Alphonse Gabriel "Al" Capone became the most famous gangster in American history during the prohibition era in the United States.

His multi-million dollar Chicago operation in bootlegging, prostitution and gambling led the chart in the organized crime scene of the 1920s’.

Most famous among Capone’s many brutal acts of violence was the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre in 1929, in which he ordered the assassination of seven rivals who were also revered gangsters.

Like millions of other children who could not make the best out of their misfortunes, Capone dropped out of school at the age of 14 and made his foray into gangsterism by joining small-time gangs before hitting it big with the notorious Five Points Gang.

On the local front, self-acclaimed Doctor Ishola Oyenusi had his name etched in the history of Nigeria as one of the most vicious armed robbers that held the nation at the jugular with the ferocity of a savage beast.

Oyenusi’s restiveness was a spillover of Nigeria’s thirty month fratricidal strife. He was extremely delusional of his educational wherewithal despite not even obtaining a secondary school leaving certificate and thus became the only self-named doctor without an operating license.

Each exploit of his were known to gain ascendancy over previous ones. Oyenusi was not just the Tom, Dick and Harry bandit, contented with being an underworld kingpin; he was vicious to the letter and was known to rob his ego on every Jupiter that stood his way.

A seemingly soft spot of this famous dare devil was his romantic and chivalrous tendencies. There was a story of how he snatched his first car on Herbert Macaulay Road, Yaba, Lagos just because his girlfriend was cash strapped.

He eventually sold the car for N400 but the sad part was that in the process of stealing the car, the poor owner was shot dead. Such was the ferocious nature of his audacity.

Oyenusi’s arrogance was so legendary even up to the extent of being loquacious after being apprehended by the police. While being ordered around by the policeman who arrested him, Oyenusi blasted him and thundered:

‘People like you don’t talk to me like that when I am armed. I gun them down, ‘ he had boasted.

Also famous in the annals of Nigeria’s nightmare was Lawrence Nomayagbon Anini aka Anini the Law, who became Nigeria’s most dreaded mafioso at the princely age of twenty-six. Anini’s penchant for doling proceeds of his theft like cheap confetti after each successful operation earned him the ‘Robin Hood of Africa’ sobriquet.'

Like millions of other poor boys who could not defy their fate from childhood, Anini was raised by his uncle in the town of Orogho. Having shown signs of truancy from his primary school days, he later left for Benin in search of greener pastures.

He started work as a lorry driver after showing his beguiling tendencies as an apprentice. Anini gradually evolved into a budding rascal, initially as the leader of the local motor parks, controlling and commanding touts.

When politics came back to the arena in 1979, Anini’s exploits were simply irresistible by politicians who did put his gangsterism into effective use. When Anini eventually evolved into a full-time snitching monster, those who thought they could make mockery of his humble days had no other option than to acknowledge that the son had already become the father of the man.

The litany of mafiosos who called the shots in the den of smoking guns is arguably endless but no other seem to be showing a better mastery of the turf at the moment than the famous Joaquin Guzman Loera; the Mexican drug lord who heads the Sinaola Cartel.

Guzman has always been ranked by Forbes as one of the world’s most powerful persons since 2009. Having engineered two successful jailbreaks, El Chapo Guzman’s (The Shorty Guzman) status as the biggest drug lord of all time is currently incontestable.

While there are also millions of individuals who rose from the shanty corridors of their birth to become noble personalities in life, the burden being bequeathed on the society by a single social pellet could far outweigh the glory of a gem.

It thus becomes logical to admit that for each ‘Awolowo’ who overcame the harsh realities of life to become educated in life, a thousand social pellets ended up not being able to defy the odds in their lives.

For each ‘Messi’ that rose from Argentina to become an iconic footballer, a thousand social pellets were also churned out but ended up becoming marauders after they could not make the best of their footballing talents.

For each Aliaune Thiam (Akon) who left Senegal for the United States to become a phenomenal pop star, there are equally a million immigrants who ended up becoming a burden to the society that shattered their hopes.