TACKLING UNEMPLOYMENT AND YOUTH INVOLVEMENT IN CYBERCRIME

BY; Shotunde Oladimeji
Student;
LAGOS STATE UNIVERSITY

Every country across the globe has its own challenges and shortcomings; Nigeria is definitely not an exception. Unemployment remains a puzzle which the government as well as the youths have failed to proffer solution to. It has been on the rise despite the abundant human and natural resources available to the Nigerian state.

Cybercrime, on the other hand, has been on the rise since global technological advancement. Technology has integrated nations and the world has become a global village. However, technology and advancement in technology remains a double-edged sword. It brought about two edge functions; one is the positive impart it has had on the populace and the other is the fatal detestable implications it has had on the Nigerian populace. The effects of technology remains lethal on a larger fraction of the Nigerian populace.


Unemployment is a state of joblessness in an economy; characterised by limited availability of jobs for the employable population. It is pertinent at this point to note that the Nigerian youth constitute about 60% of the total population (According to the National Bureau of Statistics). This means that they make up the larger part of the dependency ratio.

Cybercrime and Unemployment are very much related. Halder and Jalshankar(2011) define Cybercrime as: Offences that are committed against individuals or groups of individuals, with a criminal motive to intentionally harm the reputation of the victim or cause physical or mental harm to the victim using the internet. Cybercrime can come in the form of Cyber terrorism, Fraud-Identity theft, Malware and the likes.

Cybercrime can be correlated with high rate of unemployment. Research has shown that many youths involve in Cybercrime because they have no jobs. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria is saddled with about 25 million unemployed people. To further worsen the situation, there are about 2.5 million new entrants into the sad realm of the unemployed annually.

In tackling this menace, which i regard as bothersome, effective and expedient solutions need to be proffered. Before discussing on how to tackle this oddity, I must not fail to highlight what has led to their increasing dominance over the years. In the case of unemployment, poor educational system has had a large bearing on the graduates churned out in recent times, as they are positioned to be job seekers and not job creators. Government maladministration cannot and should not be ignored also. In the case of cybercrime, urbanization, unemployment, negative role models and the desire to live flamboyant lifestyles have all influenced its rise.

In tackling unemployment, government will play a pivotal role. Just recently, the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) said: "For unemployment to be effectively tackled, innovative programmes and schemes must be regularly injected into the economy through skills that are demand driven, specific and community based". This statement depicts that the NDE is in support of the practice of entrepreneurship which, until recently, has not been encouraged in Nigeria. The good news is that higher institutions of learning have made the study of entrepreneurship a compulsory course for all students to undertake.

Also, we should reduce occupational immobility. Immobility is a cause of structural unemployment. We should engage in apprenticeship schemes which would provide youths with new skills to find fresh employment. Furthermore, government should create an enabling and business friendly environment for industries to thrive; this would greatly help to reduce unemployment as a lot of industries would spring up and a huge number of graduates would be entrenched and absorbed in the system. In furtherance, *government should employ techniques to control our population growth through public enlightenment campaigns/programmes.* Germane!

In the case of cybercrime, we know it cannot be easily eradicated but it can be minimized. To do this, efforts will be required by all stake holders (Government and Private Sector). There should be well equipped technological security systems, strident laws should be promulgated and appropriate punishment should be made to serve as a deterrent to the public. Individuals themselves should abstain clear. It is a collective thing!

Conclusion;
For Nigeria to serve as a fertile ground for economic activities, it must be premised on an enabling workforce and crime free society. But an ideal economy is virtually impossible. The future of our economy lies in our hands. We must learn to start doing things the right way. By not following the points highlighted in the concluding part of this writeup doggedly, we might have a very bleak future to look forward to.

Thanks for reading.
Shotunde Oladimeji

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