CRIME IN NIGERIA

BY

OSHILIM KERIKUMA
ID NO: A00013119 SPRING 2011 16TH APRIL, 2011

COURSE INSTRUCTOR: PROF. B.E.C OGUZIE

OUTLINE
1) TOPIC a. Crime in Nigeria

2) THESIS Crime in Nigeria is caused by various factors and can be reduced.

3) FACTORS THAT CAUSES CRIME IN NIGERIA a. Unemployment i. Migration

b. Religious/cultural/political crisis c. Corruption i. ii. iii. Political Electoral Embezzlement

d. Illiteracy

4) REDUCTION OF CRIME IN NIGERIA a. Provision of jobs both in urban and rural areas. b. Providing social amenities in the rural area. c. Enforcing peace among citizens of the country despite cultural differences. d. Introduce transparency in government. e. Building of schools by the government. f. Provision of scholarship g. Encouraging adult education

INTRODUCTION All crime is a kind of diseases and should be treated as such. Diseases are treated so that a person can be well and made whole again, so is crime. It can be treated by reducing the rate of crime in the society. By doing so, the society can be made whole again. Crime is an outcome of various factors. These factors can varies from society to society. Once these factors are treated, the crime in a society will be reduced, thus, the society will be well and whole again.

Crime in Nigeria. Crime is defined differently by different people and individuals, but in general it is an illegal act in the society. According to Wikipedia, It is the breach of rule or laws governing a community. It can be committed either by omission or commission. It violates the laws of the society which results in punishment of various kinds by the law. In todays society, most crimes are offences against the public or offences against the state. Crime is found all around the world, but in some countries, the rate of crime is reduced by various factors. In Nigeria, there are various crimes committed amongst its citizens. These include robbery, corruption in public office, internet fraud also known as 419, kidnapping, child trafficking and so many others. On the 9th of April, 2011, According to Wikipedia, the last census held in Nigeria which took place in the year 2006, the population of Nigeria was estimated at 140,003,542 (one hundred and forty million, three thousand five hundred and forty two people). As of 2009, the United Nations estimated the population of Nigeria to be 154,729,000 (one hundred and fifty four million, seven hundred and twenty nine thousand) (par 78), which is the largest in West Africa and the eight most populous country in the world. With the population of this sort, there is a high crime rate in Nigeria. Crime in Nigeria is caused by various factors and can be reduced. Unemployment is a major cause of the level of crime in Nigeria. Using its general economics definition, Unemployment is a situation in which people who are willing and able to work at the prevailing wage rate are unable to find jobs. There are different types of unemployment. There are, technical unemployment which involves lack of technical knowhow, there is also the seasonal unemployment which is the unemployment based on seasonal jobs, and others. When people do not have job to help or improve their standard of living, they tend to engage themselves in criminal activities. Most times, when people graduate from school or university, they often look for office jobs also known as white-collar jobs. When the job hunting does not pull through, they give up. They do not like the idea of getting their hands dirty or starting from the scratch. They do not open their minds to new things, ideas and invention. So eventually, they end up jobless. Also, there is the rural to urban migration. People leave the rural areas to urban city in search of greener pastures. With the urban centre already overpopulated with the unemployed, and more people coming from the rural areas to look for jobs which is not available, they make the city look too crowded. According to C.R. frank, JR. in Urban unemployment and Economic growth in Africa, he states:
In Nigeria for example, workers in the modern sector account for about one-half of the urban work force or a little over 5 per cent of the Total labour force. The rest of the urban labour force is either engaged in the traditional, low-productivity sector or is completely unemployed. (p 252)

With the city in such a shape and the number of unemployed people increased, the crime rate also increases. Secondly, the religious, political and cultural crisis which occurs in Nigeria is a factor of crime in Nigeria. These three are always connected whenever crisis arises in Nigeria. The religious and cultural crises are always triggered by politics. In Nigeria, there are more than 250 ethnic groups with different languages and customs creating a rich ethnic diversity. But most times, the blessing of a rich ethnic diversity paves way for problems in Nigeria. These ethnic groups have sharp differences in geographical conditions, historical traditions, political institutions and demographic configurations. With this number of ethnic groups, there is also a different political organization in each and every ethnic group. These political organizations may be clan communities, villages republic, chiefdoms, kingdoms and city-states. With the huge diversity in ethnicity, three ethnic groups became the most centralized groups in the country, which are the Hausa, Igbo and the Yoruba groups. There were always rivalries among these ethnic groups, which later escalated into bitter political struggles. On the 9th of April, 2011, According to Wikipedia, In the Hausa ethnic group in the North, 95% are Muslims and 5% are Christians. In the Western part of Nigeria, which is mostly occupied by the Yoruba tribe, the Yoruba religion which is traditional is 21%, 30% are Christians and 30% are Muslims. In the East which is dominated by the Igbo and the South which hold mostly the riverine groups known as the Ijaws, 99% are Christians (par 98). In northern Nigeria, there are Islamic sects which are extremist. They use violence in realizing their goals in the Islamic community and in Nigeria as a whole. The rise of this extremist movements can be blamed on the poor security and governance in the country. Also, the rise of these extremist movements are connected to selfish politicians who use these sects for their own selfish reasons. On the 9th of April, In the World Socialist Web Site, according to Barry Mason and Chris Talbot in Religious conflicts in Nigeria, they stated that Sharia has become the battle -cry of a vocal northern political elite, who are using the Muslim religion to advance their own regionalist ambitions. (par 6). Thirdly, corruption which is both in the public and private sector of the country is a cause of crime in Nigeria. Corruption can be broadly described as a change from good to bad. According to Victor E. Dike in Corruption in Nigeria: A New Paradigm for Effective Control , he states that Corruption is efforts to secure wealth or power through illegal means private gain at public expense; or a misuse of public power for private benefit (Lipset & Lenz, 2000, p.112114). There are different forms of corruption which include: political corruption, electoral corruption, fraud, embezzlement, bribery, favouritism and others. In Nigeria, corruption has become the order of the day. Political corruption is associated with people in political authority and the seat of power, which in Nigeria is the Aso Rock (par 9). These people are

representatives of the citizens in the government, they are supposed to establish and implement important laws for the citizens of the country. Instead of representing the people, they abuse the trust of the citizens for their own greed and selfishness. Electoral corruption involves the purchasing of votes with money or other things and the interference with the freedom of election. Votes can be bought with money, promise of office and intimidation (par 10). In Nigeria, we talk about a free and fair election, which we know is not possible in the nearest future because of the behaviour of the power hungry politicians and their henchmen. These politicians send their men to cause havoc during election, they loot the ballot boxes, kill people and create disturbances during election. Most times, when the result of the election is being announced, people are still casting their vote, which raises so many questions in the mind of the citizens. Most times, because of all this disturbances, most votes are not counted. According to Wikipedia, Embezzlement is the act of dishonestly appropriating or secreting assets by one or more individuals to whom such assets have been entrusted (par 1). This is mostly done by public officials. These officials steal the public resources from the public office which they are employed. With corruption in almost every nook and cranny in Nigeria, crime is also present since corruption is a factor of crime. Lastly, illiteracy is a cause of crime in Nigeria. Illiteracy is the condition of being unable to read and write. An illiterate cannot understand a simple sentence or may not even recognize the letters of the alphabet. An illiterate lacks education and is unknowledgeable in different subject or fields. Most illiterates were unable to go school or are drop-out at a low level in their educational pursuit. In Nigeria, illiteracy is greater in the rural areas than in the urban centres. In the rural areas, there are lack of education facilities. There are no schools, colleges, or universities for children in the rural areas to attend. Due to lack of educational facilities, the few schools there are private and expensive. With the income of people in the rural areas, which are mostly farmers, they cannot afford to send their children to these schools, and even if they do try, the children end up as drop-out because their parents could not continue with the payment of the schools fees. Also, with the specialization of occupation in the rural areas which is the production of agricultural goods, most families are in need of extra labour. When they cannot afford the cost of extra labour, they make use of family labour which prevents the children from going to school. (par 3). Most people who end up in prison are illiterate. They resort to crime to cater for themselves because they could not find a job due to their lack of education. Provision of jobs by the government can help in the reduction of crime. In Nigeria, the number of jobs provided by the government is relatively low with regards to the number of unemployed people in the country. In recent times, the Nigerian government has taken some

steps in the reduction of unemployment. We have the establishment of National Directorate of Employment (NDE) which was established on the 28th of November, 1986. Ishola Rufus Akintoye states in Reducing Unemployment through the Informal Sector: A Case Study of Nigeria that:
The objective of NDE was to promptly and effectively fight unemployment by designing and implementing innovative programmes, which are directed towards the provision of training opportunities through the guidance and management support services to graduate farmers and small scale entrepreneurs. (p 3)

The objectives of National Directorate of Employment is revolves around the following programmes.
Agricultural development programme Youth employment and vocational skills development programme Special public works Small scale industries and graduate employment programme. (p 4)

Teaching youth the need of being young entrepreneurs helps in the reducing of unemployment. According to Akintoye, the informal sector could be used in the reduction of unemployment. The informal sector is scattered but legal. The informal sector consists of small scale business which engage in the manufacturing and distributions of goods and services with its main aim of generating employment and income. (p 3) Also, providing social amenities in the rural areas to ease the rate of rural urban migration. People leave the rural areas to the city in search of jobs and a better standard of living. Lack of electricity, pipe borne water, health centres, good roads and other basic amenities in the rural areas are major factors of migration. The rural areas specialize in the production of agricultural goods. The goods are exchanged for manufactured goods to the urban centres since they do not specialize in the production of manufactured goods. When able bodied men leave the rural areas, there will be a decrease in the production of agricultural goods and since they do not have the technical know-how in the operation of manufactured goods, they become jobless. So to reduce the amount of migration to the city, the amenities in the city which most migrants come to have a taste of should be provided in the rural areas too. With these available, the working conditions and standard of living in the rural area will be improved, thus there will be a reduction in the rural urban migration. Thirdly, encouraging peace in Nigeria society despite the differences. Most of the cultural and religious crisis in Nigeria is because of political differences. So, the root of the problem is the politics in Nigeria. If the country lawmakers pass a law that keeps the public office rotating throughout the six geo-political zones which are North-West, North-Central, North-East, South-West, South-East, and South-South. Not only do the six geo-political zones cover the cultural differences, it also covers the religious differences. For example, in the

South-south, this zone covers most of the riverine states which includes Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross Rivers, Delta, Edo and Rivers. The common language among this people is Ijaw and majority of them are Christians, while in the North-West, the common language among the people there is Hausa and majority of them are Muslims. So, if a person from the North-West occupies the public office for tenure, the next person is supposed to be from another political zone. The cycle will go round and start all over again. With this, the cultural and religious crisis in the country can be reduced. Fourthly, Corruption is reduced when transparency and accountability is encouraged especially to those who occupy public offices. With the introduction of anti corruption agencies, corruption can be reduced in all aspects of government. An example of an anti corruption agency in Nigeria is the EFCC, Economic and Financial Crime Commission. This agency arrest and detain corrupt public officials. More agency should be established which will identify corrupt practices and bring them to justice. Also, when a candidate is running for public office, the INEC, Independent National Electoral Commission should enforce Declaration of the candidates assets to the public (par 62). With this, any added assets that do not have the correct documents while in office can be seized by the government, dissolve and stored in the National Treasury for public use. Furthermore, the government should build educational facilities in the rural area. An educational facility includes schools, colleges, learning centres and library. Education is a necessity in a childs life. In the rural areas, most children grow up without attending schools. Most of them think that they do not need education in the type of job they do i.e. farming. But with todays technological improvement in all aspects of life especially in agricultural production, education is important in the understanding of these changes. With the introduction of mechanized farming like improved seedling, tractors, harvesters, fertilizers and so many others, a person needs education in the understanding of these equipments and improvements in farming. A child has the right to education, so even if the parents cannot provide, it is left to the government to see to it. The government can help in form of scholarships, educational funds and grants. Also, adult education should be encouraged. Adult education is for the older people who did not go to school when they where younger. The federal, state and local government should encourage adult literacy education. The government should allocate substantial funds for adult education. Illiterate adults should be encouraged to go and not feel ashamed of learning at an old age because no k nowledge gained is wasted. A decrease in the rate of illiteracy leads to a reduced crime society.

Work Cited
Akintoye, Ishola. Reducing Unemployment through Informal Sector: A Case Study of Nigeria. European Journal of Economics, Finance and Administrative Sciences. 1450-2275. 11 (2008). Print Dike, Victor. Corruption in Nigeria: A New Paradigm for Effective Control African Economic Analaysis. Web Mason, Barry and Chris Talbot. Religious Conflicts in Nigeria. World Socialist Web Site. 28 February,2000.Web. Wang, Helen. Illiteracy in Nigeria: Does a Solution exist? 8 December, 1995. Web Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigeria. Web. Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embezzlement. Web