It is disheartening to read news of teenage and other age groups of Nigerians nabbed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a daily basis for Cybercrime. There used to be a time when the Western part of the country had almost 100% reports on Cybercrime. Currently, the story is different. There is hardly any part of the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria that Cybercrime is not reported.
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| Some suspected cybercriminals recently arrested by EFCC |
Why are Nigerian youths in particular going into Cybercrime? Is there no other positive sides to what they can do with the internet? The answers to these two questions are not difficult to get. A good number of Nigerian youths are taking to Cybercrime because they have bad orientation. They are made to believe that Cybercrime is the only gold mine to becoming rich. On the contrary, this is far from the truth.
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| Cybercrime in Nigeria is on the rise |
In the Information Communication and Technology (ICT) world, there are myriads of legitimate jobs someone can take up to hit the gold mine.
Suffice to state here that the top two world's richest men (Elon Musk of Tesla and Jeff Bezos of Amazon) are into legal Tech businesses. Looking inwards into Nigeria, there are many successful and rich ICT persons, who do not make their money from Cybercrime. Examples of such Nigerians include Tope Awotona, Founder of Calendly and Abasi Ene-Obong, CEO and Founder of 54gene. Nigerian youths and other persons thinking of going into Cybercrime can learn about how these successful Tech-savvy Nigerians hit the gold mine.
1. Is breakthrough in ICT responsible for rise in Cybercrime in Nigeria?
No country exists in isolation. Nigeria is not exceptional. Nigeria leads in Africa in the number of people who use the internet for different purposes. In a news report by Premium Times in October 2020, the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Professor Umar Danbatta, stated that "Internet users across mobile networks in Nigeria currently stood at 149.8 million as at August, 2020.” Currently, the number would have gone higher. Due to the surge in internet users in Nigeria, all manners of people have embraced the internet for crime.
A typical example of where Cybercrime is prevalent in Nigeria is on the micro blog called 'Facebook.' Facebook is the social media platform with the highest numbers of users not just in Nigeria, but all over the world. Also, the registration processes of becoming a Facebook user are not complex. More so, some persons have several Facebook accounts. Based on these mentioned reasons, fraudsters and criminal elements use Facebook to swindle and defraud innocent persons. There are so many men, who pose as women on Facebook. It should be emphasised here that, Cybercrime is committed on all social media platforms, not just Facebook.
There are different ways Cybercrime is carried out on social media platforms and internet. One of them include buying and selling of non-existing goods and services. There is credit card number and ATM card number theft to illegally withdraw money from a victim's Bank account. Another one is love and romance scam. There is also fake job offer. The list is endless.
2. How are Nigerian youths harnessing their potentials in the tech world
It is not an exaggeration that Nigerian youths are brilliant in all fields of human endeavour. Nigerians excel in whatever they put their minds to achieve. In this wise, Nigerian youths especially, should know that there are million and one things they can do with ICT. For instance, learning how to develop Software Applications is money spinning. There is hardly any well established company that does not have an App. Apart from companies, Apps are used in our day-to-day activities. There are Apps for playing games; educational Apps and so many other types of Apps.
Another legitimate Tech business is Website Designing. Instead of engaging in Cybercrime, you can enrol in a Website Designing Class. You can also get an expert to coach you on a one-on-one basis. You can learn how to develop and design simple websites using WordPress or Joomla in a few weeks. From there on, you can learn more advanced aspects of Website Design.
3. Youths, home, society and Cybercrime
Pointing accusing fingers is an easy thing to do whenever a Cybercrime is committed. No one wants to carry the blame for the root causes of tech-related crimes. Who is the primary cause of Cybercrime? Is it the individual who commits the Cybercrime, or home, or negative influence from peers or societal pressure? The right to make either good or bad choices lies within everyone. Although, being in a bad environment has a lot of negative effect, this should not be an excuse to going into Cybercrime.
4. Unemployment and rise in Cybercrime
It is evidently clear that unemployment and under-employment are high in Nigeria. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), over 33% of Nigerians are unemployed. Ditto to add that Business Day Newspaper reported a few months ago that "Nigeria's unemployment rate is projected to increase to 40 percent by the end of 2021, according to Doyin Salami, chairman of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC)."
It is known globally that there is a strong relationship between unemployment and crime. Therefore, there is a relationship between rise in unemployment and Cybercrime in Nigeria. However, the Nigerian government which is the primary employer of labour will not listen to the excuse of unemployment when a Cybercrime offender is apprehended. There are also other crimes like insecurity, which is being fuelled by rise in unemployment in Nigeria.
5. All hands must be on deck
Enough of the blame game as far as Cybercrime is concerned. What are the feasible solutions to stemming out the tide of Cybercrime? Nigerian youths and all stakeholders in the ICT world should think outside the box. There should be more national orientation and public awareness campaigns on the dangers of Cybercrime. Nigeria's Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Ibrahim Pantami, should interact frequently with Nigerian youths on how they can tap into the ICT gold mine.
Some of the Cybercrime offenders should be asked how they can positively contribute to nation building. Seminars, fora, conferences and workshops should come up on a regular basis on how to make legitimate money in Tech businesses.
Investment in ICT is one of the easiest ways to bringing down unemployment in Nigeria. This will in turn reduce Cybercrime. The multiplier effect in turn is a flourishing economy. Therefore, the solutions to bringing down Cybercrime to the barest minimum in Nigeria, should be put into action.
Oladele Hakeem Olaniyan , who lives in Nigeria wrote this article.
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