Background to the study Globally, the issue of security, peace and development is at the centre stage of local,national and international discourse. States, especially developing ones are constantly insearch for security, (Barry, 1983). Nigeria is post-colonial state in its form and Post – colonialstate is tied to the offshoot of imperialism. Over the years, different governments, individualsand institutions in Nigeria have systematically entrenched a culture of marginalization,inequality within the social order. The modern social system has produced widespreadviolence, arbitrary hierarchies and avoidable deprivation that have snowballed into seriousnational security challenges, (Philip, 2008 in Wosu and Destiny, 2014:2)Since Nigeria was granted flag independence on October 1st 1960, it has not been wellwith her as a nation. Nigeria is buffeted with economic, political, and social crises,metamorphosis into national insecurity, historically ranging from the coups d’ etat of 1960sto 1990s. The civil war (1967-1970) that claimed more than three million lives, theMaitatsine religious riots of the 1980s and early 1990s, the SAP saga and its effects, the 1993June 12 election and struggle to reclaim mandate, Odi genocide, Sagamu bloody riots of2000, the Niger Delta perennial crisis, armed robberies, inter and intra communal conflicts,kidnappings and political assassinations among others. These protests are driven formarginalization, resource control, or ethnic conflagration. Recently, the emergence of theBoko Haram has added to the corpus of violence and insecurity in the country. Boko Haramis an extremist Islamic sect that is said to have a link with the Al Qaeda terrorist group. Itsideology presumably is to Islamize Nigeria.( Wosu,E and Destiny,E.A:2014:3)In today’s Nigeria, Boko Haram have created an atmosphere of violence andinsecurity in the minds of Nigerians through actions that have left many dead, property worth2
billions destroyed and many displaced. Yet, the government does not have the magic wand tostop and/or protect lives and properties of the citizenry. The activities of Boko Haram haveparalyzed commercial activities particularly in the northern part of the country with waves ofthreats across the nation. It becomes very dicey to situate the problems or agitation of the sectwhether it is a religious agenda or not. Their mayhem cut across religious and non religiouspersons and institutions (Wosu,E and Destiny,E.:A2014:2)Since 2011, the population of the north-east of Nigeria States have been affected bythe insurgency between Boko Haram and governmental forces. The government declared aState of Emergency (SOE) on 14 May 2013 in the three north-eastern states of Borno, Yobe,and Adamawa and imposed curfews. An inter-agency assessment mission that took place inMay 2014 showed that in six states affected by the crisis (Adamawa, Borno, Bauchi, Gombe,Taraba and Yobe) the number of IDPs had reached almost 647,000. Insurgent attacks this year(2015) have escalated in frequency and intensity usually targeting rural communities, schoolsand roads connecting towns. The attacks on schools have resulted in all schools being closedin Borno since March 2014 and a few schools reopened in November 2014. OCHA reportsthat 2,053 people have been killed in 95 attacks in the North-East. This has resulted inthousands people being displaced and in a new development with 22 IDP camps having nowbeen established in public buildings, accommodating over 103,000 IDPs, with the largestconcentration of camp based IDPs in Maiduguri.(UNICEF,2014)The scenario of this Boko Haram and insurgency is tragic, spanning from the North,East of Nigerian state. In the North East, the activities of Boko Haram sect which claimsmillions of lives in the region cannot be left out. A common denominator recorded by theseviolence is that they have promoted humanitarian crises ranging from refugee, poverty,misery, diseases, malnutrition and epidemics mainly concerning the health of children and3
women thereby inhibiting the process of development which is hinged on provision of basicinfrastructural facilities and investment opportunities etc. (Mimiko 1999: Adetula 2006)With a population of about 165 million, Nigeria is Africa’s largest country in terms ofdemographic size. With a GDP of US$415 billion, it is the second largest economy afterSouth Africa. Nigeria holds the record for being the largest oil producer on the continent andthe sixth in OPEC. The country is well endowed with petroleum, gas and yet-untappedmineral resources. Its agricultural potentials are considerable, although the country remains anet importer of food. Over the last decade, growth has averaged 7.4% and is projected to be6.9% by year’s end 2012 (ADB, 2012)
