Essay Sample on Nigerian Cybercrime: A Result of Government Inaction

Nigerian government's inability to fight corruption, crimes, provide employment, invest in education, infrastructure, and have a strong economy has led to Nigerian citizens to improvise on making a living for themselves and their families through cybercrimes (Nast, 2019). Nigerian cybercrime involvement has gone up tremendously over the past decades, due to a lack of employment in the country (Obuah, 2010b). This argumentative essay seeks to argue that though the Nigerian government did not coerce its citizens to participate in fraudulent activities over the web, it instead put those who do participate in these crimes in a situation whereby they are left with limited choices on means to earn a living, and thus the increase in cybercrimes perpetrated by the Nigerian nationals globally.

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Mainstream media has recently covered numerous cases of a Nigerian email scam. The Nigerian Prince scam is referred to as the internet's oldest hustle, which is also known as 419 fraud (Adesina, 2017). This email scam has been analyzed for decades after it emerged that different innocent victims had been conned on the pretense that they would receive some amount of money from the Nigerian prince. Despite the increased awareness of the increase in the email scum over the years, the underlying logic of these "pay a little, get a lot" schemes still ensnare a ton of people. The scams involve someone overseas offering you a share in a large sum of money or a payment on the condition that you assist them in transferring money out of their country (Newman, 2018). A high number of young Nigerians continue to make millions off of these classic cons (Adesina, 2017). The con artists have refined the techniques and expanded their targets across other countries and, more specifically, in developed countries, especially the United States. The young Nigerian scammers have often been called "Yahoo Boys" due to their tendency to target Yahoo services in their cons (Adesina, 2017).

A series of arrests have been made most recently by the Federal Bureau of Investigations in the United States (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, 2018). These scum investigations have nabbed one of the most prolific rings of Nigerian fraudsters operating in the country. In August this year, the federal grand jury indictment named 80 defendants charged with defrauding victims in the United States of up to $10 million in one of the most significant cases of its kind in the country. According to the FBI, different cyber fraud techniques were used by the fraudsters to defraud innocent victims in the US as well as ten other countries (Kazeem, 2019). The fraudsters use hacked email accounts to convince individuals and businesses to make payments that are either bogus or similar to actual amounts owed to legitimate organizations (Kazeem, 2019).

Different arguments have been raised to explain the increase in cybercrimes perpetrated by the Nigerians across many countries. Many researchers and scholars have proposed a variety of reasons for the recorded increase in this vice (Adesina, 2017). Some have proposed that the recent increase in cybercrimes by Nigerians is a manifestation of the challenges facing the people in developing countries. Proponents of this school of thought argue that provided with the necessary conditions to flourish and build their lives, many of those involved in these cybercrimes could not participate in these vices. According to this argument, participating in cybercrimes is a reaction to increased action forces caused by various factors. However, others argue that cyber crimes have been on the rise as a result of advancements in technology. According to those in support of this argument, the technological advancements have presented loopholes which are vulnerable to suspecting fraudsters. Therefore, a government cannot be blamed in any way for the increase in cybercrime as well as other technology-related crimes perpetrated by its people. Among the factors which have proposed to have contributed to the rise of cybercrimes in Nigeria include; failed state, corruption, lack of employment, ineffective legislation, and poverty.

To begin with, cybercrimes have increased as a result of a failed state of Nigeria. The central concept behind the formation of a state is security. According to Thomas Hobbes, life by nature was brutish, nasty, delicate, and cruel. Every man competes for survival. Therefore, the true-life was then survival for the fittest. The main reason behind the formation of a state thereby was to ensure that there is a peaceful co-existence among the people as every individual now has the liberty to acquire property and live freely with a central body (the state) regulating the affairs of man. Therefore, the state has the responsibility of maintaining law and order as well as protecting and defending the national integrity of the country. It is in recognition to this that the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria of 1999 states categorically, "The security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government." The government is responsible for the security and welfare of the people.

However, it appears the Nigerian government has failed to provide a secured and safe environment for people, properties, and the conduct of economic activities. The Nigerian government is hopelessly weak on crime and even weaker on the causes of crime. The rate of increase in criminal activities in the country is alarming. The rise in crime has resulted in an increase in the number of causalities both on Nigerians and non-Nigerians. The unpalatable consequences of the failure of the government to provide security and welfare of the Nigerian population have been manifested in the increased rate of crimes in the country. Cyber-crimes, terrorism, armed robbery, as well as other related crimes, have gradually been on the increase in the country. Considering developed countries whereby the governments adequately provide security and welfare to its populations, the prevalence of economic crimes as well as other related crimes is significantly low. These developed states have policies that ensure that the security and welfare of their people are protected and thus providing an environment whereby economic flourishment can be achieved adequately. Despite the fact that there still exists crimes in the developed countries, the types of crimes are not influenced mainly by economic factors but rather other non-related factors. The failure by governments of developing countries such as Nigerian as therefore exposed citizens to financial hardship, which in turn has influenced crime.

Corruption is another factor that has led to an increase in cybercrimes in Nigeria. Corruption in Nigeria has played a key role in the increase in crime rates over the past few decades. Corruption is a clog in the wheel of progress in many African countries. Statistics show that corruption drains African countries, more than US$140 billion yearly (Ribadu, 2010). Corruption is the misuse of entrusted power or dishonest use of one's office or position for personal gain. Corruption deprives enabling an environment for potential investors to invest in, it increases the cost of running a business, it distorts public expenditure, cost of governance, and diverts resources from poor to rich nations (Lambsdorff, 2004). It is a cancerous global phenomenon, which has continued to cripple the developmental efforts of most African countries.

The diversion of public resources from the provision of important social services to the citizens by the government has resulted in low standards of living. Most of the residents in these corrupt African countries are forced to seek other forms of achieving a higher standard of living (Lambsdorff, 2004). They have resulted in illegal activities such as robbery, cyber-crimes, terrorism as well as other forms of crimes to survive. Corruption in Nigeria manifests in the form of misappropriation, kickback, over-invoicing, bribery, embezzlement, tribalism, nepotism, money laundering, outright looting of the treasuring, and so on. In Nigeria, most of the elected and appointive public office holders and top bureaucrats use their position of authority to engage in corrupt practices (Obuah, 2010a) actively. Therefore, the recent increase of cybercrimes carried out by the Nigerians is a reaction towards the increased corruption, which has deprived the people public resources, which would have, in turn, been used to improve their livelihood.

In addition, poverty has also played a major role in the increase in cybercrimes in Nigeria. Generally, poverty is a major factor in the rise of various crimes in the country. In examining the relationship between poverty and cybercrime, it is important to define what is meant by poverty. According to McConell and Bruce (2005), poverty can be defined as a condition in which a person or a family does not have the means to satisfy basic needs for clothing, food, shelter, and transportation. The means include currently earned income, transfer payments, past savings, and property owned (Osawe, 2015). The basic needs have many determinants, including family size and the health and age of its members. The major indicators of poverty, according to the World Bank (2003) include lack of adequate food, lack of freedom of action and choice, vulnerabilities in ill health, education and health, economic dislocation, maltreatment by public agencies, and exclusion from key decision-making processes and resources in society.

The issue of poverty in Nigeria is a paradox. While the country is a leading oil-producing nation while at the same time is highly endowed in terms of various natural resources, most of its population cannot afford basic needs. Most of the country's population is economically poor. National statistics show that over one-third of Nigerians (35%) live in extreme poverty, while 54% are relatively poor (National Bureau of Statistics, 2011). According to the Nigerian Poverty Profile 2010 Report of the National Bureau of Statistics provides an insight into the level of poverty in the country. Most of the Nigerian population, i.e., over 50% of the population lives on less than a dollar a day (National Bureau of Statistics, 2011). Increased poverty has, therefore, forced many of the Nigerian population, especially the young population, to venture into criminal activities to afford basic needs. Cybercrimes have been a quick solution out of poverty, and thus, many young Nigerians are participating in the crime not by choice but as a necessity to live.

Unemployment is also another factor that has contributed immensely to the increase in cyber and internet related crimes in Nigeria. A major indicator of poverty in Nigeria is unemployment. The term unemployment refers to a condition of joblessness or lack of employment. In other terms, a person can be considered unemployed if they are fit and available to work but fails to get an employment opportunity (Osawe, 2015). According to statistics from the 2011 National Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria's overall unemployment rate amounted to 23.9 % of total Labour Force in March 2011, indicating a sharp increase from14.9% in March 2008 to 19.7% in March 2009 and 23.9% in 2011 (National Bureau of Statistics, 2011). When disaggregated by sector, 17.1% of these are in the Urban areas, while 25.6% are from rural areas (National Bureau of Statistics, 2011). The surveys also reveal that persons aged 0-14 years constituted 39.6%, those aged between 15-64, which is the economically active population, constituted 56.3%, while those aged 65 years and above constituted 4.2% (National Bureau of Statistics, 2011). According to the NBS, the Labour Force in 2011 stood at 67,256,090, of that 51,181,884 are employed while the unemployed...