Ok. Let me get this straight. Someone creates a fake Twitter account, a parody of a well-known, yet still rising, Nigerian comedian named Lasisi. Given the name on the recipient’s account details it is convincing that the face behind the fake Twitter account is a male.
This person solicited money from his followers by tweeting that they should send him money and that he would credit the amount back with a much higher amount. He claimed that no amount was too small. He was clear about the channel through which the transfer must be made. He asked his preys to show proof that they had sent the money to him. The proof would be a screenshot of the transfer.
Either out of sympathy or greed, I’m not sure what it was, his followers went on a reckless spree of sending money to him in the hope that they would get much higher amounts. Some sent N200, N500, 1000, N2000, depending on how much they had in their accounts and were hoping to get doubled or tripled. In a revealed private message between a female prey and the impostor she revealed to the impostor that she had N3000 in her account and that she was willing to send it all, so long she would get a much higher amount in return. The impostor replied: “sacrifice it”. Guess what? She did sacrifice it and now she is regretting, asking whoever cares to listen to help her.
Upon hearing the ongoing scam, the real owner of the Twitter account, Lasisi, went public via his Twitter account to disclaim the account and apologize to the victims. He said he would track down the face behind the fake account and ensure he got the justice he deserved. Interestingly, the victims who have tried to contact the impostor have been blocked. Too bad, they can’t ask for their money back.
Why did this happen?
This happened because Twitter has become a comfortable begging space for many young Nigerian Twitter users. Many of them solicit money on Twitter from some perceived Twitter influencers, for example Politicians, Celebrities and self-made philanthropists. But these people are all accomplices. Yes. You politicians, celebrities and self-acclaimed philanthropists fuel Twitter begging with your largesse. It’s s a bitter pill to swallow.
On one hand, in pursuit of followers, arguably, some of these aforementioned figures have come out with this idea of giving out money to people, but to stand a chance of being chosen you must be following them. That’s another way of buying Twitter followers, while pretending to be a philanthropist. Isn’t it? On the other hand, some of them who claim they already have enough Twitter followers, give out largesse, yet they still want you to follow them on instagram or tiktok before you become a beneficiary. Is it really philanthropy when you have conditions, like “you must be following me” attached to it?
With COVID19 pandemic, Twitter begging has become worse. The way Nigerians expose their account numbers on Twitter makes one to wonder if account numbers are no longer private information. Begging on Twitter has become worse that people don’t read tweets to understand what is being ask of them. For example, the other day someone tweeted: “In my own little way I’m giving out 5 people for 20k each. Drop your details...” In a blink of an eye his twitter timeline was inundated with account names and numbers from people begging him to choose them. I was left in stitches, but at the same I wept for my people.
But Twitter begging can stop. How?
First, those who give out largess on Twitter either to gain followers, or show off their wealth, or even compete with rivals should put the breaks on their actions. They must realize how they have turned young Nigerian Twitter users into common beggars. There are other ways to demonstrate your spirit of philanthropy.
Second, young Nigerian Twitter users must understand that they aren’t different from street beggars, which I believe many of them on twitter abhor to see begging on the street. You say it’s disgusting to beg on the street, yet you go on Twitter and be begging politicians and celebrities money. If anything is different it’s just the platform.
Stop Twitter begging, I beg you!!
April 1 2020
@Chuma_47
