After banning ritualists, corrupt politicians will still serve as bad role models – Hardi Yakubu

A leading member of the Economic Fighters League (EFL), Hardi Yakubu, has asserted that banning money doubling advertisements on television will not solve the problem of the inordinate desire for money because the privileged class will continue to socialize the younger generation to see money as the most important possession no matter how it is acquired.

The Fighter General of the Economic Fighters League (EFL) explained that the call for a ban on the activities of money doublers on TV is not the cause of the unbridled desire of young people to make money through foul means but the effect of activities of the privileged class who amass wealth through corrupt means when they assume political power.

For him, young people learn from this unscrupulous privileged class but since they have no political clout or connections to steal from the state, they resort to every other means to get money, including ritual killings.

“Once again, we must look at this issue from a class perspective. In a highly classized society like ours, the lifestyles and methods of the upper class (privileged class) are the standards. Both the means and ends serve as examples to which people look and aspire…With capitalism pervading every facet of our society, the most important thing of value is MONEY. Everything else is below it in value. So the privileged class amass all money and power using various means which are not always proper. For example, the privileged class acquire money through dubious contracts, money laundering, kickbacks etc.

All that is important is the MONEY, how they get it is not questioned. Indeed even if it is questioned in a court of law, they are given mild sentences only to be released to enjoy the booty. 99.9% of the time, they never get jailed, nor is the money ever recovered. They splash the money everywhere. Through socialisation, young people learn by observation that all they need to do is acquire money,” he asserted.

“But they [young people],” he continued, “are not in positions of power and privilege, so they can’t influence contracts or get kickbacks. So they adopt different means because they must still buy the luxurious houses and cars. So merely banning the advertisements of money doubling on TV solves nothing. Young people live in the communities and they see the beach front houses, the land cruisers, luxury apartments acquired in less than four years of being in power.”

To tackle the issue of young people seeking to enrich themselves at all cost, he suggests that we look at the cause of the phenomenon and not the effect which is the advertisement of money doubling on TV.

“That is more advertisement of money-doubling or even money-quadrupling than what you see on TV. They learn by observing; practical socialisation.

The advertisement is not a cause, it is an effect. The fact that the national media, which is a mirror of society even shows those is an indication that there is a more fundamental cause. To solve a problem, look for the cause and not the effect,” he concluded.

Mr Yakubu’s assertion comes on the back of the killing of a 10-year-old in Kasoa in the Central Region by two teenagers allegedly for money rituals.