Insecurity in Nigeria

Underlying the quest for national security in Nigeria is the issue of political morality, which focuses on the question of defining the relationship between the state and the various groups in the society. Political morality properly construed seeks to establish and sustain the essential conditions for the smooth functioning of the state and society. It is in this light that we identify the problem of the moral basis of Nigeria’s security to be a vital imperative of national reconciliation, national survival, and national development in the new millennium.

Our examination of the moral foundations of national security is all the more significant when we examine the trend of events in the history of military and economic growth in Nigeria, especially under the erstwhile military regimes of Abacha and Babangida. This essay is particularly concerned with showing the pattern of ethical degeneration that led to the systematic and institutionalized erosion of personal and collective peace, safety, stability, and harmony within Nigerian society.

Also, the need for an examination of the ethical basis of human social existence in Nigeria is further highlighted by president Obasanjo who 245National Security, Social Order… in the October 1999 national day speech emphasized that there is a need to examine the moral foundations of all our actions and to continue to search for the conditions that will make Nigeria a just, free and wealthy society. Obasanjo’sstatement clearly implies that the country is yet to achieve the much-desired level of ethical conduct and respect for human dignity that can ensure the maintenance of security, peace, and order in society.

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Indeed, the history of Nigeria shows that the practice of genuine moral conduct and the guarantee of adequate personal and national security for all segments of society has been an elusive and futile project. An examination of the spectrum of national life reveals the incidence of corruption in high and low places, conflicts and confusion in various communities and regions, greed and selfishness as the guiding principles of human social interaction, as well as a situation of pervasive lawlessness in the conduct of daily life.

As a confirmation of the problem of national security in Nigeria, the Nigerian Bar Association [NBA] has stated that there is increasing national decay and insecurity, which is seen in the regressing economy, unviable hospital facilities and health services, lack of good pipe borne water, transportation, and fuel problems that have overwhelmed the society. We may also add that the problem of national security is seen in the increasing situation of lawlessness, violence, and criminality that have become endemic in the nation.

The evidence of the dismal state of national security is seen in what Onyegbula describes as the diminishing standard of living and the deteriorating social infrastructures and educational system. For instance, the roads, refineries, hospitals, and schools have not been functioning at their optimum levels. More so, the existence of a poorly trained police force has compelled the abdication of the security of lives and property of Nigerians to the ethnic militia groups and other dubious civil defense and vigilante associations.

Together, these civil and institutional security agencies and groups participate in the institutionalized brutalization, extortion, and repression of the people. Thus, our argument is that the erosion of both the dignity of the human person and the sanctity of the social order has ensured that the establishment of genuine national security in the nation has not been adequately guaranteed.

More importantly, the earlier approaches, which have been adopted in the attempt to provide national security in Nigeria, have not been successful. Hence, there is a need to seek a new approach to the resolution of the problem of national security in Nigeria and a good point to start the discussion is to attempt a conceptual analysis of social order as a prelude to the examination of national security.

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