INSURGENCY AND NIGERIA’S NATIONAL SECURITY: THE PARADOX OF POLITICS

Abstract

For about a decade now, Nigeria is bedeviled with insurgency cum insecurity. This challenge has greatly put Nigeria in a security dilemma with the leviathan task to curb the insurgency towards ensuring national security of the country. While the onus is on the state to end the insurgency, there have been accusations and counter accusations from different quarters of Nigeria and beyond that the unending insurgency in the country is as a result of the politicization of the menace by the political class. It is worrisome to note that successive governments have made concerted efforts to end the lingering problematic of insurgency in Nigeria unfortunately, the scourge has persisted. Thus, this paper is set to provide an analysis of government’s approach towards tackling the myriad of insurgency that is threatening the country’s national security. Based on the data collected from the secondary sources, the paper reveals that there is a moot link between politics and insurgency in Nigeria. It further reveals that there is also absence of political will on the side of those in authority to bring the perpetrators of insurgency and their accomplices to justice. The paper concludes that until the political elite demonstrate unflinching political will to curb insurgency from all ramifications, the menace would continue to threaten Nigeria’s national security. It recommends among other things that equipping the Nigeria military with modern might, inter-agency cooperation, intelligence gathering, dissemination, as well as investing in human capital development particularly in the north eastern Nigeria are the alternative strategies to end insurgency in the country.