A Socioeconomic Underpinnings of 'Yahoo-Yahoo' Exploits in Lagos, Nigeria

Abstract

The study examined the social and economic factors associated with youths' involvement in cybercrime in Lagos metropolis, southwestern Nigeria, and the implications of this for the youths and the Nigerian society at large. Specifically, it aimed to examine general perceptions about yahoo-yahoo (Internet fraud), identify the causal factors of cyber criminality among the youths, and investigate the effects of youths' fraudulent cyber exploits on Nigeria's global image. Structured questionnaires containing twenty-five question items were distributed to gather data from 330 respondents using the Multi-stage Sampling Technique (RST). Findings revealed that awareness was significantly high about youths' cybercrime (yahoo-yahoo) exploits in Lagos; most youths involved in internet fraud have attended school up to at least primary school; a good number proceeded to tertiary institutions. Unemployment, poverty, and peer influence were identified as major causal factors of internet fraud among youths. Cybercrime was noted to have denied several Nigerians opportunities abroad; it has reduced Direct Foreign Investment (DFI) into the country and has greatly impinged on the future of Nigerian youths. The study suggests a reactivation of the old indigenous African value system that exalts hard work and detests corrupt practices and other forms of illegality and social repugnance. The content of Nigeria's educational curriculum would also need to be re-constructed towards equipping the Nigerian youths with sufficient knowledge of the damaging consequences of cybercrime at individual, family, and societal levels.