THE noise of a message notification on John’s mobile phone invaded the peace and quiet of his little rented apartment. He saw himself almost head-butting the ceiling as he jumped into the air for joy. He began moving his body to meet the tempo of a song going on in his head. A week ago, he had applied for a space to sell roasted chicken and plantain at a musical concert where one of the most famous hip-hop singers would be performing. He had just received a notification informing him that he had been selected as one of the lucky twenty to sell at the concert. This good news made him dance like a saint who had just overcome an overwhelming temptation.
On the long-awaited day, John hurried to the concert venue. He speedily set up his instruments and started the roasting process.
No sooner had he started roasting than people were already on a long queue in front of him. His mistake was to allow people pay him via bank transfer. Some ‘smart’ boys had sent him the payment; so they claimed. They even showed him the notification of the successful transfer. Little did he know that the boys had electronically manipulated the transfer process only to show him false notifications.Poor John lost over ten thousand naira to those fraudsters. What played out was a form of cybercrime: a crime becoming the so-called ‘lucrative business’ to the average Nigerian.
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A simple definition by the Oxford dictionary presents cybercrime as criminal activities carried out by means of computers or the internet. cybercrime assumes different forms. There is cyber terrorism, identity theft, transaction fraud, hacking, piracy, and so on. The cybercrime, ‘yahoo yahoo’, is practiced in Nigeria at a rate one’s imagination cannot avail. Nigerians engaged in this crime often use Facebook, Whatsapp, Hangout and other social media platforms to chat with foreign residents. The fraudsters create a profile that would enable them feign as foreign residentsof the opposite sex to their ‘big catch’. They use seductive pictures as profile pictures and pretend to want a relationship with their victim.
After some time, they request money for all sorts of things. Then suddenly, they go green on their victim and in the end, the victim realizes that he or she has been taken for a ride. Nigerians regard this shenanigan as business. A line of work that results in tears on the face of one’s clients is not business but menace.
The reasons are not far-fetched as to why Nigerians decide to dedicate their brains to criminal internet activities instead of putting such efforts into businesses that result to growth for their society and nation at large. A prevalent reason is unemployment. Unemployment leads to poverty which is more dreaded than a plague by many. Many Nigerian youths complete tertiary education to face the harsh realities of unemployment. They therefore resort to any means of survival, even cybercrime. They believe that since the government has made no provision for them, they might as well make provisions for themselves even if it means feeding on those who seem to have the provisions of the government.
Another reason is inadequately equipped law agencies and weak implementation of cybercrime laws. Cybercriminals in Nigeria capitalize the fact that Nigeria lacks some of the sophisticated hardware needed to track them down. They are also patted on the back by the weak enforcement of punishment for cybercrime.Sad enough, the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) saddled with the responsibility of plucking off the wings of this soaring menace is failing in its duty. The officers under this body are well-known for accosting the innocent youths and accusing them of cybercrime while the real culprits roam the streets untamed.
Also, the thirst for wealth created by the social media is an issue worth addressing. The social media has succeeded in making many (youths especially) see the wrong people as role models. Celebrities who are known for their acquaintance with cybercrime have become raised as idols in the minds of the many. With the outbreak of ‘fake life’ on social media as another sore in the eye, many have concluded that wealth must be accumulated by any means possible.
cybercrime may yield good fruits in the interim for the cybercriminals, but it is has its widespread effects. One effect is that we will have for ourselves a society of robbers. cybercrime will eventually create a society of lawlessness. Anarchy will become the nation’s monarch. Since all an individual will need to succeed is just an electronic device, internet access and a hardened heart, almost everyone will get them and turn the nation to ‘Crimesville’. cybercrime will rip apart the robes of moral sanity that has long covered the nation’s nakedness.
Also, cybercrime will eventually discourage education, painting it as a waste of time. Consequentially, the society will lack educated individuals capable of reasoning and professional problem-solving skills. There will no doctors, no lawyers, no engineers, just ‘yahoo boys’ or internet criminals.
Worse still, cybercrime will lend Nigeria an ugly national image. Nigeria might no longer be remembered for the fact that she is one of the most oil-blessed nations but for the fact that she’s now a nation that has lost her sense of dignity.
This menace must be nipped in the bud as soon as possible. cybercrime laws should be implemented solidlyto repress the act. These laws should not be put in place as inactive ones but should be followed up. Also, organizations who suffer from the activities of hackers should work towards improving the quality of their IT infrastructure to prevent penetration from intruders. In addition, people, mostly young persons, should be engaged in orientations and seminars to wash cybercrime initiatives off their heads. Parents should also warn their children against this crime instead of giving them the morale to continue. These must be done with alacrity because if the youths who are supposed to be leaders of tomorrow are thieves of today, they might as well be terrorists of tomorrow. With all these recommended solutions in place, we can have a crime-free nation and one that is a positive reference point for other nations.
- Okusanya writes in via goodnessokusanya@gmail.com
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