Threats to National Security of Nigeria
Nigeria is best known for the most popular film industry across Africa. Now, this sector is being overshadowed by Nigeria’s security challenges. The reason behind this insecurity is the oil thieves in Niger Delta and outcome of the fight against Islamist militants in Northeastern Nigeria. These are the causes which will test the viability of Nigeria’s political arrangements and federal security.
The most serious challenges to national security and peace in Nigeria are the Boko Haram insurgency in Northeastern Nigeria and also the insurgency in the Niger-Delta. On the one hand piracy is posing a grave threat to Nigeria’s economic sovereignty, in view of the scope of oil theft in the region. Boko Haram’s has caused the devastation in the regions of Nigeria and also linked domestic security challenges in the Sahel region straddling West and North Africa.
Valiant attacks posed by Boko Haram and spin-off groups have drawn condemnation locally, regionally and internationally. These are the source of the latest concerns related to national security in Nigeria. Terrorist continue to mount an exacting toll on the various communities and also hit the military and civilians. Over the past two years, Islamist extremists operating in Pakistan, Middle-East and Afganistan have become the norm for Nigerians. It is obvious that these threats pose terrorism to national security in Nigeria. Terrorists are making effective governance difficult, killing people and discrediting the government.
Nigeria’s terrorism mounts challenge mostly in the Northeastern regions of Nigeria. There are clear national implications. National security system of Nigeria is centralized and in order for the central government to assert the authority as the government of the entire federation, it must be able to rule in threats to the peace, even in the most remote corners of the country. The key test for viability of Nigeria’s federal security and political arrangements is the oil thieves operating in Nigeria’s territorial water or the Nigerian government’s ability to rein in Boko Haram.
