Insecurity: Deconstructing Nigeria’s Malady and Panacea

Prisca  Ihekwoaba

Insecurity is a state of uncertainty or anxiety about oneself, lack of confidence; the state of being open to danger or threat — a lack of protection.

Insecurity may also be described as self-doubt, vulnerability, indecision, vacillation, hazard and precariousness.

One of our earliest recollections of insecurity will be in the pre-colonial era when warfare fuelled the slave trade making the area now called Nigeria one of the biggest places for human trafficking and slave trade. The people were mostly at each other’s throats in a fierce competition for slaves to be exchanged with cowries and ivories. This trade offered wealth and prestige, leading to a loss of character and morals.

The coup of 1966 will easily pass as the trigger for the post-independence Nigeria’s insecurity when the Christian southern soldiers led a coup, and the Muslim northern soldiers led a counter-coup. The immediate consequence was mutual distrust between Igbo ethnic groups and Hausa-Fulani ethnic groups. This situation provides the sentiments driving insecurity even today. The demand for Biafra also paved the way for the ethnic secessionist agitations and the militias of different tribes in Nigeria today. The civil war seemingly legitimised the military’s hold on power. The lack of data on crime and the embedded distrust of official information make trends and a clear picture difficult. The populace also has an extremely short memory.

The major cause of insecurity is unemployment, where the vast majority of Nigeria’s youthful population doesn’t have any form of employment with the attendant absence of earnings.

Another factor is underemployment, with low wages leading to an unsatisfied workforce. Other causes that have heightened insecurity in Nigeria include human and drug trafficking. The huge profit compels those who ply this illicit trade to defend it with dangerous weapons and tactics. Nigeria’s porous borders also lead to the infiltration of illegal aliens and the proliferation of small arms. Ethnic clashes and regional conflicts abound in many communities and states of the country. Some prominent examples include the Ife-Modakeke crisis, the Tiv-Jukun crisis, boundary disputes between Ebonyi and Abia, and the Fulani herder crisis. Politically inspired violence is seen in numerous cases of banditry and violent robberies. Religious conflicts as seen in the skewed application of sharia laws, Boko haram and cattle rustling. The outbreak of some deadly diseases.

There is corruption too. Before the advent of civilian rule, the central government had enormous resources, which would make the GDP of citizens much higher than it is. These opportunities were frittered away and made worse by a civilian government that hasn’t performed any better. This has led to gross inequalities, distortions and disaffection. The poor and contentious revenue-sharing formula made many communities bearing resources from armed gangs demanding for better deals for their communities.

Insecurity hinders business activities and discourages local and foreign investments, all of which stifles and retards Nigeria’s socio-economic development to the point of threatening the corporate existence of Nigeria. In many parts of Nigeria, where unrest is prevalent, many small-scale businesses do not open on certain days of the week with the avoidable loss of income. Some cannot travel and restock their businesses, while some are undecided about further and more investment in their businesses.

Insecurity depletes the population as innocent young and productive members of the populace are wasted during periods of an uprising. There is a large pool of widows, widowers, and orphans around the North-East and the Benue basin. The absence of these guardians makes life unsure, uncertain, bleak and very difficult. Further insecurity has resulted in incidences of kidnapping and assassination. Insecurity causes a sectoral shift with a switch to informal activities, including simple manufacturing processes. Many of the large manufacturing conglomerates around the trouble spots have either sold, privatised or downgraded their operations to the point where skeletal services are rendered at best. Nigerians are generally creative people. Survival erodes that innovation and creativity — the average Nigerian flourishes when the polity is stable. A new industry of negotiators doesn’t want the state of insecurity to stop as they feed heavily from the huge ransom payout. Tourists, the easiest and most effective marketers of any nation, can’t visit, making the nation appear isolated.

In solving the problem of insecurity in Nigeria, the government must be proactive in dealing with security issues and threats through modern methods of intelligence gathering and sharing amongst security personnel, training, logistics, motivation, and deployment of advanced technology. Government should accelerate the pace of economic development by creating an economy above average with relevant social, economic and physical infrastructure to support business and industrial growth. The attempt to revamp the road, rail and national carriers are efforts in the right direction. More efforts should be geared towards the revamping of water transport infrastructure. The government needs to use revenue from primary commodity exports like crude, farm produces, and minerals to fund the basic delivery of municipal services. The government needs to diversify the economy away from dependence on oil. This will also give the oil majors the required latitude to deal with host community issues, oil spills and general environmental improvement. Improvement of the criminal justice system so that timelines, details and agreements are clear and enforceable. Above all, the country must develop visionary leadership.

Ihekwoaba Prisca writes from Lagos

priscamammi@gmail.com