There exist manifold challenges being faced by Nigerian society, but the recent which is fast-growing, welcomed and becoming ubiquitous is daylight phone snatching, brutally committed by the Nigerian youths.
We can all see there hardly would come a day without a terrible report on phone snatching. The most painful part of it, is that, it is not the phone alone that matters, but the injuries, cuts and all the victims must survive during the saga. In fact, at times it transforms from snatching a phone to brutal murder if the victim refuses to give in.
It’s something we should all give a radical consideration, it was seldom committed in the past few years. And within the wink of an eye, just like a pandemic, it has become a burning matter among us. But, of all, what gave this rise to undesirable situation? What is the factor responsible for this sudden increase of the crime? It’s a question we must all answer to avoid this baptism of fire; the only way to our salvation.
The root of almost all evils is negative-mindedness, illiteracy and unemployment, having their ancestry from the shackles of poverty. It has been noted as one of the driving factors responsible for almost all evils committed in the society. Many times a thief would be caught and they cite poverty as the excuse, and it’s something open poverty doesn’t warrant theft, murder or any other evil in the society.
However, poverty is the main factor forcing some of the youths to commit crimes beyond phone snatching, daylight robbery, kidnapping, corruption are some of the crimes of bedeviling the country.
It’s a task and responsibility upon us to fight it in the society via collaborative actions and honesty. The government and society should look for ways to provide the youths with education, skills, and employment, but this cannot be done without honesty, impartiality, and collaborative actions. The government should be honest in giving jobs to the qualified citizens, and the society collaborate in providing the youths with skills they can hinge upon for their livelihood.
On the other hand, negative-mindedness and illiteracy only come into existence when the quest for literacy is abandoned by our youths, and then they soon develop instincts to harm and make ends meet by hook or by crook.
But, who is to blame for this societal degeneration? It’s something inevitable that those at the forefront are the parents, the government and the society. Acknowledging the well-known fact that a literate person would hardly take a gun, a knife or any other object in the name of harming someone, so it’s a task upon the aforementioned in the society to make sure all Nigerian children attend school, and are set on the right path.
In the same vein, the society should collaboratively come up with committees against phone snatching and other crimes committed in both rural and urban areas. As soon any youth is caught going astray, an immediate action should be taken as a way of extinguishing the flame that might later become a catastrophe.
On the other hand, the government, too, should implement strict laws against any repugnant act however negligible it is in society. By letting the little vices take root, they grow and become headlines of tomorrow.
It is very apparent that until we shun this deadly menace of phone snatching, we will come to a stage where using our mobile phones, laptops and other devices for our communication and businesses would become a dangerous experience,
done with uneasy stomachs, and only in our rooms.
Salim Yakubu Akko,
Faculty of Science, Gombe State University.
