Curbing Cybercrime in Nigeria
CURBING CYBERCRIME IN NIGERIA.
Seven years ago, back in my secondary school, we were invited for an annual debate: internet has done more harm than good, argue for or against, I wondered how in the world our rivals were going to yank purpose at this theme, this one sided coin. It was improbable and we were the only victors I could see. There was hardly any blemish to the internet; it was the best thing you can imagine. Bringing the world to the very doorstep of everyone amidst a host of all other untapped avenues was too sizzling to jettison.
Today the tables have changed and cyber crimes ranges from the most popular Nigerian argot, ‘yahoo yahoo’ (internet fraud), to cracking and gaining access to unauthorised havens, identity theft and to that which most of us are guilty of; software piracy. In a nutshell, cybercrime surround all illicit activities that computers can be used for. While most of all the other crimes are on the low side in Nigeria, the hydra-headed monster is this internet fraud which has poisoned our ivory towers yet finding its way to our homes, no thanks to some choice of package a number of the national service providers render allowing the perpetrators access to the internet right in the comfort of their rooms.
Cyber crimes cannot be alienated from the deep corruption in the nation and the high unemployment rate, to tackle it; we first need to deal with corruption as hard as we can. Then we can reorient the youth through the media popular to them during events they like. Youths are die-hard lovers of sports and music and their most popular media is the Television. A sizeable number never thought about other progressive resources on the internet and that is why we need massive education for the youth on the positive gains of information technology (IT). We can support the television series ‘24’ or develop our own to show that there is a lot more to the positives of the internet.
Right from the secondary schools, we
Seven years ago, back in my secondary school, we were invited for an annual debate: internet has done more harm than good, argue for or against, I wondered how in the world our rivals were going to yank purpose at this theme, this one sided coin. It was improbable and we were the only victors I could see. There was hardly any blemish to the internet; it was the best thing you can imagine. Bringing the world to the very doorstep of everyone amidst a host of all other untapped avenues was too sizzling to jettison.
Today the tables have changed and cyber crimes ranges from the most popular Nigerian argot, ‘yahoo yahoo’ (internet fraud), to cracking and gaining access to unauthorised havens, identity theft and to that which most of us are guilty of; software piracy. In a nutshell, cybercrime surround all illicit activities that computers can be used for. While most of all the other crimes are on the low side in Nigeria, the hydra-headed monster is this internet fraud which has poisoned our ivory towers yet finding its way to our homes, no thanks to some choice of package a number of the national service providers render allowing the perpetrators access to the internet right in the comfort of their rooms.
Cyber crimes cannot be alienated from the deep corruption in the nation and the high unemployment rate, to tackle it; we first need to deal with corruption as hard as we can. Then we can reorient the youth through the media popular to them during events they like. Youths are die-hard lovers of sports and music and their most popular media is the Television. A sizeable number never thought about other progressive resources on the internet and that is why we need massive education for the youth on the positive gains of information technology (IT). We can support the television series ‘24’ or develop our own to show that there is a lot more to the positives of the internet.
Right from the secondary schools, we