YOUTH AND CYBERCRIME IN NIGERIA: IMPLICATIONS OF THE NATIONWIDE COVID 19 LOCKDOWN

The cyberspace and the Nigerian youths have always brought up a lot of debate and controversies coupled with the use of cyber technology which has been remarkably accentuated by many scholars but lately, it has turned out to be a tool of eminent danger which if not properly addressed would cost the entire country its integrity and image. Cybercrime has taken a whole lot of dimensions and would snowboard to catastrophe. This paper shrewdly highlighted the major causations of cybercrime among our youths, like peer influence, bad leadership style among others. The national lockdown due to the Corona Virus pandemic which affected schools and most jobs was high point for engagement in cybercrime among the gullible youths. The study was qualitative in nature as the pool of our literature was drawn from the secondary sources like the newspaper, internet, textbooks, journals etc. The Marxist theory of crime was judiciously utilized in this paper to decipher the cybercrime, its implications and possible solutions. The study revealed that the spate of cyber criminality occasioned by the nationwide lockdown calls for great concern. In furtherance, if care is not taken our youths that have been groomed and trained in the trade of cybercrime will cause more damage to the country’s image abroad. It is therefore recommended that the youths in the country should have a total change of mindset about fast monies which is one of the major propellers of cybercrime. The National Orientation Agency should get to work in other to re-orientate the youths on the dangers of the “Get Rich syndrome” that have continued to ravage our society