Human Security In Nigeria Research Articles

Impact of Boko Haram insurgency on human security in Nigeria

The spate of violent attacks by Boko Haram in recent times which has been characterized by the abduction and killing of people; destruction of houses, schools, health care centres, churches, mosques and farms has plunged the country into a chronic state of insecurity. The basics of food, health, shelter, education and protection which constitute security to the human individual primarily, has therefore been threatened by the Boko Haram insurgency. The paper therefore examines the threats of Boko Haram insurgency on human security in Nigeria. Findings reveal that insurgency has claimed a lot of lives and property; compounded the food and nutrition insecurity situation in the country; aided the spread of infectious diseases; denied millions of children and youths access to education; increased the number of internally displaced persons with dire need of shelter and has caused people to live in constant fear and anxiety. This paper concludes that Boko Haram Insurgency has negative impact on human security, and recommends that counter-insurgency will be effective only when issues of poverty, corruption and bad governance are effectively addressed.

Corruption, Marginality and Social Disorder as Threats to National and Human Security in Nigeria

This essay focuses on the issue of corruption, marginality and the social disorder attending it, as threats to national and human security in Nigeria. It not only examines the problems of corruption in Nigeria and the implications of this for national security, but also, discusses the role of an ethical idea of citizenship in tackling corruption and reinventing the political community. In Nigeria, corruption has played a key role in aggravating the political and economic crisis besetting the country. Depreciation of human dignity and collapse of infrastructures have ensured the systematic elite misappropriation of state power, the primitive accumulation of capital, ethno-cultural intolerance and political manipulation in the society. This paper searches for a set of norms capable of mitigating needless dehumanization and inequalities, and improving welfare of the majority by evolving public citizens oriented to the common good.

Street children, human trafficking and human security in Nigeria:competing discourses of vulnerability and danger

This paper examines the lived experience of street children and other stakeholders’ perceptions in three urban cities (Lagos, Kaduna and Port Harcourt) in Nigeria. The study used quantitative and qualitative methods to explore the perspectives of five major stakeholders: Government Agencies, Civil Society Organizations, the Community, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and street children themselves. The findings revealed that street children are perceived to be perpetrators as well as victims of crime. They are exploited, abused and used as drug mules, pressed into commercial sex, and manipulated or bribed into the fire-bombings and violence in Nigeria. While some stakeholders urge increased protection of child rights, others canvassed for “eradication” of the street children. There is therefore the need for more pragmatic steps by the Nigerian government and civil society to address the conditions faced by street children in order to address the security problems and the fundamental human rights of the children.

Issues of human security and educational development in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria

Drawing from documents, observation, interview and questionnaire, we highlighted the role of issues of human security and its impact on the educational development of the Niger Delta region as well as means of enhancing human security in Nigeria. This article is a conceptual and methodological breakthrough in Nigeria's academic land- scape where qualitative and quantitative experiences highlight issues that are pertinent to the educational development in The Niger Delta. Diverse statistical analyses were conducted using the Statistical Package of the Social Sciences version 18 to assess the study 's hypotheses. It was predicted that the region would be advanced educationally and on all other development indices if human security issues are resolved. This paper contends that the Niger Delta region has the potential to address the challenges currently faced by Nigeria including social disruption, poverty, hunger, disease, conflict, marginalisation, and the achievement of the movement for Education For All by 2015. This paper is of the opinion that the successful integration of the Niger Delta region into federal planning, structures and funding will enhance development, livelihoods, and human security not only for the region but also for Nigeria's educational development.

White Zimbabwean farmers in Nigeria: issues in ‘New Nigerian’ land deals and the implications for food and human security

In 2005 members of the Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union came to Nigeria for business. These ‘New Nigerian’ farmers, as they came to be known, were granted leases of prime lands each to be developed into ‘state-of-the-art farmlands’. The whole idea was to kick-start commercial agriculture which will eventually pave the way for improvements in agricultural technology in Nigeria. However, one wonders why it is preferable to engage foreigners instead of developing the capacities of the locals for the same purposes and what this portends for both food and human security in Nigeria. This article interrogates the issues and cross-cutting issues of concern in the concrete experiences of the ‘New Nigerian’ land deals. It notes that while many praise the arrangement and its seeming quick gains, the usual privileging of foreigners at the expense of the development of local capacity has constituted a significant downturn and snag with serious developmental consequences. It is further argued that the implications of all this, especially over land rights – a vital source of violent conflicts in the country – could be dire, as history has shown. This would ultimately impact on both food and human security in a country struggling to come to terms with food crisis and security.

Promoting Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: A Critical Step to Achieving Human Security in Nigeria

Achieving human security which is about providing guarantee of freedom from want and freedom from fear remains the most compelling issue in Nigeria today. In spite of the country‟s enormous human and natural endowments, majority of her populace continue to be threatened by extreme poverty, HIV/AIDS epidemic, mass unemployment, increasing crime rate and sectarian violence. Addressing Nigeria human security challenge has been basically hampered, amongst other factors, by poor governance and corruption. Though Nigeria has been a party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights since 1986, she is yet to adopt justiciable constitutional guarantee for the promotion of economic, social and cultural rights. In the absence of justiciable constitutional guarantee, the realization of economic, social and cultural rights will continuously be stymied by assertions that such rights are non-obligatory development aspirations, therefore government are under no obligation to guarantee their fulfillment. Given the socio-economic context of security crisis in Nigeria, the problem of human insecurity cannot be approached from a tokenistic imprecise development goal strategy. What is required is the enforcement of socio-economic rights carved on the canvass of Nigeria‟ constitutional text as well as on short and long term budgetary plans and programs. This research, therefore, seeks to reopen a frontal debate for the justiciability of economic, social and cultural rights in the Nigerian Constitution. It proposes that fulfilling economic, social and cultural rights is fundamental to the achievement of human security in Nigeria.

Why the poor pay with their lives: oil pipeline vandalisation, fires and human security in Nigeria

Since its discovery in Nigeria in 1956 crude oil has been a source of mixed blessing to the country. It is believed to have generated enormous wealth, but it has also claimed a great many lives. Scholarly attention on the impact of oil on security in Nigeria has largely focused on internal conflicts rather than on how disasters associated with oil pipeline vandalisation have impacted on human security in terms of causing bodily injuries and death, destroying livelihoods and fracturing families. This paper examines how pipeline vandalisation affects human security in these ways. It identifies women and children as those who are hardest hit and questions why the poor are the most vulnerable in oil pipeline disasters in this country. It recommends the adoption of a comprehensive and integrated framework of disaster management that will ensure prompt response to key early warning signs, risk-reduction and appropriate mitigation and management strategies.

Vandals or Victims? Poverty, Risk Perception and Vulnerability of Women to oil Pipeline Disasters in Nigeria

Since the Jesse oil pipeline fire disaster in October 1998 in Delta State, oil pipeline fire disasters have become a recurrent source of morbidity and mortality in Nigeria. Undoubtedly, the past decade has witnessed increasing incidences of pipeline vandalization with concomitant cascading explosions that pose serious threats to human security in Nigeria. One social category that is hardest hit by oil pipeline disasters in Nigeria are women. This paper examines both the sources of risks of oil pipeline disasters and the factors that underlie risk perception by, and the vulnerability of, women to pipeline disasters. It argues that the vulnerability of women to oil pipeline disasters in Nigeria is mediated through complex processes involving geographical, economic, social, and political factors that exposes them to risks as well as greatly influence their perception and interpretation of risk situations. The article concludes with a range of policy recommendations suggested by the analysis. Gender & Behaviour Vol. 6 (2) 2008: pp. 1897-1924

Gender, Conflict and Human Security in Nigeria: Challenges and Prospects.

The web of gender has caught up with the global vocabulary. Gender has become one of the contemporary vocabularies of globalization such as liberalization, commercialization, liberal democracy etc. The paper examined the conceptual clarification of gender, conflict and human security in order to expose the semantic and theoretical confusion associated with the subject matter. The UNDP dimensions to human security were adopted to examine the inadequacies and challenges arising from gender disparity that result into human security dilemmas in Nigeria. The paper also argued that gender and conflict in Nigeria can only be perceived within the pre-conflict situation paradigm. Some examples of this human insecurity were drawn from the Urhobo society in the Niger Delta to buttress the inadequacies of human security in Nigeria; strategies were proffered to tackle these challenges. The paper concluded that once the strategies are critically looked into and steps are taken to implement them, certain prospects will accrue to gender human security network in Nigeria. Gender and Behaviour Vol. 5 (2) 2007: pp. 1421-1433