Enterprise Resource Planning

68 Nigeria were it not for the nefarious activities of criminal online users which compelled the regulatory agency of government, in this case, Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC), to insist on mandatory Subscribers‟ Identification Modules Cards‟ (SIM cards) registration. To report crimes to the police in whom members of the public have no confidence, under the present sim-card-registration regime, is predictably preventive of voluntary crime reporting cooperation with the police.

It is, however, not being advanced that sim-card registration is evil. It is a practice that is universal. But given the level of development of Nigeria and the disproportional rate of crime associated with police complicity in crime, it is feared that the registration is likely to make crime reporters feel unsafe to divulge sensitive crime information to the police. The awareness of members of the public that the information they might volunteer could be traced to them in case the police compromise their professional ethics to enter into a corrupt partnership with network providers and criminals is most likely to affect the use of this resource to boost a positive crime reporting culture. With the passage of time, it is however, expected that both members of the public and the police will respond positively to orientation that is loyal to public security about the judicious use of internet and any other associated technological facility.

69 role in helping victims to contain the pains arising from victimisation, its reporting and capacity of their communities to support them. It is probably for this remarkable role that Conteh-Morgan (1997) observed that throughout traditional African societies, the family is the primary pillar of victim assistance. From time immemorial and up to the present time, judging by the experiences in developing societies, the family serves as the most important and powerful means of passionate and financial support to victims in the aftermath of victimisation.

Beyond these, in traditional societies, the family was driven by elders‟ accumulated wisdom, especially as represented by the male members. These elders have been described as those who are the most knowledgeable of religious and ceremonial matters as distinct to just being the oldest members of the community (Behrendt, 1995). Decisions were generally brought about by consensus guided by the elders well known (indeed, often related) to, and respected by the parties, with little place for coercion to enforce a decision or punishment (Nicholson, 1999).

Generally, for more serious matters (especially those involving breaches of sacred law), authority is vested in elders. There is also evidence that when a dispute is not able to be resolved within a family or kin group, elders may be caused to intervene (Berndt & Berndt, 1988). The advice of elders in traditional societies was usually held with lots of respect (Fryer-Smith, 2002).

For the foregoing reasons, the decisive role that elders play in determining the course of crime reporting is critical. Judgment was never a hit-or-miss activity. Under traditional law, the distinction is commonly made between public and private wrongs. Maddock (1984) referred to the general categorisation of public matters as criminal and private as civil; however, he observed that the boundaries between the two are not always clear. While public wrongs include breaches of sacred law, incest, sacrilege or murder by magic; private wrongs include homicide, wounding and adultery. For public wrongs, elders are actively involved; whereas for private

70 wrongs, the person who has been harmed (and their relevant kin) generally determines the appropriate response.

Some assumptions have it that on what antecedent could Lagos residents base their reports of crimes when thought-out criminal justice system did not exist in pre-colonial times.

Throwing light on these, Fadipe (1970:223) raised two significant arguments which appeared to have rationalized the presence of structured traditional justice system long before the advent of colonialists in this traditional Yoruba society. First, “the people had reached the stage where redress for injuries, suffered directly or indirectly, was taken out of hands of the individual and his kindred. In other words, the stage of public as opposed to private justice had already been reached; crime reporting in the traditional pre-colonial era has got its distinguished character”.

Second, distinguishing between civil and criminal actions in the traditional system, Fadipe (1970) identified three (3) types of courts/tribunals that were already in place – the Baale court;

the tribunal of the ward chief; and the central tribunal, in ranking order. The great majority of criminal cases were, as a matter of course, brought before the central tribunal which were usually the same as that of the council of state sitting in its judicial capacity.

Therefore, any argument based on the existence and utility of the criminal justice structures which presents crime reporting practices before the advent of colonialism as non-existent will not find favour with indigenous scholars, legal historians and criminologists. As an extension of the frontiers of knowledge further outwards, Singer (1959a: xviii) noted that „every nation has two phases, the “modern” and the “traditional,” which are not always worn together on the same occasions. While extreme “modernists” and extreme “traditionalists” sometimes speak of irreconcilable conflict, there is, in fact, a mutual dependence between the two phases, as if the appearance of each were illuminated by the light reflected from the other‟.

71 Does an irreconcilable conflict actually exist between traditional and formal justice systems in the way in which victims who reside in Lagos perceive and selectively use them? It is in the light of the clarification of the foregoing that the frequency with which crimes are reported varies across borders and across different types of crimes (Van Dijk, 2008; Soares, 2004). Crime statistics and victimisation surveys have revealed a recurring problem of underreporting crime not only in first world countries, but also in countries that recently transitioned to democracy (Gaviria & Pages, 1999). Thus, the far too low level of crime reporting in Lagos particularly and in Nigeria in general may appear sad; it is not an exclusive social disease. It is a fair reflection of the global crime reporting malaise.

Following Ashworth (1998), one may distinguish between two types of decisions in the criminal process. One is processual, that is, decisions about –the processing of the case from initial charge through to trial (Ashworth, 1998); these include police procedures in questioning suspects and gathering evidence, and prosecutorial decisions on what charges to lay. Another is dispositive, that is, decisions about - the disposal of the case (Ashworth, 1998). The most well-known dispositive decision is sentencing, but there are earlier points in the criminal process where a police officer or prosecutor can make a dispositive decision by diverting a case from the court process.