YOUTH AND GENDER NETWORK

YOUTHS AND ROBBERY
Every human being was created for a specific purpose; to fulfill a peculiar assignment on planet earth. Has it ever occurred to you that you are part of the puzzle called humanity? And so is every young person born of a woman. I dare to declare that every youth has a mission which nobody else can fulfill but them. The truth however, is that the only one that can deter you from reaching your fullest potentials in life is you. Indeed, your choices in life determine to a very large extent, how far you will reach your desired destination. You are at liberty as a young person, to choose the noble path or to choose the criminal path. I don't know about others, but I am personally grieved about the desecration of the sanctity of juveniles and young adults in the society. My heart bleeds each time I see a band of potentially great folks paraded as criminals on national television. Many of these gangsters are young persons; good-looking able bodied guys (and sometimes ladies), who have chosen the path of perdition. I am of the opinion that armed robbers, hired assassins and other devious outlaws are not recruited overnight. Something somehow is responsible for deviant behaviour in youths and that is precisely the crux of the matter here… as revealed by my survey.

BROKEN HOME
Many of the youths involved in armed robbery are from broken homes. The real problem here is that parental care is lacking because the child is either left alone for the mother to train, or abandoned to live with the father. Mothers alone might find it difficult to instill the right discipline in children and there is every tendency for her to be negligent or careless in raising the child thereby overlooking vital home training. So also, children brought up alone by their fathers or step mums may suffer neglect and rejection because they often feel unloved and uncared for. It is only the mercy of God that can save such children from becoming hardened criminals.

LACK OF JOB OPPORTUNITIES
A situation whereby the ratio of unemployment is higher than that of the employed, what do you expect? A crime infested society of course! There is such a high population of jobless graduates and school leavers who roam from office to office daily in search of jobs. These youths after failed attempts to earn legitimate living, become frustrated and ashamed, particularly when they see their peers living big. When their own poor condition becomes unbearable, they resort to armed robbery as a means of survival. I certainly don't subscribe to this, but there has to be a job revolution in this country for crime rate to drop.

LACK OF PARENTAL CARE
Some youths have suffered and are still suffering from lack of parental care. Their parents have failed to give them the care, love and affection they deserve. Sometimes, it may be that the parents are too busy pursuing money that their children become the least of their priorities; often abandoned to domestic helps, neighbours or fate. Such children become prone to vices such as stealing and cheating, and since they don't have any responsible adult to reprimand or show them the right path to tow, they become hardened criminals.

BAD COMPANY
Peer pressure is one of the ways by which youths become corrupted and co-opted into crimes particularly armed robbery. Many parents and guardians fail to realize that children are very vulnerable and need to be adequately protected from negative influence. Parents need to get really close to their children; know the kinds of friends they keep, places they visit and material things they own. The tell-tale-signs are often there and any sensitive parent can discern an attitudinal change in his or her child.

INABILITY TO NIP NEGATIVE TRAITS AT THE BUD
Some parents are simply laidback, lackadaisical and ignorant. They are blind and refuse to take the challenges of parenting seriously. When your children begin to come home with strange belongings such as gifts, jewelry, clothing, toys, and even books; you need to probe, rebuke and instill appropriate discipline. Parents are the ones who have the primary responsibility of instilling values such as contentment, honesty and probity in their children or wards. If a child steals meat from his mother's cooking pot, or a few naira notes from his father's table, and is allowed to go scot-free, the child will soon go into full-scale robbery. Nipping negative traits such as lying, pilfering and cheating at the bud will help awaken the conscience of youths to forsake crime and embrace noble values.

FAMILY BACKGROUND
The truth of the matter is that armed robbery is becoming a vicious cycle whereby children born into the families of armed robbers grow up towing the ignoble path of crime. Evil begets evil, and unless there is a serious moral reawakening, the problem of juvenile robbery would continue to thrive. So also, children raised in violent homes where husbands turn their wives into punching bags, are likely to grow up becoming aggressive and maladjusted. Children are very impressionable and they pick good, bad and ugly traits from their parents whom they look up to as role models. When a child becomes accustomed to violence at the home front, he grows with a violent spirit and will be ruthless not caring whose axe is gored.

POVERTY AND HARDSHIP
The crippling economic situation in the country has given crime a platform to thrive especially amongst youths. Most parents in Nigeria are so poor that they cannot meet their financial obligations to their children and wards. There are people who cannot afford one decent meal in a day, not to talk of good shelter, clothes, health-care or even education for their children. When met with untold hardship, many youths resort to crime out of despair, frustration and an inward craving to improve their basic living condition.

IDLENESS
Some youths from so-called decent homes could be dragged into crime because of idleness. The idle mind they say, is the devil's workshop. The onus is on parents, guardians and school authorities to keep the youths gainfully occupied with positive ventures. This could include vocational skills, extra-curricular activities, sports, or recreation. Young persons are naturally restless and in search of adventure so the more you preoccupy them with positive endeavours, the less they have time to indulge in frivolous and devious activities. Higher institutions in particular need to avoid the incidence of campus unrests, strikes and unnecessary closure of schools.

IGNORANCE
Many youths are totally ignorant about the laws of the land and the fact that armed robbery is a dangerous criminal offence. They are lured into this evil trade because of the perceived material benefits without adequate knowledge about the implication to their life and society at large. It is therefore necessary for concerned authorities to go on a multi-sector awareness campaign against juvenile crime. All hands must be on deck including schools, families, religious bodies, non-governmental organizations, the media and the government to awaken the consciousness of Nigerian youths on the need to shun armed robbery and crime, no matter the seeming allure.

LACK OF FEAR OF GOD
Where there is no fear of God or respect for righteous living, there will be lawlessness, anarchy and crime. The truth about armed robbery is that it takes a deep rooted faith in God for youths, especially those who find themselves in very difficult conditions, to shun armed robbery and crime. There is serious need for moral reawakening, and the enforcement of noble values in society. This has to start in the homes because charity definitely begins at home. Then of course schools and religion have a serious role to play.

GOVERNMENT NEGLECT
Unfortunately in this country, government does not have a good economic plan for creating jobs or welfare packages for indigent families and youths. If you compare the rate of armed robbery in our society to what obtains in the civilized world, you will discover that juvenile robbery necessitated by poverty, is almost non-existent in the west. This is because their systems cater for the poor and needy. Furthermore, our government is very insensitive to the needs of pensioners, widows and orphans, thereby making youths from such environments prone to crime.

POPULATION EXPLOSION
Nigeria is the most populous country in black Africa. It is one thing to boast that we are `the giant of Africa', and another thing to be able to approximate our lean resources amongst the teeming populace especially the upcoming generation. Here, people breed children, irrespective of whether they have the financial muscle to provide adequately for these children or not. Our so-called leaders do not help matters as some of them are known to sow their wild oats; having uncountable children by different women. Who then will help to spread the gospel of family planning? Or population control? Armed robbery thrives in countries where the available resources do not match the population growth.

GET-RICH-QUICK PSYCHE AND DISTORTED VALUES Our society has become totally materialistic. Everyone wants to become rich overnight, including the youths. Very few people are ready to pay the price of hard work and genuine efforts in order to make it in life. This is worsened by our distorted value system which attaches too much importance to wealth. These days, people are just about ready to do anything to make money. People don't even care to know the source of wealth of the nouveau rich who are celebrated by the media and society. You see some of these criminals even contesting for, and winning elective positions. Some of them have even become close allies of religious leaders whom they generously support. The system is so messed up that those who are striving hard to earn legitimate money are even frustrated by government policies and harassment. The overly flamboyant and ostentatious lifestyle of the rich and mighty also makes youths desperate to make wealth so as to belong to the happening clique, even at the detriment of their souls.

THE WAY OUT
National rebirth and national reorientation is urgently needed to restore the dignity and sanctity of our value system. Parents must embrace their responsibility to train and nurture the youths to become responsible and useful citizens. Government should go beyond rhetoric in poverty alleviation and economic revamping. School authorities should emphasize discipline and probity. The police should double its efforts at crime prevention and protection of the lives of innocent citizens. The media should awaken its conscience as the court of public opinion and set the agenda for a positive revolution in society. Finally, youths should repent and turn to their creator rather than destroying their destinies because of material lust.