Social Values and the Yahooboys’ Subculture in Nigeria: Towards A Paradigm Shift for National Value Re-Orientation

Abstract

Society creates perimeters within which its members are expected to operate and employ sanction to stimulate, reinforce and dissuade certain behaviours. Social values generally define what society considers appropriate, right, noble or worthy behaviour. They drive the goals individuals set for themselves. However, when societal values are built on wrong principles or are clearly inconsistent, members’ goals become illfocused .This paper attempts to clarify some conceptual issues on social values, and traces the problem of online advance fee fraud, otherwise called yahoo-yahoo, among Nigerian youths to Nigeria values crisis and inconsistency. It sees this crisis as permeating every stratum of the Nigerian society and argues that a society that celebrates wealth, regardless of its source will produce a generation of youths who will in their pursuit of wealth indulge in all kinds of social vices, including cyber crime and criminality. It considers values re-orientation a panacea for cyber crime control.