamental options they make and essential values they embody in their lives. They 
need therefore to be offered hope that can spur them on in their journey of faith.” 
To realize this objective, John Paul II (1995) noted that it is of utmost importance “to help 
young people to overcome the obstacles thwarting their development:  illiteracy, 
idleness, hunger, drugs” (n.93). But incidentally, being a vulnerable group, and as such 
susceptible to any wind of change whether positive or negative, they are easily lured to 
the ephemeral fantasies of life, like ego mbute with its concomitant dangers. The old 
tradition of ?kpa ego and ?gba b?? with which the Igbos were known has to be revived in 
order for the young people to imbibe its attendant virtues. Paul VI (1965) at the closing of 
Second Ecumenical Council made a passionate appeal to young people in these words: 

it is you who are to receive the torch from the hands of your elders and to live in the 
world at the period of the most gigantic transformations ever realized in its 
history. It is you who, receiving the best of the example of the teaching of your 

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parents and your teachers, are to form the society of tomorrow. You will either 
save yourselves or you will perish with it.

The young people have to be saved from the impending danger in Nigeria. All hands must 
be on deck: parents, teachers, church leaders, government and indeed the young people 
themselves. With their immense vitality, they have a limitless disposition towards the 
confrontation of challenges. Therefore, when the leaders properly harness their burning 
energies and talents, they could be a vital force in the process of societal change.

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