Because we are Nigerians; a safer internet for all

By Kareem Itunu Azeez

These two stories are the realities millions of us are faced with, your decision should be based on the general good. I wish us all a safer internet day. It’s never too late to wish us a prosperous new year.

Because of the atrocities of very few Nigerians, most of us have been rendered useless on the international scene. This isn’t news but to further buttress the opportunities we are shutting its doors against our children and a better life. The things we do on social media today, otherwise known as the Internet would surely haunt us tomorrow positively or negatively in the nearest of time. You can guess for yourself, what you have therefore been doing on the internet in your leisure time. A safer internet is born from the celebration of the international center for leadership development, a group that tries to engage youths in the positive use of the internet.

There is no major point explaining what the internet is, it’s been around for several decades, and at this time, you either belong to the nomadic users or the indigenous users of the internet. or about in between, half nomadic half indigenous. But understanding both. While the nomadic are those who aren’t savvy or know little to no of the internet, the indigenous are those born during this age of the internet. They know the nitty, even though not gritty of it, but they are born with the basic knowledge of the internet. So it’s easy to determine where you fall.

Over 80% of visa denials are traced down to fraudulent activities, like, theft, money laundering, and fake business identity. In 2019, over 80 Nigerians were indicted to have engaged in Business Email Compromise fraud, (BEC) in the USA, these are youths between the ages of 20-38, the number has since gone higher in recent times, and this continues to deny true Nigerians opportunities over the seas.

I write this to make you do a background check on yourself, on the internet, then tell yourself how proud you are based on the results it returns to you, then from thereon, you can effortlessly determine if you are impressed with yourself now and even in the nearest future. A short narration which I would encourage you to be the judge goes thus, Chris is a Nigerian, between the ages of 18-35, ardent and internet savvy, who came across a Pakistani investor, and his life took a turn from thereon.

While he introduced to the Pakistani man how he would love to partner with him as a beverage producer with factories across Nigeria. He excelled with a lot of forged evidence and proofs winning the trust of the foreign billionaire. Little did he know that his gains are nothing compared to the lots he would be losing. He forged the CAC certificate, forged the NAFDAC certificate, and sent them through the internet to the man who had trusted him. Having done all that, it was time for the next move, samples of the said products were sent to him, and was then implored to get land for the creation of the factory, but they must first meet with their lawyers for proper documentation.

Just as he has already made a sum of almost $20k from the man, he forged the lawyers as well, and in a twinkling of an eye, an all-expense-paid trip arrived, both for him and his lawyers that they should meet in Dubai for the finalization of their imaginary industry. But because of his lack of contentment and sincerity, Chris couldn’t travel, nor could he produce the fake lawyers, and the last time we heard of him, he had ascended to Ghana, because he was scared. This is a true life story.

The implication of his actions are, he lost the opportunity to change his generation forever, he lost the opportunity to change the life of many Nigerians in the labor market, and he encourage the phrase of innocent Nigerians that they are “Scammers” because of the gains of little rubies.

What would you have done if you were Chris, and by implication do a background check on the internet today and see what it would bring of you? Social media never forgets nor does it sleep like us, nor have a shallow memory like us, but as tender as we are, we already created a hindrance for our unknown future. There are thousands of opportunities not accessible to you and me because we are Nigerians. Yet waves of positivity keep escaping us, and globally we remain criminals because of what our young ones are doing negatively.

What are the causes of these negative use, with eternal implications? Well back then in school, we were taught about three types of competitions, the first is the Animate competition, which is the man against man, trying to be better than your pairs, us in all means that you can use. Usually, this type of competition end