Nigerian actor and movie producer, Aremu Afolayan, has deeply expressed his frustration with the deteriorating economic situation in the country, admitting that he regrets not engaging in cybercrime, commonly referred to as “Yahoo Yahoo” in Nigeria.
In an Instagram post, the 44-year-old actor expressed his disillusionment with legitimate hustling, saying, “All of the days when they talked about Yahoo Yahoo, today is the day I regret most that I didn’t do it. Legitimate hustling never felt so useless.”
Afolayan’s outburst comes amid growing despair among Nigerians as they grapple with severe economic challenges.
The soaring prices of essential commodities and rising unemployment have left many citizens struggling to survive.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria’s youth unemployment rate surged to 5.0 per cent in the third quarter of 2023, up from 4.2 per cent in the previous quarter.
President Bola Tinubu’s economic reforms, which were intended to improve the nation’s financial stability, have instead exacerbated the hardships faced by ordinary Nigerians.
It would be recalled that on the day of his inauguration on May 29th, 2023, President Tinubu announced the removal of the fuel subsidy, which had previously kept petrol prices relatively low.
The resulting sharp increase in petrol prices has significantly raised the cost of living, as businesses have passed on the increased transportation and energy costs to consumers.