The rain of Terror by Nigeria youth

Many crimes exist in Nigeria today, and most are facilitated by youth with an insatiable thirst for wealth and who are also greedy. This greed has made many engage in things inhuman and morally unacceptable. Before going deep into what the crimes are, the causes why the youth crimes are on the rise will be discussed under the following heading.

source

Reasons why Youth Crimes are on the rise in Nigeria are discussed under the following sub-headings

Frustrations of Youth

While the reasons are varied and complex, it is clear that Nigerian youths are desperate. There are no jobs. Many have lost hope for their futures, and as a result, they see no future at all. They have no means of acquiring money and thus resort to crime to survive. Others find themselves in the thick of criminal networks because they have been drawn in by the prospect of fast money. Some have been forced into the activity by some need for survival. It’s a vicious cycle: many of these young people come from impoverished environments where few adults can serve as role models for them. And even if there were such role models around, it’s challenging to convince someone who has faced years of poverty not to take the fastest route out of his lack, especially when this path involves little more than being able to afford necessities like food daily.

Inadequate Parental care

Another issue is the lack of parental discipline, guidance, care, support, involvement, attention, and love in today’s society. These are some of the major reasons for crime among youths. When parents or guardians do not meet these needs (who are supposed to be their first line of socialization), it can lead to their frustration and the tendency to engage in criminal activities.

Parents and guardians have a critical role in eliminating crimes in Nigeria. Some people believe that parenting is just about giving birth, but this is far from it. Being a parent means being quite involved in every area of your child/children’s life, physically and emotionally. You need to know what they like and dislike, whom they hang out with, where they go when they leave home etc. This should start in childhood because most children begin by committing small-scale crimes or misdemeanors, which could be prevented from snowballing into more significant offenses if adequately addressed at the onset with proper guidance and counseling from parents/guardians.

source

Unemployment

Unemployment is a significant problem in Nigeria. The youths are frustrated because they have not been able to find jobs. Unemployment can lead to high levels of frustration and anger, resulting in crime. The youth have been neglected for too long, which is one of the root causes of crime in Nigeria.

Poverty

Poverty is the lack or inability to afford the most basic human needs: food, shelter, and clothing. It can also be a state of mind where individuals feel they do not have enough money to meet their basic needs. It is a social issue and a significant problem in rural and urban Nigeria. Poverty is one of the causes of crimes among young people in Nigeria. Several factors can be responsible for poverty in Nigeria viz: unemployment, low wages, high cost of living, underdevelopment, poor governance/corruption, bad economic policies, etc.

Inadequate infrastructure
You're driving down the road and hitting a pothole so deep it could swallow your car. You swerve, and the next thing you know, someone is rushing you to the hospital. He drives faster than he needs to, leaving city streets and highways behind. The roads leading to the hospital are so bad that they don't seem passable, but he somehow makes them through. On getting to the hospital, it is overcrowded with other patients who can barely afford care; meanwhile, a lack of electricity means that technicians can't use radiology equipment. Because of power outages, your test results aren't ready for several days, and once they are released, you find out you have stage four cancer. It's too late for treatment because there isn't enough money in your health insurance plan to cover it. These scenarios might sound dire; unfortunately, they're very typical for citizens living in parts of Nigeria where infrastructure is inadequate or nonexistent.

source

The following subheadings are ways to eradicate youth crimes in Nigeria;

We need to educate our youths, especially at the base level

I believe that education is the primary means by which we can tackle youth crime. We need to be educating our youths, particularly at the base level. We need to take a holistic approach to education, where schools strive to teach academic subjects and equip students with knowledge about their rights and responsibilities as citizens. They should also be equipped with moral and ethical principles to know how to make good decisions that benefit society.

Education should be compulsory for all Nigerians, both within schools and outside. As a country, we need to invest in programs that promote lifelong learning so that people have access to educational resources throughout their lives.

We need to reform our judiciary system

To effectively tackle youth crimes, the judiciary system should undertake urgent reforms. Here's how:

• Create more courts. More courts will result in faster trials of offenders, and they will be a strong deterrent against further crimes. Nigeria has a population of over 180 million people but only 399 judges. The country only has 474 magistrates and 1001 Area Court Judges. The UK population is 67 million, with 6200 judges to put this into perspective. At the same time, South Africa, with just over 50 million people, has more than 3000 judges. In fact, at the moment, there are over 70,000 inmates awaiting trial in Nigerian prisons because they can't afford bail; imagine if these trials were sped up?

• Harsh punishment for offenders. This harsh punishment is necessary because it will prevent the recurrence of such offenses and serve as a warning to others who intend to commit such crimes. Suppose you make an example out of one person by punishing them severely for their misdeeds. In that case, you'll deter others from doing similar things because they don't want to suffer the same fate as that person did. For example: if someone stole money from your company's bank account so that he could pay off his gambling debts (a crime), you would fire him immediately and maybe even sue him for damages. Hopefully, making him aware that gambling isn't worth losing his job over (the punishment).

• Make the police work harder and improve accountability standards within the force by punishing corrupt officials. Justice delayed is justice denied, after all! As it currently stands, corruption among some members has led many other well-intentioned ones to lose faith in their department. What incentive do they have left when those who abuse their power aren't held accountable either? Police officers need better training to become familiar with what constitutes a crime before handing out punishments based on their personal biases or prejudices toward certain types of individuals.

source

Government should empower the youth by providing the requisite infrastructure to thrive in various vocations.

It would help if you empowered the youth by providing the requisite infrastructure to thrive in their various vocations. Empowering youth will help improve their living standards and make them less dependent on others, making them self-reliant.

Create job opportunities for the unemployed youths.

Joblessness is one of the significant causes of youth crime. Suppose you get many people are looking for jobs and can't find any. In that case, they resort to illegal activities to make a living. The government needs to create more jobs for these young guys and ladies willing to work. Jobs will significantly decrease the crime rate in our society.

You may also want to teach these young ones how to become entrepreneurs who can start their businesses. They won't have to depend on government or private companies alone. They can support themselves through their independent businesses. They also learn skills and understand that crime is not the solution here in Nigeria. The Nigerian government should provide funds for some of these small-scale businesses owned by youths across Nigeria; this will go a long way in reducing unemployment, leading to crimes in our society.

source

Conclusion and Summary

If you think Nigerian youths are desperate, then you're dead wrong. Don't be deceived by the stories you hear about how they cannot find a job or cannot afford to go to school. It is prudent to start thinking outside the box, especially in this age of limitless opportunities.

It is not everyone who grew up with a silver spoon in their mouth that has become successful. Those who started from nothing have worked so hard and creatively, with determination and patience, to where they have gotten today. Youths need to create new ways of making money beyond committing crimes or depending on politicians for handouts.

Bringing down crime rates among the youth of Nigeria will take a concerted effort by the government and people while changing the negative perception they have of life. The state needs to step in and provide incentives for the youth because research has shown that this form of motivation can be an effective way to curb crimes. Crimes among youths are often due to a lack of purposeful living. The Nigerian government should also ensure that youths are provided with the requisite infrastructure, jobs, and education on the dangers of crime to change their negative perceptions of life.