Between good and bad
Wikipedia describes the concept of good as the conduct that should be preferred when posed with a choice between possible actions. Good is generally considered to be the opposite of evil and is of ethics, morality, philosophy, and religion, while bad is the opposite of good and having undesirable or negative qualities. The good thing about something bad or evil is that it helps us to appreciate good. Otherwise, what is bad is bad.
The two words good and evil are abstract concepts. These two concepts are often considered as the opposite of each other. Evil means immoral and wicked while good means moral, pleasing and welcoming. This is the key difference between good and evil. These two concepts are often used in various religions.
In some instances, what is good and bad is based on culture and traditions and society’s perspective. There are some practices that are taboos in some places and acceptable to others. What is morally right in country A is morally wrong in country B. This is the case of good is bad and bad is good.
This article intends to look at what is generally accepted to all and what is not. According to Alexander Solzhenitsyn, “If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being.” As Eric Burdon will put it, “inside each of us, there is the seed of both good and evil. It’s a constant struggle as to which one will win. And one cannot exist without the other.”
Nigerians no doubt are hustlers. Take the hustling spirit out of an average Nigerian and he or she is empty. Hustling is inbuilt into our DNA. Hustling keeps Nigerians and economy alive. With technology and the internet, it has made hustling easy for Nigerian youths. Most Nigerian youths have devised various means to live above poverty line and find for themselves and families. They are becoming self-employed than waiting for the white collar job that is not available.
Today, we have more Nigerian youths go into fashion, become makeup artists, art, on-line business, buying and selling, laundry services, clothing line, catering services, mobile food services, skit and content creation which is one of the highest paying online jobs and a host of others.
The internet has to a large extent, assisted Nigerians especially the youths becoming financially independent. Business connections have become easier. Skit and content creators are revolutionising the comedy segment of the larger entertainment or creative industry in the country. According to a report, some Nigerian skit makers make more than $20,000 monthly from their creative trade. With easier accessibility to the internet and widespread social media use, digital skit content continues to go viral. With millions of followers, these skit makers smile to the bank with hundreds of millions of naira yearly. This is aside several endorsements.
However, not all online business or activities are morally and legally acceptable. Some of our youths are using the internet to scam and defraud others rather than channel their talents into positives things online/internet. One of such unacceptable money making scheme is the internet scam and cybercrime known in Nigeria as “Yahoo.” Yahoo boys is a popular term used in Nigeria to describe young men in their late teens to as old as 50 years and even more. The name comes from targeting users of yahoo services. Some of these yahoo boys have the backing of their parents. How else would you describe or explain a teenager or a boy in his 20s, not known to be legally employed or self-employed, whose parent (s) are celebrating over a luxury car bought for them? How do you explain a teenager with latest iPhone? These Yahoo boys make from thousands to millions of naira, sleep in hotels with younger girls and party away, dominate restaurants and social hangouts. They determine the price of jean trousers, male boxers, make footwear and tee shirts for men. They are now expensive. Yahoo boys have removed subsidy from men’s clothing.
Both are means of making money. While one is good, the other is bad. It means you can make money, so much money without scamming, stealing or engaging in criminal activities. Everything on earth has its own time and season. Good will always triumph over evil. Yahoo will one day become a thing of the past, while those who engage in legitimate businesses will keep soaring higher and higher. It is either yahoo fades away like the wind or the arm of the law catches up with perpetrators of this evil means of making quick money. In life, we are responsible for our actions be it good or bad.
Ray Hushpuppi, was one of the richest yahoo boys in Nigeria until he was arrested and was sentenced to 11 years behind bars. He was always in the spotlight as news about him frequently appeared on popular Nigerian blogs. The internet celebrity is serving an 11-year jail term in the United States of America for “extensive international online fraud.
He was said to have committed crimes bordering on money laundering, cyber fraud, hacking, impersonation, scamming individuals, banking fraud and identity theft worth Dh1.6 billion (an estimated N168 billion). Olalekan Jacob Ponle, aka Mr. Woodberry, is also another yahoo boy. He was one of Dubai’s most affluent Nigerian Yahoo boys. Mr. Woodberry’s net worth was alleged to be 7.8 million dollars. He was arrested by the Dubai Police and pleaded guilty to fraud charges. He agreed to surrender proceeds of wire fraud to the US government and luxury cars and wristwatches to the foreign government. Olalekan Jacob is currently serving eight years in jail.
According to James E. Faust, “in this life, we have to make many choices. Some are very important choices. Some are not. Many of our choices are between good and evil. The choices we make, however, determine to a large extent our happiness or our unhappiness, because we have to live with the consequences of our choices.”
John Bradshaw, put it succinctly, a ‘good person’ is somebody who is fully conscious of their own limitations. They know their strengths, but they also know their ‘shadow’ – they know their weaknesses. In other words, they understand that there is no good without bad. Good and evil are really one, but we have broken them up in our consciousness. We polarise them.” While Alexander Solzhenitsyn once said, “People like to say that the conflict is between good and evil… Inside each of us, there is the seed of both good and evil.” We are responsible for our actions and we have been given the freedom to choose between good and evil.
As you go about your daily life activities, sit back, think and ponder, am I right or wrong? I conclude with Margaret Thatcher’s concept of good and evil, “I am in politics because of the conflict between good and evil, and I believe that in the end, good will triumph.”
