Flaunting wealth unreasonably, shamelessly online can expose you to touts in Lagos – Sanwo-Olu warns

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has warned that flaunting cash on social media can expose people to harassment by touts who demand a share of their displayed wealth.

Sanwo-Olu spoke on Thursday at the Financial Times Africa Summit in London while responding to concerns about the harassment of tourists and residents by hoodlums and touts on the streets of Lagos.

Joining the summit virtually from Lagos, the governor said some social media influencers and other individuals publicly display large sums of money, attracting the attention of people who may feel entitled to a share.

“What has happened is that a lot of people are using social media to express wealth, to showcase how much money they suddenly all gotten,” he said.

“You go to some influencers page and people are unreasonably and shamelessly displaying cash as a way of telling their followers that they have arrived.”

Sanwo-Olu said some people who flaunt their wealth online are later accosted by others demanding money after seeing their social media posts.

He stressed that displaying wealth did not justify harassment but urged people to exercise restraint when showcasing their financial status.

He added that such display could expose individuals and their families to pressure from people who question how they acquired their wealth.

“When these set of people now get accosted on the streets, it is to say that ‘we saw you yesterday posting that you have N10 million cash, give us out of it’,” he said.

“Whilst I am not going to speak that anybody should be harassed for displaying his or her wealth, I think we also can have a lot of restraint.”

Asked how the Lagos government intends to tackle the activities of hoodlums and touts, and address concerns that street harassment could undermine the state’s reputation as a major tourist destination, Sanwo-Olu said his administration is addressing the problem through skills acquisition programmes, social support and efforts to remove criminally inclined individuals from the streets.

He said the government had been taking vulnerable people off the streets and offering them opportunities to acquire vocational skills, noting that some returned to Lagos from other parts of the country.

The governor added that the state was working towards establishing a Lagos resident identity system to identify residents, their locations and occupations.

According to him, the proposed system would help the government gather data on residents’ needs and determine the skills, trades and other forms of support required to improve their livelihoods.

“With that we can use data to ask you what you require of government. What kind of skills do you want to learn? What kind of trade can we support you with?” he said.

Sanwo-Olu said the government needed to distinguish between people engaging in street activities because of unemployment and those involved in criminal conduct.

The governor also announced that the state was building what he described as the largest mental health facility.

He added that the facility would provide care for people requiring mental health support and help address challenges associated with vulnerable individuals living on the streets.

Sanwo-Olu said tackling street harassment required a combination of interventions, including vocational training, social support, mental health services and action against criminal activities.

“Because quite frankly, there are people that we need to take off the streets. If you are criminally inclined, it is for government to do the right thing by taking you off the streets and be able to deal with it,” he said.

“For the ones that are criminal, let’s also be able to deal with it. It is an hydra-headed solution.”