Baba Yahaya
Department of History and International Studies
IBB University, Lapai, Niger State
Email: bymuhd@gmail.com,
Mayowa O. Abe
Department of History and International Studies
IBB University, Lapai, Niger State
Email: abemayowa@gmail.com,
&
Usman Adamu
Department of History and International Studies
IBB University, Lapai, Niger State
Email: usmanyya006@gmail.com, M.
Abstract
This article is a discussion of security Challenges and its cause factors in Nigeria from 1960 to 20 19, with the aim and conscious effort to investigating with the use of relevant sources that the climate change; failure of democracy, ethnocentrism in particular are major factors to the issues of internal violence, terrorism in the nation. Democracy in general sense is used to describe a system of government in which the ultimate power or sovereignty rest with the people among others. Because the final decision in a democratic setting is believed to rest with the people, it is expected that sovereign power welded by the majority should translate to good governance that will better the lots of the people. Climate Change as a major factor is not only limited to Nigeria but the globe at large. Scholars since independence have focused on corruption, mismanagement and religion bigotry as the ordeal without taking time to study the root of these cankerworms. Ethnocentrism encompasses the whole idea of racism; and evidently, it has become a curse to Nigeria aspiration towards peace, unity and development. To this end, this article emphasized the cardinal of insecurity as Ethnocentrism, Climate Change and Failure of Democracy.
Keywords: Democracy, Ethnocentrism, Climate-change, Security, Crisis and Insecurity
Introduction
Generally, it is most accepted that, any meaningful attempt at understanding democracy proceed from the ancient definition of democracy as peoples’ rule. The Greek words demos and kratia mean people and rule or authority respectively. Therefore, democracy refers to “rule by the people”. Abraham Lincoln gave what has been the most prominent definition of democracy in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania as government of the people, by the people, for the people”. Belief of Abraham Lincoln on equality of all men motivated this definition. By this definition, people are seen as subject and object of democracy. This definition of democracy by Lincoln stresses the principle of equality since all men are supposedly created equal. Thus, a democratic State is often said to be one wherein the citizens have equal access to justice, job, power, privilege, etc.
Democracy is built on the “equality of citizens, the freedom to associate with one another for the realization of their ideals and the defence and promotion of her interests; and the freedom of these citizens to choose between the different political platforms of various political parties and candidates and see to the actualization of the platforms, they have voted their choices Win”[1] The most interesting things about democracy are:
1. It provides a platform for choosing and replacing the government through free and fair election
2. It creates forum for active participation of the people, , as citizens in politics arid civic life
3. Protection of human rights of all citizens and
4. A rule of law, in which the laws and procedures apply equally to all citizens.
The Earth’s climate has changed throughout the history of man. In the last 650,000 years, there have been seven cycles of glacial movement and retreat coupled with the abrupt end of the last ice age about 7,000 years ago which marked the beginning of the modern climate era and of human civilization and development. Majority of these climate changes are credited to very small disparities in Earth’s orbit that change the amount of solar energy that is received on the planet (NASA, 2017). The recent warming tendency is of particular significance because most of it is very probable human induced and proceeding at a rate that is unparalleled in the past 1,300 years.[2]
In a speech to graduates of the US coastguard academy (New London, Connecticut, 20th May 2015:), Barack Obama states:
Rising seas are already swallowing low-lying islands, from Bangladesh to Pacific islands … Globally, we could see a rise in climate refugees. And I guarantee you the coastguard will have to respond. Elsewhere, more intense droughts will exacerbate shortages of water and food, increase competition for resources, and create the potential for mass migrations and new tensions. All of which is why the Pentagon calls climate change a “threat multiplier.” Understand, climate change did not cause the conflicts we see around the world. Yet what we also know is that severe drought helped to create the instability in Nigeria that was exploited by the terrorist group Boko Haram. It’s now believed that drought and crop failures and high food prices helped fuel the early unrest in Syria, which descended into civil war in the heart of the Middle East.
In this speech, Obama draws connections between climate changes, drought and desertification, and the outbreak of conflict. He illustrates carefully the causal chains connecting these phenomena: a drought, agricultural depletions, large-scale migration, political unrest, and insecurity in the northern Nigeria. Drought is also linked, in a different context, to the growth of insecurity in Nigeria. Obama is clear that climate change is not a direct cause of the conflicts: ‘Understand, climate change did not cause the conflicts we see around the world’. He does suggest that climate change is related (through complex, indirect causal pathways – a ‘threat multiplier’ effect) to political violence and conflict, but is categorical that climate change is not a direct cause. It could be that he does not want to suggest that climate change is causing conflicts because of its implications for the culpability of political actors for the conflicts (e.g. ISIS and Asad’s government). He is thus being cautious about the extent to which he draws causal links between climate change, civil war, and outbreaks of violence.[3]
[1]Beetham, D. (1994) “Key Principles and Indices for a Democratic Audit,” in D. Beetham (ed) Defining and Measuring Democracy. London: Sage Publications
[2]Akande, A. et al., (2017). Geospatial Analysis of Extreme Weather Events in Nigeria (1985– 2015) Using Self-Organizing Maps. Advances in Meteorology. https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/8576150
[3]Abdulkadir, A. et al. (2017). Climate change and its implications on human existence in Nigeria: a review. Bayero JournalofPureandAppliedSciences,10(2),152-158 https://www.ajol.info/index.php/bajopas/article/viewFile/170772/160195