INTERROGATING THE DRIVERS AND TRIGGERS OF INSECURITY IN NIGERIA

Abstract

One of the objective realities in Nigeria is her heterogeneity and diversity. It is a nation-state in which religion, status, ethnicity, regionalism, age, citizenship, and indigeneship, among others, find statements. This paper interrogates the menace of violent conflict as the centrifugal forces that push and trigger insecurity which threatens the corporate existence of the Nigerian state in the 21st century. This paper not only exhaustively analyzes many scholars’ and writers’ views on violent conflict which are internal and external factors, but also sees conflict from the positive and negative points of view. The paper also generated questions on the nexus between violent conflict and insecurity in Nigeria, explaining their implications for the well-being of Nigeria. Relying mostly on the historical method of research, the paper identified and revealed the missing link such as systemic and structural failure of the Nigerian state, politicization of ethnic conflict, and politicization of natural resources as factors that pushed and triggered insecurity in Nigeria. The paper also focused on interrogating the 21st-century violent conflicts as major factors that drive and trigger insecurity in Nigeria. At the end of the study, the paper recommended that government must be proactive in dealing with security issues and threats through modern methods of intelligence gathering and sharing among security personnel, training, logistics, motivation, and deployment of advanced technology in managing security challenges.