“MY ENEMIES ARE AFTER ME” : WHY SIMON LEVIEV’S PLANS WOULD HAVE FAILED IN DROGBA’S COUNTRY

Unless you have been missing in action for a very long time as the lighter you gave to a stranger during one evening, you cannot ignore this hot topic.

Nope! Not talking about the fact that Russia has been bombing Ukraine since February 24, 2022. Not at all.

You can forget about Paris Saint-Germain too. The Avengers French team is still looking for a good style of play since the arrival of the small tattoed Argentinian. Because right now: this is a Messi football.??

Nope! You are talking about Simon Leviev, also known as The?Tinder Swindler.

Since this true-crime documentary has been airing on Netflix, almost everyone speaks about this young man who scammed women. Almost everyone.

Some would say he was smart as hell. Others would say he would not have succeeded in third-world countries.?

Well, no one knows - except himself - if Leviev would have done the same horrible things he has done to these na?ve ladies but pretty sure he would have failed in Drogba's country: C?te d’Ivoire. Here we go!

AFTER ALL, IT’S THE COUNTRY OF HOPE

Being an Ivoirian is a blessing in disguise.

On the one hand, you can never lack confidence. No matter what!

And on the other hand, you can easily suffer from the fact you are in a poor country.?

Indeed.?According to the World Bank, Ivory Coast is the largest economy in the West African Economy and Monetary Union.?

The country even had a 3.5 % unemployment rate in 2020.?

But many young graduated Ivorian people struggle to find a decent job!?

You know the one where they will not ask you to do errands for your boss, to buy braised bananas and peanuts.

When you buy this delicious and cheap meal, one of the best Ivoirian street food, the lady has sometimes packed it with a curriculum vitae. True story. Men lie, not the streets.?Sad reality.

But there is something you cannot deny: there is hope in this country like nowhere else.

They say that discouragement was not Ivorian. It is one of the most famous and realistic Ivorian proverbs you might have heard before.?

BEND IT LIKE DROGBA

2012 Champions League winner Didier Drogba has put his country on the map. 2017 double silver-medalist Marie-Josée Ta Lou, also. Athletes who have always tried their best to lead by example have blessed this country.?

After he failed a penalty during the 2012 African Cup Of Nations final and then the following backlash, Drogba could have abandoned. But he kept playing well and well. And on May 12, 2012, the Chelsea Blues striker scored the last penalty, the one Russian-mogul and ex-owner of Chelsea Football Club Roman Abramovich was waiting for years.?

Drogba?1?– Destiny?0.

The same thing goes for Marie-Josée Ta Lou.?

She has finished 4th in the 100 meters and 200 meters finals during the 2016 Olympic Games. In 2017, she finished 2th in the two same competitions. The best is yet to come for the 33-years-old young lady. Lately, she said yes to her longtime partner.?

But, those examples are not the only ones.

Every day you walk down the streets or try to stay?fresh and clean?in a monstrous traffic jam. You can see them: old or young Ivorian who hustle. Every day they hustle. Rick Ross's voice.?

The very last example is Hamed Botté Zadi. His nickname is Promotion. The Soubré-born seller has gained popularity with his art of singing to sell. Video platform Brut has recently filmed him. And it has opened doors for him. 2015 African Cup Of Nations winner and veteran Max-Alain Gradel has decided to help him. To be continued.

Sometimes social networks bring good things into people's lives. And not only scammers.?

No matter what is going on in their life, some Ivorian people do not quid. Facts. Discouragement is not Ivorian, they said.

The rumor has it that even Princess Arya Star from House Stark – your favorite one! – was inspired by this proverb before killing the Night King, master and first of the White Walkers.

For all these reasons, you can barely see how Simon's tactics would have succeeded here. Those schemes only target victims who have lost hope in relationships. You can hardly see how the charlatan would have triumphed here.?

Yes. C?te d’Ivoire might be the land of endless hope. But the country has also been for many years now one for the scammers.

JENNIFER, STOP THAT! LOVE DOES COST A THING!

Hiding behind the screen of an old computer, drumming their fingers on a keyboard, while they can barely feel the freshness of the air-conditioning on their skin in an Internet café, here they are:?les brouteurs, in?nouchi.

This Ivorian slang casts a light on those non-believers who only think that grass is always greener on the other side.

The vision of these young and cold-blooded swindlers might be antic.?

But they are still operating, still selling relationships. And they are people who buy it.

?They are usually old French farmers, single ladies, etc. Sometimes they are coming from Quebec. Here is this story.

Before our monotone life was over, due to COVID-19, the Quebec provincial police made arrests.?A dozen of people were allegedly involved in a romance scam.?

Some Ivorian men were clever and bold enough to target people on social media or dating apps.?Hello Simon! They might have stolen 2,3 million dollars.

Newsweek wrote that Shimon Hayut, his real name, may have?defrauded people of up 10 million dollars.?

Only Jenifer Lopez would say?Love does not cost a thing.

Again. Even if you are not a fortune teller, half-hidden in the basement of a shitty building, in a piece where a red light is dominant, you are pretty sure about the fact that Simon Leviev’s plans would have failed in Drogba’s country.

Leviev says that his enemies are after him, send him(amount of money wanted). That is his catchphrase. The thing has been so popularized on social networks that even New-York born rapper Cardi B has used it.

Shit might be funny as hell. However, it may be painful for the victims of Simon: Cecile Fjellhoy, Pernilla, and Ayleen. The three ladies were in the thriller documentary.

They are still looking for justice, before maybe divine justice.?

They have even launched a crowdfunding campaign. These women would get rid of their debts with this money.?

It might be a simple question from a not simple-minded person. But how can you lend money if you do not have it?

YOU CAN NOT GIVE MONEY IF YOU DO NOT HAVE ANY

"Folks do not like folks. But they love people’s money," Ivorian people said. Beloved King of coupé-décalé, Stéphane Douk Saga Doukouré used to say it back in the days, in the early 2000s.

Years after he had let plenty of sayings, this one is still going hard like a DJ Khaled’s hit.?Another one.

Yeah, in C?te d’Ivoire, people with expensive lifestyles, designers tee-shirts who curved a little bit too much their belly, and several smartphones in their hands are acclaimed.

“When I grow up, I wanna be like him,“ children and teenagers said after they tried to see one of them behind the tinted windows of their luxury cars.?But many of them do not have money.

THE COUPé-DéCALé BOYS

They dress to impress, to seduce especially young dark-skinned or light-skinned thick women called?apoutchou. These are the ones many Ivorian men prefer. Actress Emma Louhoues and widowed Ange Didier Houon's girlfriend Carmen Sama are often romantically and wrongly linked to these?coupé-décalé boys. Not a day goes by without a rumor about their love life.

Also, the rumor has it that nightclubs owners put many expensive champagne bottles on their tables. The nightclubs managers do it so the fake jet-setters can match their wanna-be-Aliko Dangote’s life.?

They say that money could not buy happiness.?

But In C?te d’Ivoire, “Money can buy happiness”.?You do not need to have money. You have to pretend to be rich.

But sometimes, the struggles people are living are so deep they can fake it.?

NO COUNTRY FOR COCOA FARMERS

This west African country is known worldwide for being the biggest producer of cocoa in the world:?60% of the market with Ghana.

It is also the best place in the world.?

Abidjan is the sweetest in the world!?They said. Not you trying to be a polluted Bassam beach that kills your vibe. But it is false sometimes.??

A lot of people cannot afford a meal per day.

Despite being the fastest-growing economy in West Africa in 2019, according to?multiple sources, many Ivorian citizens are poor. Here is an example.?

Ivorian farmers would have only received 1.25 euros per kilo,?at the opening of the 2021 – 2022 cocoa season.?How on earth can they live with such a small amount of money??Come on.?

They are not the only ones suffering from poverty.

You will struggle with the health system, even if you got health insurance.

According to?The Borgen Project, 0,162 doctors and 0,4 hospitals beds are available per 1000 patients.

There are also the landlords who raise the rent most of the time without explanation.

Not several prices of foodstuffs like oil are going up right now.?If you are reading this is too late.

You might not be?A prophet?like this inoffensive young Algerian sent to one of the toughest French prisons.?

You might not be a bespectacled wizard learning some tricks at?Poudlard.

Or even a famous Brazilian football player: the one and only one Ronaldo! What a player he would have been without these injuries!?

But you are pretty sure, at 100%, about one thing. In a country you love too much to ignore all his flaws, you are pretty sure Leviev's plans would have failed in Drogba's country.?