Aiyemowa Bamidele
Department of History & International Studies
Federal University Lokoja, Kogi State
Phone +234-8155251341
E-mail: delemen0550413312@yahoo.com
Abstract
Since Nigeria restored her political peace in 1999, her democratic competence towards guaranteeing internal security has been characterized by unpredictable glitches. The kill chain of security threat has become shorter. Innocent civilian lives are frequently under threat, attack and immense evil march across several state of Nigeria. However, there is always room for improvement. Therefore, this paper would not hasten into the perilous realm of strategic judgment on Nigeria’s national security. But it highlights the seven broad categorization of types and causes of security threat which shed lights on the trigger factors responsible for security threats in Nigeria. This paper gives an analytical review of the history of insecurity in the wake of security threats in Nigeria, its challenges and strategic response under her democracy.
Keywords: Security Threat, challenges, Response
Introduction
Nigeria’s National Security is in a decade of decisions. The struggle against security threat in Nigeria seems to be at a stalemate, but there is hope for the future of Nigeria’s National Security with careful and strategic review of Nigeria’s security challenges and response. Nonetheless, the aforementioned statement necessitates a rethinking of what historically and theoretically constitutes National Security. In this sense, National Security has been described as the ability of a State to cater for the protection and defence of its citizenry.1 Nigeria’s National Security is overwhelmed by heat of diverse complexity of security threats from long-standing and persistent poverty to ethnic profiling and violence, kidnapping, climate change, health pandemics, trafficking, terrorism and fluctuating economic growth and financial downturns. This are defining features of Nigeria’s security threats and challenges for over two decades and half of Nigeria’s return to democratic rule.
This paper is designed to make clear the challenges and threats to the National Security of Nigeria, and to help build awareness of the challenges and threats that exist on human security. Howbeit, some of its observation can be of use to decision makers who are at the hems of decision making for maintaining Nigerian National Security. More so pass for superior historical scholarship in the academia.
Methodology of Study
The domain of this paper is National Security, carefully reviewed from three interlocking perspectives: security threat, challenges and response. Historical analysis is used as a toolkit to help chronologically shape the disparate secondary materials of ideas and security conundrums, useful for providing propositions and enduring analysis. History is a crucial subject in providing man’s holistic education. Historical analysis as a theoretical method is a problem solving theory that helps explain the past, predict the future and provide a good basis for political action. This approach begins with propositions by formulating a set of research questions such as; what is security threat? What constitutes threat to the national security of Nigeria? and what are the different types of threat and its challenges in Nigeria? This provides a systematic study for interpreting types of security threats and challenges.
The most wonderful season for me is the time when i can glean on the academic knowledge of seasoned academics. Thanks for making my spirit soar for the privilege to contribute to academic research and development