'Nigeria must examine itself': Peter Obi addresses EFCC chairman’s claim that 6 in every 10 university students are 'yahoo boys'

• Peter Obi calls the statement worrisome and indicative of a society with no morals

• The former governor of Anambra State says the statement means 1.4 million youths are into cybercrimes.

• Nigerians have knocked the EFCC chairman for his statement, which he claims is based on one year of personal research.

In a lengthy post on X, former governor of Anambra state, Mr Peter Obi, addressed the recent comments of the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) that six out of 10 students in our universities are into cybercrime.

Obi described the statement as worrisome and one that must not be taken lightly. He added that Nigeria currently has an estimated 2 to 2.5 million people in higher institutions, and this would mean roughly 1.4 million young people are involved in fraud.

He said that these figures suggest that hard work does not matter, and this points to a collapse of moral values in society.

"EFCC's Troubling Revelation on Our Students.

The worrisome statement by the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) that 6 out of every 10 Nigerian university students are involved in “419” is deeply troubling and must not be taken lightly.

Nigeria already has a very limited number of students in higher institutions, estimated at 2 to 2.5 million. If indeed about 60% of them, roughly 1.4 million young people, are involved in fraud, then we are not just facing a crime issue; we are confronting a serious moral and systemic failure.

The question we must ask ourselves is: what has brought us to this level? Who are the role models these students are looking up to?. What values are they learning from society? We must understand that young people become what they consistently see.

When a system appears to reward wrongdoing, when integrity is not upheld, and when those in leadership are associated with allegations of forgery and dishonesty without consequence, it sends a dangerous message.

It suggests that hard work does not matter, and that results, by any means, are acceptable. These points clearly point to a collapse of moral values. As Socrates rightly said, “An unexamined life is not worth living.” Nigeria must now examine itself. This is not about condemning our young people.

It is about accepting that leadership sets the tone. If we do not demonstrate integrity at the top, we cannot expect it at the bottom. We must urgently rebuild our value system, enforce accountability without bias, and create an environment where honesty, hard work, and discipline are rewarded. That is the only sustainable path to securing the future of our nation."

On April 28, 2026, the EFCC chairman, Mr Ola Olukayode, while speaking in Kano at the opening ceremony of the 8th Biennial Conference of the Committee of Pro-Chancellors of State Universities in Nigeria, said that "my research in the last year has shown that about six out of 10 students in our universities are into cybercrime. It's a very disturbing situation".

His statement has since sparked reactions on social media, where many questioned the research and the basis of his claim. Some Nigerians have tagged the claim a dangerous stereotype that has exposed Nigerian youths to harassment from the EFCC and police brutality.