A CRITICAL INVESTIGATION OF THE NEGATIVE IMPACT OF CYBERCRIME ON NIGERIA EDUCATIONAL SECTOR

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the study

Crime appears to be an inextricable part of modern society. Despite social workers', law enforcement agencies', and personal and criminal justice professionals' best efforts, the world is becoming a more awful place. Youth involvement in horrible crimes including cybercrime, cultism, armed robbery, abduction, rape and sexual abuse, as well as other vices, is all too widespread and alarming.

According to Okesola and Adeta (2013), cybercrime is defined as any criminal offense that includes the use of the internet or another computer network as a component of the crime. They went on to say that cyber crimes are crimes committed against a person or a group of individuals with the goal of willfully harming the victim's reputation or causing bodily or mental harm to the victim using contemporary telecommunication networks such as the internet and mobile phones. Okesola and Adeta also have something to say about cybercrime: "In Nigeria, perpetrators of this crime, commonly referred to as "yahoo yahoo guys," are using the internet's e-commerce system to swindle victims, most of whom are foreigners, of thousands, if not millions, of dollars." According to Gbadamosi (2017), pompous, irresponsible, repressive, and undisciplined students who have eluded the law and gained some ill-gotten money, particularly through cyber crime, create a separate identity or 'class' for themselves. In order to preserve a separate class and power, these rascally students, draped in the toga of young enthusiasm, sometimes mistreat fellow students, some of whom are also enticed into crimes. According to the report, email scams from Nigeria accounted for 1.1 percent of all complaints received by the internet crime complaint center (IC3) in the United States in 2007. Apart from the amount of money lost by an individual reporting fraud, Nigerian letter fraud accounted for 6.4 percent of all monetary losses in 2007, totaling $1922.999 million. According to a report from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), cyber financial crime cost the banking industry 7.3 billion dollars in 2007. In February 2008, Spanish police detained ten Nigerian online scammers for reportedly defrauding over $28,000 from internet users by convincing them that they had won a lottery game. Psychological needs, safety and security requirements (such as financial security, health and wellness), belongingness and love, esteem need, and self actualization are some of the motivational elements for student engagement in cyber crime, as defined by Abraham Maslow (1943). As a result, Nigerian undergraduates appear to have developed a dread of the future mindset, prompting them to consider a quick means to break free from financial constraints after they graduate. As a result, they engage in nefarious activities in order to achieve their life expectancies.

1.2       Statement of the problem

The educational sector, as a vital conduit to every country's well-being, demands more attention, not only because of the sector's social, economic, and political influence, but also because of the importance of education in human existence. In every way, the Nigerian educational system looks to be in chaos. According to Okpala (2012), the purposeful emergence of new waves of crime has harmed Nigerian undergraduates. The internet has also evolved into a place where the most efficient and secure offense flourishes.

With each passing day, we see more and more terrible incidents of cyber-crime committed by Nigerian undergraduates, each one more horrifying than the last. It's turned into a tenacious mouth sore that gives us a lot of pain and embarrassment since criminally minded undergraduates are stealing and committing all kinds of academic and economic crimes with the help of online communication and transactions. Exam malpractice, admission falsification, rape, robbery and theft, sexual abuse, assault, and cultism are all common occurrences (Oda,2008).             Unfortunately, according to Folashade and Abimbola (2013), pupils have graduated from cybercrime. They now participate in what is now known as 'yahoo plus.' Ritual killings and the use of charms to mesmerize intended victims are involved. People have been accused of taking underwear for ceremonial reasons. Around twenty-four students from Olabisi Onabanjo University were detained and paraded by the EFCC earlier this year. The students were detained for their involvement in the 'yahoo yahoo' scheme (cyber crimes). The EFCC also nabbed three yahoo youths in Ibadan in June of this year. Two of the students claimed to be Polytechnic Ibadan students at the Emmanuel Alayande College of Education in Oyo. The students were alleged to be enjoying a "flamboyant existence without a concrete source of money" until their arrest. The ramifications of such behavior are not implausible. As prophesied, a country whose kids are the leaders of tomorrow and have a flood of cybercrime in them would inevitably collapse. Furthermore, cybercrime involvement is linked to school dropout, hooliganism, armed robbery, and thuggery, among other things (Margaret and Mark 2010).

Another impact of student illegal behavior is that it tarnishes the reputation, the integrity of their school, and the reputations of their parents and guardians. As a result, kids who are arrested are sometimes paraded in front of television crews, making a mockery of the educational goal. Therefore it is against this backdrop that this study seeks to examine a critical investigation of the the negative impact of cybercrime on Nigeria educational sector.

1.3       Objective of the study

The broad objective of this is to investigate the negative impact of cybercrime on Nigeria educational sector. Specifically, the study seeks to:

1. Determine factors responsible for University Undergraduates indulgence in cybercrime.

2.  Find out the consequences of cyber-crime on Nigeria education sector.

3. Identify strategies for reducing cyber-crime among Undergraduates student.

1.4       Research Question

The following questions guided the study:

1. What are the factors responsible for cyber-crime among University Undergraduates?

2. What are the consequences of cyber-crime on education sector?

3. Does cyber-crime affect stludent academic achievement?

3. What are the possible solutions for reducing cybercrime among University undergraduates?

1.5       Significance of the study

Findings from the study will be helpful to government, management of academic institution and security agencies. It will provide the government with framework of information regarding the need for them to strengthen its security agencies which is saddled with the arduous responsibility of fighting cyber crimes in Nigeria. To security agencies, the study will enlighten them on the need to sustain the ongoing aggressive onslaught on cyber criminals in Nigeria. To institution of learning, findings from the study will reveal the need to include studies on cyber crime to enlighten student on the negative effect of engaging in it. Empirically, the study will contribute to the general body of knowledge and serve as a reference material to both scholars and student who wishes to conduct further studies in related field.

1.6 Scope of the Study

The scope of this study borders on o investigate the negative impact of cybercrime on Nigeria educational sector. It will determine factors responsible for University Undergraduates indulgence in cybercrime. It will find out the consequences of cyber-crime on Nigeria education sector. It will identify strategies for reducing cyber-crime among Undergraduates student.The study is however delimited to University of Ibadan in Oyo State Nigeria.

1.7       Limitation of the study

Like in every human endeavour, the researchers encountered slight constraints while carrying out the study. The significant constraint was the scanty literature on the subject owing to the nature of the discourse thus the researcher incurred more financial expenses and much time was required in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature, or information and in the process of data collection, which is why the researcher resorted to a limited choice of sample size. Additionally, the researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. More so, the choice of the sample size was limited  as few respondent were selected to answer the research instrument hence cannot be generalize to other secondary schools. However, despite the constraint  encountered during the  research, all factors were downplayed in other to give the best and make the research successful.

1.8 Definition of Terms

Cyber crime: Cybercrime, also called computer crime, the use of a computer as an instrument to further illegal ends, such as committing fraud, trafficking in child pornography and intellectual property, stealing identities, or violating privacy.

Educational Sector: The education sector includes both formal, school-based programming and informal, community-based programming.

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