Get Rich Quick Syndrome : Blame the Elite-Prof. Olagoke

The get rich quick syndrome has caught up with Nigerian youths and adults alike, and this has resulted in an unspecified number of unresolved cases of advanced fee fraud, ritual killings, armed robberies and other get rich quick crimes.

Distraught parents and guardians are helpless, even as law enforcement and security agencies, who are saddled with the responsibility of protecting lives and property, have rather been more or less accomplices in these criminal acts

Indeed, a section of the elite and the political class are a different set of accomplices, whose roles in these crimes have heightened the insecurity in the land.

In this interview the Founder, Spiritual Head and Grand Imam of Shafuadeen-in-Islam Wordlwide, Porf. Sabitu Olagoke opines that the elite in society are,to a very great extent, to blame for the get rich quick syndrome among the youth and it would only take a miracle to reverse the ugly trend.

Nigerians. most especially the youth are increasingly getting involved in get rich quick crimes. What do you think is the cause ?

The get rich quick syndrome has been with us over the years and it featured some bad elements of the then Nigerian decent society, in an environment of the era of discipline. At this period we began to learn about some elderly people becoming wealthy in society without commensurate work value in their hands.

The society’s suspicion drove them to realize that such people must have joined some secret societies, which makes it imperative that after death certain parts of their bodies are severed for recompense.

Another version, is the use of human beings for rituals, most especially one of their children or kinsman.

The cat would eventually be let out of the bag, either after protracted illness or sudden death after a short life span.

The reaction of members of the society to the mysterious end of these people

resulted in the placing of emphasis on the essence of discipline in their children, with the traditional philosophy of work as an antidote to poverty.

This was the basis upon which our educational foundation were built, with the hope that graduates even of secondary schools, who might not be capable of furthering their education would be able to support their lives with ready made work to justify the little knowledge acquired.

Unfortunately, people in high places started the bad culture of self-enrichment syndrome, against all odds of possible heavy penalties for breaking the ethics of the profession or the organization.

This was what led to the first coup in Nigeria, led by 29 year old Kaduna Nzeogwu, whose team struck because of what they term as 10 per cent corruption, in government and business circles.

The profile of poverty indices due to corruption and state of impunity xrayed by experts, put them into rising profile of 15 per cent in the first republic, 28.8 per cent in the second republic.

Babangida and Abacha era put it to the maximum of 65 per cent, while the fourth republic failed woefully to control and checkmate these orgies of corruption, to start at 70 per cent, which attracted people’s attention because of its uncontrollable nature, despite all the state apparatus on anti-graft exercise.

Psychologically, human beings are born robotic as education is for refinement, at least 20 per cent level from the classrooms, while the environment take 80 per cent charges to make or mar the animal called man.

If negative influences overwhelms man, he returns to the beastly level of operation.

Unfortunately in Nigeria, education is dysfunctional, with all the domains of education rendered ineffective.

For example, apart from the literacy advantage of education from the realm of affective domain, attitudinal rectitude is supposed to be critically addressed to be responsible for character building of any graduate produced.

Unfortunately, it is paradoxically ironical, to note that the so called enlightened elite, who we regard as educated, are to a great extent responsible for all the fraudulent acts in the society, not minding the oath of allegiance, loyalty and discipline already sworn to before taking up any appointment in the scheme of action building.

Equally unfortunate is that corruption and impunity have for long found their ways into the Judiciary, where the era of incorruptible Justices seem to have gone for good and profanity has replaced sacredness on matters concerning the house of God making justice, equity and divine interventions to elude the society. Hence the travail of poor practices in governance.

For our youth, they are products of these unfortunate circumstances and except through miracles, it would be very hard to produce children, who will not inherit the blood of timocracy and the culture of get rich quick syndrome. This is because the environment is hostile and all agents of socialization for the support of even growth of children have been broken down to pieces.Again, unfortunately, whenever we want to have any change of government, political manifesto is always absent with no ideological goals in place. Hence, our failure to address all these problems.

Sad, enough, vote buying has replaced the ethical principles of the conduct of elections, making the society to remain pawns in the hands of any emerging government, that would prefer self enrichment at the expense of the welfare of the people.

For sanity to reign therefore, we must put in place visionary leaders, who will be ready to sacrifice everything it takes to deliver.