Conflicts and Insecurity as Threats to Nigerian National Development

Abstract

One of the major setbacks to development in Nigeria is insecurity. Until very recently, plethora of explanations on the crawling pace of development in Nigeria tends to pay infinitesimal attention to the centrality of security to national development. It is no surprise, therefore, that since 1999 when Nigeria returned to civil rule, insecurity tends to have hampered national development. Security evidently is the pillar upon which every meaningful development could be achieved and sustained. The development strides in most western capitalists' states that place premium on security lend credence to this assertion. While Nigeria is endowed with abundant resources, negligence to numerous challenges of insecurity in the environment appears to have created porous security conditions that engendered violence and retard development. Therefore, it is important to pay attention to the imminent security danger posed by conflicts and insecurity (terrorism and political conflicts) in the light of the present onslaught and the extent the insurgences have shaped development trajectories in Nigeria. Security avails the opportunity for development and Nigeria can only achieve sustainable development through firm prioritization of security in the development agenda