Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, who was once the Minister of Petroleum Resources, has lamented that societal values have so degraded that Yahoo Boys and fraudsters are now seen as role models.

She said this at an event on Friday.

The event which was organised by the Ijaw National Development Group, featured Mrs. Alison as the keynote speaker, with former President Goodluck Jonathan also in attendance.

The former minister said, “The ones that have swag, the Yahoo Yahoo boys, as my son would say; these, in short, are the role models they are looking at. These are the ones that reinforce negative societal norms and values.

“This is a travesty of an unfolding tragedy for us. Why have I spent time talking about fatherless homes and the impact they have on our children? The truth of the matter is that an irresponsible boy tends to become an irresponsible man and it is therefore a vicious cycle. If you plant yam, you cannot harvest plantain.”