Values and Violence: Explaining the Criminalization of Higher Education Students in Nigeria

Violent criminality and insecurity are pervasive across Nigeria as private armies, ethnic militias, armed robbers, political assassins, ransom kidnappers, hostage takers, and serial bombers have gone on rampage. Uneducated youth are often blamed in mainstream discourse as the major perpetrators or foot soldiers of anti-social crimes and non-state violence. Conceived as loose molecules, their behavioral patterns are said to be largely deviant and oppositional to acceptable culture. In contrast, educated youth (including those in higher education) are believed to be refined and easily conform to social norms, values and laws, thereby shunning criminality and violence. This article investigates this widespread notion and discovers, contrary to orthodox thinking, that higher education students pose as much threat to Nigerian society as uneducated youth. The article blames the criminalization of students on the debasement of social values, the culture of corruption in Nigeria, and the infrastructural decay that currently undermines teaching and learning in the country's higher education sector. To prevent tertiary institutions from becoming breeding grounds of criminals, the article stresses the need for values re-orientation, adequate funding, and infrastructural development as well as ensuring that students and staff who contravene the laws are sanctioned appropriately.