Rising Insecurity and Development in Nigeria

Nigeria returned to democratic rule 1999 after many years of military autocracy. Since then, the country has come under array of complex security threats. This paper, therefore, examined these security threats like insurgency, terrorism, banditry and cattle rustlings, pastoralists/farmers skirmishes, militancy and communal conflicts among others and their profound repercussions on national security and development. Adopting the multi-disciplinary approach, this study revealed that at the root of these emerging threats lie mass misgvings over the perceived political thuggery, poverty and hunger, unemployment, lack of government responsibility, collapse of social infrastructure, and corruption within the system. The findings of the paper showed that the insecurity with its frightening and unprecedented dimensions had serious adverse effects on the State’s security architecture, personal safety, national stability and development. It recommends among other things, that priority attention should be focused more on people-centred measures that could more easily deliver the good life to the entire citizenry than on military hard ware and institutions.