EVEN if society and its values are subject to rapid change, there ought to be certain things that are fairly constant. And that includes moral values. If anything, the way the Nigerian society’s time-honoured values are being set aside in recent times, particularly in relation to proper upbringing in the family set up, calls for a reappraisal. All too often these days, and perhaps taking a cue from those they look up to, Nigeria’s young people take precipitate, questionable actions that amount to effectively throwing their lives away. This is the feeling thrown up by the case of a 21-year-old final-year student of the Kwara State College of Health Technology, Offa, Awesu Mojisola Oluwafunmike, whose corpse was recently discovered at a refuse dump. According to reports, Mojisola, who had just celebrated the completion of her course three weeks before the sad incident and splashed photos of the joyous event on social media platforms, went missing on August 9.

The spokesperson of the Kwara State Police Command, DSP Toun Ejire-Adeyemi, would later reveal that on August 12, one Olorunoje of Aleniboro area in Ilorin, Kwara State, told the police that while he was returning home from the mosque on August 11, a group of labourers informed him that they had found a body dumped in a refuse site. The police boss stated that following the report, a team of detectives was immediately dispatched to the scene. Ejire-Adeyemi said: “According to the report, Miss Mojisola received a phone call on August 9 from Miss Timileyin, who informed her about an event organised by students of Summit University and Al-Hikmah University in Ilorin. Miss Timileyin introduced Mojisola to one Mr Adebayo Happiness, a student of Summit University, who allegedly invited her to a night party under the pretence of having her act as his girlfriend for a fee of N15,000. Upon her arrival in Ilorin, Miss Mojisola informed her roommate that she felt uncomfortable in the hotel she was lodged by Adebayo Happiness and noted that there was no party at the said location. Shortly after this communication, her phone was switched off and all subsequent efforts by Miss Blessing to reach her were unsuccessful. In light of these developments, the Kwara State Police Command has arrested suspects in connection with the case. An investigation is ongoing, and the case has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department for further discreet investigation.”

This story is, to say the least, distressing. It is saddening to realise that a young lady who thought she was on a romantic adventure, however unusual, lies in the morgue or her grave at the moment, silenced forever by depraved individuals. Reported to be in the premises of a hotel, Mojisola would later be found at a dumpsite, a metaphor for the strange ailment that has seized Nigerian youth. It is not fashionable to blame the dead in this clime, but we cannot help noticing that the victim’s fate was patently avoidable. Unless the details surrounding her demise as published in the media so far are inaccurate, there are valid grounds for believing that with her impulsive, if not foolhardy, actions, the victim in this story did not exactly cover herself in glory. To be sure, it is not unusual for fresh graduates still dazed by the reality of their academic accomplishment to want to “catch fun”. That is why the Final Year Brethren or FYB as they are called typically in the country these days stage weeklong celebrations, including parties, in order to mark the end of their academic sojourn in their respective institutions. But these celebrations, legitimate as they may be, should not extend to such absurdities as agreeing to act as someone’s girlfriend for a fee, and going to a different town to meet total strangers. Truth be told, regardless of the fact that the victim in this case may have had honest intentions, such a move has the trappings of sexual immorality signposted by such terms as “coded runs.”

The foregoing does not of course nullify the fact that a grievous crime was committed against the victim in this story. Regardles of the indiscretions that may be noticed in her actions, it is still a fact that she did not kill herself. She was murdered, and the prime suspects certainly should include the young man who reportedly lodged her in the hotel where she was last spoken to as a living soul, the friend who connected her to her suspected killer(s), and the staff of the hotel in question. If the deceased’s body was found at a dump site, then it is a no-brainer that someone dumped it there, and the hotel staff must explain what they knew about the development and when they knew it. They must explain how a guest ended up at a dumpsite, completely lifeless. If the deceased left the hotel before her death, then there must be documentary evidence, unless the said hotel is only one in name.

Pray, why “act” as anyone’s girlfriend? Was it because of poverty or greed? How do you travel from one town to another to meet somebody you don’t know? Surely, there is something called decency and self-respect. A person without self esteem is as good as dead. Just what is the society turning into when people act as if life is all about money regardless of how you make it? In particular, members of the young generation called GenZ seem to be too fickle-minded, and rather too cavalier in their approach to life, but it is also unfair not to acknowledge that the source of their malady is the Nigerian society with its craze for money and materialism. Increasingly these days, young Nigerians, including teenagers, engage in occult manipulations, using human flesh to make money. They have caught the get-rich-quick bug and seemingly cannot look back, determined to live the big life that they see their beloved celebrities living, and no doubt also taken in by social media façade. In the instant case, it is not unlikely that the deceased is a victim of ritual killing. The code among the youth seems to be to get rich very quickly, or die trying. Yet the fact is that young people need to be wary of the destructive orientation that pervades the Nigerian society where people venerate people who come into sudden, unexplainable wealth without bothering to ask any questions. Young people who boast of their wealth, riding the latest cars and building mansions without visible means of livelihood are given such panegyrics as Odogwu, Alaye and Pablo, and they reap harvests of chieftaincy titles and awards.

We call for a thorough investigation into this case so that the murderers of Mojisola Awesu can be tracked down and prosecuted to the fullest extent allowed by law. They do not deserve to live after committing such a grievous crime. At the same time, we call on Nigerian youth to be extremely circumspect in striking up relationships. May the soul of the deceased rest in sweet repose. (Sunday Vanguard)

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