02/08/2026
Some of you may think you are helping Nigerians, but the truth is that you may be destroying opportunities for people without even knowing it.
Not every opportunity you discover online should immediately become a YouTube tutorial, TikTok video, Facebook post or paid course.
Especially when what you are sharing is not how to qualify for the opportunity, but how to cheat the system.
As a Nigerian, before you think you have discovered a new remote job, AI platform or online money-making opportunity, just know that Indians, Pakistanis, Filipinos and people from several other countries have probably been using that same platform long before you found it.
They have made money from it, supported their families and brought their people into the space.
Some of them may even have discovered loopholes along the way, but they did not always carry cameras and announce those loopholes to the whole world.
But once some Nigerians discover the same opportunity, the first thing they do is set up a camera.
They will not just tell people that the platform exists or explain the skills needed to succeed there. They will begin teaching people how to open multiple accounts, change their locations, manipulate verification, use another person’s identity or bypass the rules.
Then they will title the video, “This is the secret they don’t want you to know.”
Who exactly is “they”?
Do you think the owners of these platforms cannot use YouTube, TikTok, Facebook or Google?
Do you think the people working in their fraud, security and compliance departments cannot search the name of their own company online?
The internet is not a private WhatsApp group for Nigerians. Anything you post can be seen by anyone, including the same organisation whose system you are teaching people to abuse.
I understand that we have suffered so much in Nigeria that many people now see every system as something they must beat.
Instead of asking, “How do I meet the requirements?” the first question becomes, “How do I bypass the requirements?”
The sad part is that once some people discover a loophole, they cannot keep quiet about it. They must turn it into content because loopholes attract attention faster than legitimate advice.
Tell people to learn a skill for six months and they may ignore you.
Tell them there is a secret way to make $500 this week and thousands of people will gather immediately.
That is how these opportunities become overcrowded with people who do not have the required skills, people using fake information, people opening multiple accounts and people copying the same answers.
Before long, the platform notices unusual activity from one location.
They notice several accounts connected to the same devices, payment methods, identities or network patterns.
They notice the drop in the quality of work.
They see the videos teaching people how to manipulate their systems.
And what do you think happens next?
They introduce stricter verification, reduce opportunities from that country or completely restrict access.
The most painful part is that the innocent people who were already working honestly on the platform will suffer too.
The person who took time to learn the skill will suffer.
The person who passed the assessment honestly will suffer.
The person who has built a good reputation and depends on that platform to feed their family will suffer.
Meanwhile, the content creator who exposed everything will simply move to another platform and begin another video.
This is why I have noticed that many of the people loudly exposing these loopholes are not even earning consistently from the platforms they talk about.
Their real business is not the platform.
Their real business is growing their social media accounts, getting views and selling courses to desperate Nigerians.
Because their livelihood does not depend on that platform remaining open, they do not care who gets hurt when it eventually becomes restricted.
Nigeria is already standing on a very thin line when it comes to benefiting from global opportunities.
Not because Nigerians are the worst people in the world.
Fraud exists everywhere. Immigration abuse happens in many countries. People manipulate online systems in different parts of the world.
The difference is that Nigerians can be extremely loud about our own bad behaviour.
Someone will discover a way to cheat a system, record every step, attach their face to it, publish it publicly and encourage thousands of people to do the same.
Then when the platform restricts Nigerians, we will say the world hates black people.
Yes, racism exists.
Discrimination exists.
Unfair profiling of Nigerians also exists.
But we must be honest enough to admit that sometimes we make ourselves easy targets.
There are many African and black countries that do not face some of the online restrictions Nigerians face.
So we cannot blame everything on racism while refusing to examine the digital reputation we are creating for ourselves.
Look at what has happened with immigration too.
About a decade ago, moving to countries like the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States was easier in many ways than it is today.
But some Nigerians will travel abroad, and before they have even settled properly, they will begin creating content about every loophole in the immigration system.
They will explain how to manipulate documents, exploit benefits, abuse certain visa routes or bring people into the country without any proper survival plan.
Some people move abroad with no clear plan except to become content creators.
Once they arrive, everything becomes content.
Immigration processes become content.
Government benefits become content.
Housing loopholes become content.
Visa loopholes become content.
They forget that immigration officers, government agencies, journalists and policymakers also use social media.
Meanwhile, Indians, Pakistanis and people from several other countries are bringing their families and communities into these countries every day, but many of them are discreet about the systems they use.
Nigerians may not even be the largest group doing some of these things, but we often have the loudest voices announcing them.
We have seen similar problems with AI platforms and remote work sites.
Some platforms were once accessible to Nigerians, or Nigerians could participate in certain projects through them, but after a while, restrictions became tighter.
Platforms such as Outlier and Prolific currently do not offer Nigerians the same access available to participants in some other countries.
Now, I cannot honestly say that Nigerian content creators are the only reason for these restrictions because companies make country decisions for many reasons.
Payment issues can be involved.
Identity verification challenges can be involved.
Local regulations, fraud levels, client preferences and project availability can also be involved.
But we should not pretend that publicly teaching thousands of people how to create duplicate accounts, fake their locations or bypass verification has no effect.
It does.
When many people enter a platform using the same dishonest method, the company will notice.
When people who do not have the required skills flood the platform, the quality of work will drop.
When the same country repeatedly appears in fraud reports, the company may decide that blocking the entire location is easier than investigating every individual account.
Then everyone loses.
And please, when a platform restricts Nigeria, stop going online to teach people how to bypass the restriction.
You are not helping.
You are leaving more evidence.
You are confirming the exact risk the company is trying to prevent.
You may succeed in bypassing it today, but when the company strengthens its system tomorrow, you will make access even harder for everyone else.
This does not mean we should stop sharing opportunities.
Please share opportunities.
Tell people about genuine remote jobs.
Tell them about AI training platforms.
Tell them about scholarships, fellowships and freelancing websites.
Teach them how to write better CVs.
Teach them how to prepare for assessments.
Teach them the skills they need to succeed.
Explain the rules, requirements, payment methods and possible risks.
But teach people how to qualify, not how to lie.
Teach them how to build one strong account, not how to create ten fake ones.
Teach them how to pass assessments through knowledge, not how to copy answers.
Teach them how to improve their location and career options legitimately, not how to disguise their location.
There is a difference between sharing information and being reckless.
There is a difference between helping people and gathering desperate people so you can sell them a course.
Before you post that “secret loophole,” ask yourself whether the information will genuinely help people become qualified or simply encourage them to cheat.
Ask yourself whether the video could affect Nigerians who are already earning honestly from the platform.
Ask yourself whether you would still expose the loophole if your own monthly income depended on that platform remaining accessible to Nigerians.
The views from your video may last for one week, but the restriction that follows may affect Nigerians for years.
The course you sell may put money in your pocket today, but the reputation you help create may close doors for thousands of people tomorrow.
We need to start thinking beyond social media engagement.
Not every secret must become content.
Not every loophole must become a tutorial.
Not every opportunity must be destroyed because someone wants followers.
Sometimes wisdom is knowing what to share and what not to share.
Share opportunities, but do not publish a manual for abusing them.
Teach skills, not tricks.
Let us stop using tomorrow’s opportunities to chase today’s clout.
- Iniobong II Udoh
