This article was originally published as: POVERTY AND NATIONAL SECURITY: AN OVERVIEW OF NIGERIA’S FOURTH REPUBLIC
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Abstract
Nigeria is now facing significant internal security difficulties, such as the Niger Delta militancy in the South-South geopolitical zone that includes Bayelsa and Rivers, and the Boko Haram insurgency in the northeastern regions of Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa. Conflicts between farmers and Fulani herders, kidnappings, ethno-religious conflicts, political assassinations, and other incidents pose hazards nationwide. Amidst these perilous circumstances, there is an astounding quantity of individuals experiencing impoverishment, particularly inside the adolescent demographic. It is impossible to overstate the significance of poverty and all of its associated tendencies, dimensions, and points of view when considering national security. Thus, this essay examined the mutually beneficial link that exists in Nigeria between poverty and national security. According to the study, poverty is fundamentally a complex phenomenon caused by ineffective leadership and administration, a reliant and unproductive economy, and a lackluster use of Nigeria’s own indigenous technologies. This paper, which employed the secondary method of data collection and analysis, posited that Nigeria’s developmental processes which could have resulted in the eradication of poverty and the ensuing implications for national security were unpredictably and rapidly derailed, restricting the contested spaces and opportunities for growth in Nigeria’s national security. Poverty and weaknesses in national security evolved to the point that the impoverished people took up weapons against the government as a manner of expressing their dissatisfaction, which has taken many forms, including the insurgencies by Boko Haram and the Niger Delta. The paper recommends among others for transformational leadership as a framework for a better Nigeria based on the trends and events previously mentioned about poverty and national security in Nigeria.
Authors
- ADAMU MOHAMMED (Federal University Gusau, Zamfara State, Nigeria)
Keywords
National Security, Security, Poverty, Nigeria
References
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