This organization is training 'Yahoo boys' to be coders

‘Yahoo yahoo’ is not exactly a new form of scamming. The original version, known as advanced fee fraud in formal terms and ‘419’ in less formal terms, started way before the email. ‘Yahoo yahoo’ is just the Internet version of that.

Be that as it may, running online scams requires a certain level of technical know-how and a social organisation called Paradigm Initiative is taking advantage of that to train disadvantaged ‘Yahoo’ boys/girls to build apps and businesses instead.

The organisation uses a 10-week course to teach students a host of entrepreneurial and tech skills, from money management to coding and web design.

“If you can hack a website in the name of committing a crime, then you can design a real website and get paid for it,” says ‘Gbenga Sesan, the founder and executive director of Paradigm Initiative, according to a Fast Company article.

“There are people in our program who believed that crime was their only option–some said that it was their way of giving back to a system that disappointed them and didn’t allow them to get a job even after going to school.”

Over half of Nigeria’s youth population is either unemployed or underemployed with an even larger percentage of the population living below the poverty line.

By giving 12 to 28-year-olds from poor backgrounds a highly tech-focused training, Paradigm Initiative aims to help a lot of young Nigerians join the digital economy.

“We do this work because the Nigerian government has failed in its responsibility to educate properly. Our work is a challenge to the government, to show them a model that works,” says Sesan, according to Fast Company.

The organisation is a social enterprise that is supported by partners like Facebook, Google and the Ford Foundation, and is funded by its consulting work. It operates out of five offices across the country.

ALSO READ:In 2016, scammers made N2.91 billion from defrauding Nigerians online

Paradigm Initiative doesn’t go out it’s way to advertise its opportunities to people involved in the ‘Yahoo’ business. The students find their way to the program through Paradigm Initiative’s work with local governments, word of mouth and other sources like community programs.

Also, since a representative of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) told the social enterprise in 2008 — a year after Sesan started the company — that it would arrest any students who openly admits to being involved in ‘Yahoo yahoo’, the company does not keep records of how many students it has trained.

In addition to the regular course, Paradigm Initiative also teaches the students basic “life skills” like how to interview for jobs and manage their finances to help them thrive in office environments — something a majority of the students aren’t familiar with.

“Life skills are important for someone who is already leaning toward becoming a criminal, because you want them to see why they need to build a career; why delayed gratification is important,” says Sesan.

One student has already built an app called MobiCheck which allows patients check their medical data in real time while another has invented an app that lets users block x-rated content with a voice-recognition algorithm that detects age.

“I grew up here, and what you’re typically told is that you won’t be successful because the system will work against you. People who have had unfortunate circumstances in their own life use that to discourage students. They have parents, uncles, and family members who tell them, ‘I’m 55, and I don’t even have a job. This is a terrible country.’ That’s what they grow up around. So it takes time to get through to them,” says Sesan.

So far, Paradigm Initiative has helped the students get high profile internships with employers like the US Embassy, Afrinvest and DHL. Every student must also writes a report six months after graduating from the program detailing what they have worked on since leaving the program.

What do you think about this kind of thing? Should there be more programs like this? Let us know in the comments section below!