Nigeria is today in the throes of an all pervasive but pernicious social change. This social change has inspired the widespread jettisoning of traditional age old values. Modesty, as an example, that deferential feature upheld in almost all Nigerian ethnic groups, is now openly habitually scorned. This scorn is aptly exemplified in the mantra which was used to usher in the immediate late year– the intense mantra ‘no gree for anybody!’ which means literally, ‘don’t let anyone upstage you, intimidate you or outshine you’. The mantra was so popular that the police was forced to issue a statement warning against the impact of such a hard-line value on social cohesion.
However even before the advent of the ‘no gree for anybody’ mantra, the Nigerian society in its totality had already began to move perceptibly away from its erstwhile deferential culture to a culture of assertiveness buoyed with the belief that the good life was there to be plucked if only one sought for it hard enough and without any moral scruples. It is in this wise that the present Nigerian society closely mimics the American society of the late nineteenth century. That era of modern American history, termed the gilded age, was characterised by rampant political corruption and blatant materialism inundated by several get rich quick schemes.
In Nigeria today, the political system has been nearly eviscerated by systemic and unbridled multi-faceted corruption and important state institutions such as the courts and the police are intricately entangled in the deep-seated sleaze. The current president of the country is dogged by serious allegations of drug dealing, forgery, stealing, embezzlement of state funds, etc. Indeed, almost all significant political office holders, including judges are tarred by one corruption allegation or the other.
Among the ordinary citizenry there is an overpowering desire to quickly ascend the social ladder. This predilection for a quick fix to instant wealth has inspired the routine slaughter of citizens for money making rituals and the ‘hook up’ culture. The hook up culture is simply using the agency of the social media as a link to prospective sexual partners for a fee. In cruder terms hook up is one night stand or several nights stand. It could also be a paid girlfriend. The abiding advantage of hook up over other brands of prostitution is that it enables the practitioners to maintain a façade of respectability. Thus given this veneer, hook up is attractive to married women, single ladies, students, minors, retirees, the list is endless. To be sure, hook up directly supplies the humans required for the money making rituals. The prospective assailant simply solicits for the target through social media channels with an outrageous offer. The humongous offer beclouds reason and the prey eagerly walks into the abattoir. However, here are other means of accessing victims such as through kidnapping and abduction. It would appear from all indications that the gilded age is likely to endure in
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