Social Media and Youths

fraudulent activities by the youth, and unlike the traditional criminal groups, both gender are functionally involved in it (Adeniran, 2008). The antics of the ‘yahoo yahoo boys’, also known as ‘yahoo yahoo millionaires’ has raised a new generation of lazy youths, who spend hours on the internet perfecting their game and literally killing their prey (Nkanga,
2008); cyber crime is becoming one of the fastest growing-internet (fraudulent?)businesses in Nigeria (Aghatise, 2006).
Numerous crimes are committed on daily basis on the internet with Nigerians at the forefront of sending fraudulent and bogus financial proposals all over the world (Longe &
Chiemeke, 2008). According to a 2007 internet crime report released by the Internet
Crime Complaint Centre (IC3), Nigeria ranks third among cyber crime committing countries in the world. The report indicates that the “Nigerian letter fraud” (Email Scams) received in the United States, constituted 1.1% and the individuals reporting fraud-type monetary loss in 2007 puts Nigerian letter fraud at 6.4%, amounting to 1,922.99 million
US dollars (Odapu, 2008).
Similarly, the Chairman of Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC), Ibrahim Lamorde, has recently announced that more than 288 persons have been convicted over various internet crimes in Nigeria, while 234 are still being prosecuted in different courts across the country (EFCC, 2012). In a related development, the EFCC also recently arrested two university undergraduates, Hope Olusegun and Tunde Wasiu Sodiq in Lagos, on the 4th January, 2013 for allegedly belonging to two syndicates, who specialize in defrauding unsuspecting Nigerians and foreigners through internet scams (Soni, 2013).
Adeniran (2008) observes that the technological advances have brought striking changes to Nigerian cultures, patterns of socialization, social institutions and social interactions.
According to him, youths, especially undergraduates and the unemployed

References: Achebe, C. (1983). The Trouble with Nigeria, Enugu: Fourth Dimension Publishers. Adeniran, A. (2006). A Non-Dependent Framework for Development, This day, www.thisdayonline.com Alder Consulting Report (2003) Adalemo, I. A. (1999). Youth and the City: An Urban Environment Perspective, Workshop Proceedings on Youth and City: A Study of Lagos: Development Researchers’ Cooperative, Lagos. Adeniyi, P. O. (1999). Youth and Nation Building: A Continue Challenge in Nigeria. Workshop Proceedings on Youth and the City: A Study of Lagos: Development Researchers’ Cooperative, Lagos. Africa Atlases (2002). Nigeria. Paris: Les Edition J.A. Bammeke, F. (2004). Leadership through Education. Positive Leadership Monograph Series No. 12: Lagos Centre for Social Science Research and Development. Blau, F. D., & Ferber M. A. (1986). The Economics of Women, Men and Work. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Cooper, A. (1997). The Internet and Sexuality: Surfing its ways into the New Millennium. Journal of Sex, Education and Therapy, 22, 5-6. Elster, J. (1990). Merton’s functionalism and the unintended consequences of social action. In J. Clark, C. Modgil & S. Modhil (Eds.). Robert Merton: Consensus and Controversy (pp.129-35). New York: Falmer Press. Global Reach (2003) Haines, V. (1998). Is Spencer’s theory an evolutionary theory? American Journal of Sociology. 93(3), 1200-1223. Karofi, U.A., & Mwanza, J. (2006). Globalisation and crime. Bangladesh e-Journal of Sociology, 3(1), 70-87, January 2006. Lenski, G., Lenski, J., & Nolan, P Mabogunje, A. L. (1998). Challenges of a U-Turn Generation: Youth and National Sustainable Development. National Conference on Youth Development in Nigeria. Abuja. Ninalowo, A. (2004). Essays on the State and Civil Society. Lagos: First Academic Publishers. Ogburn W. F. (1922). Social Change with Respect to Culture and Original Nature. New York: Huebsch. Piller, C. (2000). Cybercrime Loss at Firms Doubles to $10 Billion. Los Angeles Times. May 22, 2000, pp. C1, C4. Reddick, R., & King, E Ritzer, G. (1996). Sociological Theory. New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Shapiro, A. L. (1999). The Internet, in Foreign Policy, No. 115 (Summer 1999), pp. 14-27. Schaefer, R. T. (2005). Sociology (9th Edition). New York: McGraw Hill. Social Development Policy for Nigeria (1989) United Nations (2007). UN-HABITAT’s State of the World Cities Report 2006/7.