As part of the efforts to prevent cybercrime and channel the digital skills of young Nigerians to more productive ventures, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has concluded plans to establish a Cybercrime Research Centre.

The Centre, which is being put together in partnership with a foremost fintech firm, Flutterwave, will serve as a research and resource centre for empowering Nigerian youths.

This was disclosed in Abuja on Tuesday by the Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ola Olukoyede, at the National Summit on Cybercrime.

The Summit, with the theme “Alternatives to Cybercrimes: Optimising Cyber Skills for National Development”, was part of the activities lined up to mark the first year in office of Mr. Olukoyede.

The EFCC helmsman said, “This Summit is the second to be organised by the Commission this year on the same issue owing to the overarching need for us to articulate opinions and build greater strength against the scourge of cybercrimes. This time around, we are not only interrogating the problem, we are aggregating workable solutions to it. This underscores the theme: Alternatives to Cybercrimes: Optimising Cyber Skills for National Development.”

He bemoaned the erosion of acceptable family values and the tendency towards quick riches among young people instead of leaning towards enterprise, resourceful intellectual aspirations and technological innovations.

“Projections by multiple sources show that the global loss to cybercrimes may reach a staggering $10.5 trillion by 2025, with approximately 2,328 (Two Thousand, Three Hundred and Twenty-eight) cases occurring daily. The implication of all these is that, if left unchecked, cybercrimes portend grave dangers to the entire world.

“These are the realities stoking the Commission’s fight against these crimes. Cybercrime accounts for a significant percentage of the 3455 convictions recorded by the EFCC in my one year as Executive Chairman. A significant portfolio of choice assets have also been recovered and returned to both local and foreign victims of cybercrimes by the Commission,” Olukoyede said.

He reasoned that things have gotten a stage where there is a compelling need to “change the narrative from criminality to productivity, from idleness to usefulness and cybercrimes to cyber wealth”.

“To this end, the EFCC under my leadership, is completing work on a Cybercrime Research Centre where globally-competitive research would be running as an alternative avenue of empowering our youths. The Centre, the product of collaboration with one of our foremost FinTechs, Flutterwave, is envisioned as a learning, rehabilitating and refocusing centre for youths across the country. It could also serve as a research resort for law enforcement agencies interested in deeper understanding of issues involved in cybercrimes,” Olukoyede said.

He noted that the commission was not unaware of the misconceptions in certain quarters that it was concentrating on the fight against internet crimes.
“While this narrative is not really true, the fact remains that cybercrime threatens the nation’s most significant asset – its reputation, and economic wellbeing. The losses by the financial services sector to cybercrime in the last three years is staggering. We cannot continue to sit idly and watch the integrity of our institutions compromised and our youths degenerate into uselessness. The future of our nation cannot and would not be allowed to hang in the balance. We must take collective actions against cybercrimes,” Olukoyede said.

On alternatives to cybercrimes, the EFCC Chairman said, “There are ample skills that can be optimized for national development. It is this lack of serious cogitation on the alternatives that has not made our youths shift their focus from criminal tendencies. First, there is the alternative of creative and innovative development of socially-beneficial applications that can deliver better prospects than internet fraud.

“Today’s event is tailored towards exposing young Nigerian with strong tech skills to the opportunities that abound in various industries and sectors for legitimate wealth creation and honest livelihood. These opportunities can be found in the creative industry, tech ecosystem, financial services sector, medical services and even law enforcement.”

He also disclosed that the EFCC is setting up a Cybercrime Response Desk as part of its corruption prevention mandate of the Commission

“The Cybercrime Response Desk is to receive and process real time information on suspected cybercrime for immediate enforcement action to nip such cases in the bud. The initiative, in our estimation, will help in reducing incidences of cybercrime and possible loss of money by victims,” he said.

Olukoyede appealed to parents and all well-meaning Nigerians to join the EFCC in the fight against corruption and internet fraud, adding that the quality of our future as a people depends on what we do to tackle the menace today.

“Let me use this opportunity to appeal to the conscience of parents and heads of institutions across the country to regard the fight against internet fraud as a compelling endeavour. The quality of the future leadership of our nation depends on what we do with the issue of cybercrimes today. Tomorrow is not a promise. Tomorrow is a fruit of preparation. We must all join hands together to tackle the hydra-headed monster which internet fraud has become,” he added.