Curbing cyber fraud through media literacy in Nigeria
Abstract
One implication of the Internet’s capacity for user anonymity is a high level of cyberfraud. On the Internet, you can be whomever you want to be. Many forms of economic, social, political or religious deceits are thus, made easy on the Internet because some mischievous Internet users can effortlessly create fake profiles with phony names or pictures and a flow of false but supporting information, which may appear believable to other unsuspecting Internet users. Considering the enormity, variety and frequency of these online crimes which threaten to rubbish the potentials of the Internet, the urgency to make media literacy a part of communication and journalism education to combat these ills is critical. Therefore, media literacy presented in a six-step model is proposed as an essential knowledge kit in our digital era which can help curb cybercrime since media literate individuals develop critical skills to interpret media contents properly
Keywords: Cybercrime, fake identities, internet, media literacy, online-anonymity.
Impact of Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme on the Socio-economic Status of its
Abstract
The study assessed the impact of Osun State Youth Empowerment Scheme (OYES) on the socio-economic status of its beneficiaries. It described demographic characteristics of its beneficiaries, identified why they participated, examined the level of participation of beneficiaries, and compared the socio-economic status of the youth before and after participation. A multi staged sampling technique was used to select 86 respondents for the study. Descriptive statistical techniques such as frequency counts, percentages were used to summarize the data, while Analysis of Variance was used to determine the statistical difference between socio-economic statuses of OYES beneficiaries before and after their participation. The study revealed that mean age of OYES beneficiaries was 29.61±13.92 and majority (72.1%) of them was female. Also, many (62.8%) lived with their parents/ relatives. In addition, the beneficiaries participated to better their lot in life (67.4%), expectation of permanent job after OYES (54.7%) among others; many had moderate (38.4%) level of participation. Furthermore, the study revealed that there was significant difference (F=65.59, P=0.000) in socio-economic status of OYES beneficiaries before and
after their participation. It was concluded that the scheme had positive impact on the socio economic status of its beneficiaries and it was recommended that programme that will train the beneficiaries on how to save and invest their income should be incorporated in order to sustain the impact of the scheme.
Keywords: Youth; Empowerment; Impact; Beneficiaries
University of Port Harcourt students’ perceptions of use of mobile phones in Nigeria
Abstract
Mobile phones are quickly becoming one of the most used advertising media in Nigeria. Many advertisers are reaping from the huge customer base of the telecommunication service providers to sell all sorts of things. This study examined the University of Port Harcourt students’ perceptions of usage patterns and practices of mobile phones in Nigeria. Two focus group discussions with twelve participants each, selected through convenience sampling, were carried out to investigate their observations. Based on the findings and the current adoption level of mobile phones, the study predicted that soon mobile phone may become more ubiquitous than radio, even in the rural regions of the country; making it an ideal medium for direct communication to most Nigerians. With the medium threatening to become ‘every man’s radio’, providing perpetual contact to even people in the rural areas, strategic communicators are, therefore, encouraged to harness such potentials for relaying their promotional messag
