Revisiting Nigeria’s Worrisome State of Insecurity

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In Nigeria, rising insecurity is the order of the day. No day passes without reports of kidnapping, banditry, robbery, murder and wanton killings. More worrying is the fact that, in spite of huge resources being injected into the defense sector, the Nigerian government seems unable to curb this menace that has been troubling the well-being of the nation for a long time.

The country is currently grappling with security hitches cutting across the six geo-political regions, particularly in the North-East, North-Central, Northwest and Southeast regions. Residents in these regions now hardly sleep with both eyes closed while the government that is normally entrusted with the security of their life and properties seems to be helpless.

Nigeria which is perceived as the giant of Africa has been witnessing unprecedented insecurity fueled by activities of Fulani herdsmen; Boko Haram, armed robbery, kidnapping, banditry, political/religious/communal crisis, murder, destruction of oil facilities by Niger Delta militants, Child Abduction/ Trafficking, secessionists’ movements etc.

The quagmire in which security challenges has placed Nigeria as a nation is unquantifiable. A nation endowed with both human and natural resources, but is suffering from severe pangs of hunger to the detriment of the citizenry. Nigeria continues to be a developing country struggling to find its feet among other nations. This is apparently due to numerous factors including the prevalent insecurity that have continued to present a challenge to its development and growth.

Myriads of factors have contributed to the magnitude of insecurity in Nigeria. Many erudite scholars have identified several causes of insecurity in Nigeria that are inimical to socio-economic growth and development. These factors have bedeviled the smooth flow of business activities in Nigeria.

It is obvious that unemployment causes extreme poverty which further instigates crime that gives rise to insecurity. As a result of the high level of unemployment and poverty among Nigerians, youths are adversely attracted to committing violent crimes such as kidnapping, robbery, child abduction, and other nefarious activities in an attempt to make ends meet.

However, the country’s diverse ethnic make-up is not itself a cause of insecurity in Nigeria, but rather the political, traditional and religious leaders across the nation who sometimes use ethnic sentiments to achieve their selfish ambitions. Throughout this way, the elites exploit people’s minds to stir up mistrust and resentment among different ethnic groups and among the country’s major religions which cause insecurity.

Meanwhile, the state of insecurity in Nigeria is unquestionably the outcome of government failure to checkmate widespread corruption. Corruption is responsible for Nigeria’s massive unemployment. It’s the reason Nigerian youth and businessmen lack electricity to run their businesses which lead to its subsequent crash. By creating unemployment and poverty, corruption leads to instability in Nigeria.

Nigeria’s security system seems to be very poor in both personnel and equipment. Security officers are poorly trained and remunerated. As a result, the requisite expertise is not available to meet modern security challenges. This weak security system can be due to a number of factors including corruption, poor funding, lack of modern equipment, poor safety personnel health, and inadequate staff among others.

Nigeria’s current government has been strongly charged with ethnic disparity, deprivation, oppression, and the marginalization of some sections of the country in the provision of basic infrastructure and official appointments.  These have significantly compounded Nigeria’s security woes.

Thus, this may explain the agitation for the Biafra Republic in Southeast, Oduduwa nation in Southwest and Shi’a sect recurrent tussle, popularly known as the Islamic Movement of Nigeria. Actually, several breaches of security followed these kinds of agitations.

– Matthew Samuel Tino writes from Okene.


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