How Nigerians glorify fraud as Hushpuppi Arrested in Dubai

The report on the arrest of Nigerian Big Boy Ray Hushpuppi in Dubai circulated across social media Earlier this morning, and many Nigerians have reacted to the fraud allegation.

According to some reports on the internet, Hushpuppi was arrested alongside popular socialite Woodberry by the FBI and Interpol in Dubai.

They were reportedly linked to a $35million ventilator scam that was earlier busted by the FBI.

Nigerians across diverse social media platforms have been discussing the unexpected arrest and the discussion borders on fraud and how it’s been glorified by many Nigerians.

READ ALSO: “Its an honour to go to prison” – House of Reps tells Orji Uzor Kalu

Many Nigerians have always been questioning the Hushpuppi’s source of wealth, and most people attribute his luxurious lifestyle to fraud as he does not appear t have a legitimate source of income, at least none to the knowledge of his critics and followers.

The celebrity who has more than 2 million followers on Instagram, is always being worshiped by his fans, inclduing some other celebrities in the country who must have in one way or the other benefitted from his largess.

He was once rumored to have invited a Nigerian actress to his palatial mansion outside of the country, and he was being hailed by many as a man of the people over his ‘philanthropic’ lifestyle.

Recently, Hushpuppi gave a Nigerian boy N1million just for praying for him. This single act drew more fans to him and he was being considered as a man of the people, even though he is not associated with any legitimate business.

Talking about Nigerians’ love for fraud on social media, many argue that the scourge is not only limited to the worship of established internet fraudsters, but also extended to politicians.

Notable of one is the case of Senator Orji Uzor Kalu who had been in prison for 6 months and was recently released. While in prison, his seat was not declared vacant and immeditaley after his release, he resumed his position as the chief Whip in the house.

I’ve seen many ask why Nigerian youths glorify yahoo & Hushpuppi. Here is Orji Uzor Kalu returning to Senate as Chief whip after just 6mnths in prison for 7.2bn fraud. Nigeria glorifies fraud. Youths see Politics as elite version & yahoo as street version.

We have industries allegedly financed by suspicious funds, eg music, real estate, car sales, etc. In a country where over 90m live in poverty, Youths see poverty all around, & the few wealth that they see are mostly from fraud. The state leaves little else for youths to admire.

Even the police promotes fraud. It’s easy to sit in the comfort of our privileged homes behind iPhone 11s and castigate youths, but for as long as we do not as a society provide more legitimate young success stories for them to model after, glorification of fraud will continue.

The government needs to engage in serious sensitization of the people to make them realize fraud is crime and also create enabling environments to grow their ideas and businesses, Ayo Bankole further stated

“The state must continuously show by actions that we shun fraud. We must create opportunities for more youths to make it than they do from fraud. We must walk the talk, not to condemn fraud on TV while raising the flag of fraud after. The system is broken. We must fix it. End”