Human Security as a Basic Ingredient for the Smooth Running of Society: The Nigerian Experience

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Introduction Currently, Nigerian society is facing a very serious challenge of insecurity in the country [1]. This difficulty stems from the worries and sadness daily that Nigerians face to comprehend the insecurity challenges that confront them in their current hopeless government. When Nigerians try to comprehend the irony of want and deprivation in a country so rich in natural and human resources, the theme of insecurity becomes especially poignant. However, Houston-based PetroGasWorks.com compiled a report that has earned more than $300 billion in oil revenues in Nigeria since discovering reserves in the country in 1958, with little to show for it in terms of savings. Moreover, on average is the growing inability of Nigerians to meet their rudimentary needs and requirements [1]. Furthermore, by the end of the Cold War, when discussing Nigeria, the first thought that comes to mind is insecurity. The national security threat has arisen from underlying internal faults and currents rather than from external aggression, particularly in Africa and other developing countries. Unfortunately, the country has been overwhelmed by the threat of insecurity, which has been aggravated by ethnic pluralism, religious bigotry, unemployment, and lack of political inclusiveness, which has been exacerbated by the corruption of the ruling class and unstable democratic government. Even though successive governments have adopted old-fashioned security as “national security”, with an emphasis over the years on protecting the territorial integrity of the nation. However, there are numerous implications for peace and national development. It has reshaped a variety of ways by putting traditional security paradigms to the test. That is why the Nigerian government is making efforts to ensure the security of human beings are its main pillar, but it always fails. Similarly, it is claimed that a lot of skirmishes in most African countries for example Zimbabwe are certainly the result of government policies that fail to meet or manage their citizens’ basic human physical needs [2]. Based on this reality, redefining security, and the narrow framework of “national security” is becoming important in the world today if long-term peace and national development are tenable. As a result of the preceding discussion, the term “human security” is now introduced in the dictionaries of both development and security. However, the United Nations Human Development Report (HDR) in 1994 broadened the scope of security beyond the narrow sense of security because national security is primarily concerned with protecting the territorial integrity of a state from hostile nations’ aggression. According to the United Nations Human Development Report (HDR) of 1994, the focus of security concerns is that people should have access to basic needs such as safe drinking water, housing, food, poverty eradication, political inclusion, and access to quality health services. A country can only claim to be safe when they are politically, economically, and socially, educationally independent. Therefore, the cost of spending money on military equipment is not important, when the people living in “protected areas” live in abject poverty, without clean drinking water, access to good health, and quality of education. To expand on this line of thought, the post-Cold War concept that necessitates a multidisciplinary approach is human security [3]. It was also noted that the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) 1994 Human Development Report identified people’s freedom from want and fear for all as the best approach to solving the problem, as the watershed moment for human security. Nigeria has faced several security challenges, causing widespread fear [4]. Furthermore, the country is plagued by ransom kidnappings, assassinations, and other potential threats to critical infrastructure, as well as militancy in the Niger Delta region and the Boko Haram mystery in the north. Although democracy resolves conflict in society through rational argument rather than violent coercion, failed governments continue to abuse Nigerians. Because crime has tainted all rational thought in the northern states [1]. Moreover, Nigeria’s continued existence as a unit depends on the response to the security situation. However, governments have opted for the traditional military decision in Nigeria. This plan has failed to produce results, resulting in increased insecurity across the country [5]. As a result, a strategy shift is required in Nigeria to achieve a long-term acceptable level of national development and peace. Therefore, the study investigates the relationship between long-term peace and human security, as well as national development in general. Despite it is extensive tourism infrastructure, Nigeria is not a popular vacation terminus for other nations. Moreover, Nigerians and foreigners in the country are dominated by fear for their lives daily, as there is rarely a day that does not bring news of kidnapping, murder, and other related crimes in the country. More so, the widespread insecurity in the country, made no part of the country safe. Indeed, insecurity in Nigeria is regionalized, with the northern states dominated by Boko Haram, and the south-eastern region by kidnappers and vandalism targeting pipelines in the Niger Delta [1]. Equally, the southwest is dominated by ritual killings and kidnappings that are motivated politically motivated. Furthermore, the southeast self-determination movement has posed a security challenge, as the Nigerian government has rid the military of unarmed civilian agitators, and unfortunately, the country’s peace and development have been hampered by security challenges. Most foreign stockholders in Nigeria have moved their investments to neighbouring African countries where there is peace. Because when there is no peace, investors will not invest their money where there is a risk [4]. The widespread insecurity in northern Nigeria by Boko Haram is aggravated by ethnic tensions, discouraged investors, and raised concerns among northern Nigeria’s neighbours [6]. Nevertheless, billions of naira were spent on military equipment and amnesty programmes by the government in the Niger Delta which has lost many military personnel in the process, misguidedly believing that this is the best way to achieve peace and security. All efforts in Nigeria to address security issues have yielded little or no results. However, the root causes of Nigeria’s security crisis are widespread due to endemic poverty, unemployment, and maladministration. So, when the issue of insecurity is properly addressed, Nigeria can enjoy relative peace. However, in analysing the impact of the Federal Government’s amnesty programmes, the factors leading to conflict in the Niger Delta region are dwindling; unless marginalisation, ecological dispossession, and underdevelopment are addressed, the current peace in the region may not last long [7]. Furthermore, the study sought to examine these intervening factors and propose that a “human security” method in Nigeria is on the path to peace and development. The approach to human security emphasised the importance of ensuring freedom from “need” and “fear” rather than national security. Human security is inextricably linked to good governance and development. This entails providing qualitative food, education, safe drinking water, creating jobs, and advancing the economy. It is pointless to spend billions of naira on military equipment while people live in abject poverty, excruciating agony of deprivation, and an environment infested with disease and a variety of diseases. Human Security Approaches Human security studies literature reveals that there are fundamental questions to be asked; answers to these questions have become critical approaches to human security. These approaches were described by the United Nations Development Programme, Human Development Report in 1994: • Who is in charge of security? Human security work is concerned with individual safety rather than state security. Specific reports may focus on specific target (vulnerable) groups and individuals, but their selection criteria must be explained. • What kind of security do you require? What values must be protected? The human security approach takes into account people’s survival, livelihood, and dignity. • What do you want to be safe from? What threats are most important at a given time and place? It is also necessary to decide how many issues to include and how they will be linked. Consider the perception of threats about their actual occurrence. Human security threats include objective, tangible elements such as insufficient income, chronic unemployment, insufficient access to adequate health care and quality education, as well as subjective perceptions such as the inability to control one’s destiny, indignity, fear of crime and violent conflict, and so on. • Who is eligible to participate? While acknowledging the primary role of the state, many actors can and should play a role, including individuals, businesses, communities, and international organisations. • What methods can be used to promote human security? While some common tools/ strategies are recommended (for example, the principles of being comprehensive, contextual, participatory, and preventive), reports should be creative, innovative, and context-specific. • Security levels - are there examples of inadequate or excessive (human) security? Some form of cost-benefit analysis should be used to investigate the trade-offs implicit in focusing on one threat rather than another and on one type of response rather than another. Another factor to consider at this stage is whether to prioritise institutional consolidation or institutional innovation. These approaches are not mutually exclusive, but the choice will affect many aspects of the report. Literature Review i. Nigeria Security Challenges The Boko Haram insurgency, militancy and marginalisation in the Niger Delta, kidnapping, armed robbery, and clashes between herders/farmers are discussed as security challenges in Nigeria. Boko Haram’s infamous activities have become a threat to Nigerians and the international community [4]. Boko Haram’s ideological goal in the country is to impose strict Islamic Sharia and overthrow the Nigerian state with its Western values [8]. It is primarily Western-style opposition to the Nigerian state. Civilizational clashes are understandable. The conflict between Islamic and Western values stems from the West’s efforts to promote democracy and liberalism to maintain military dominance and advance global economic interests. Boko Haram, on the other hand, is a reaction to the rapidly fading Western civilization, which has already eclipsed other civilizations such as Islam. As a result, one school of thought contends that their unpleasant activities, which have harmed various segments of society and provide the psychological basis for uncertainty in the society, are exacerbated by an effective Northern minority’s extensive use of state authority to cover up these heinous murders, abuses, and dismiss them as nothing more than delving into the social reality of Northeast Nigeria while nothing is done to prevent terrorism into the Nigerian criminal space. Furthermore, some people are still concerned about the organization’s historical origin. In a related development, Boko Haram has existed since 2001 but only became well-known in 2009 when it was actively involved in sectarian violence in northern Nigeria [1]. He also claims that Ustaz Mohammed Yusuf founded this group in Maiduguri in 2002. In 2004, he relocated to Kanamma, Yobe State, and established the “Afghanistan” base. However, the death of their leader in 2009, resulted in regular attacks on churches, mosques, security installations, and media organisations, with large numbers of casualties, leaving the government defenceless and unable to contain the uprising. The group launched an attack on Police Station in Bauchi State (DutsenTasnshi) on July 25, 2009. It was a five-day strike between security forces with Boko Haram, during which approximately 800 persons died, and many were injured. A lot of lives and property were lost because of this rampant terrorism are incalculable. They burnt worship centres and other public structures were destroyed. Terrorists also bombed the Nigerian police headquarters in Abuja on June 16, 2011 [9]. Anyadike went on to say that August 26, 2011, bombing of the United Nations House in Abuja affected a large number of Nigerians. However, the Niger Delta region is one of the world’s most blessed deltas [7]. However, with the commercial discovery of oil in this part of the country, the Nigerian government has not been a boon to the region. Furthermore, the discovery of “black gold” was followed by extensive oil exploration and production. To the point where the Niger Delta became the country’s petroleum resource hub. More than 90 % of the government’s revenue comes from crude oil extracted from the strip. Despite its oil wealth, the region is impoverished and has a high unemployment rate. The governments have been unable to deal with the deliberate marginalisation of people who are custodians of the nation’s wealth, which is a paradox [1], Despite huge crude oil revenues from the region, their people live in abject poverty and social deprivation [10]. Indeed, the context for the region’s excitement and subsequent militancy. The current outbreak of violence can be traced back to the Kaiama Declaration issued by the Ijaw Youth Council in 1998 [11]. The statement, according to them, ordered all multinational oil companies in the Niger Delta to leave by December 31, 1998, resulting in the rise of various militias in the region, Asari Dokubo, Niger Delta Watchman, directed by Ateke Tom [10]. However, militants are committed to all forms of violence and crime. It is a one-of-a-kind act of callousness that has cost the country dearly in terms of oil revenues and military spending. Recognizing that military action will not bring peace to the region, the successive government granted the militants unconditional amnesty on June 25, 2009. The amnesty required militants within 60 days to surrender the weapons in their possession [12]. While N65,000 stipends will be paid to the ex-militants at the end of every month. Moreover, national and international training will be given to them to gain employability and reintegration into civil society. This appears to be a good thing, and it has almost brought the militancy in the area to a halt. Merit tends to corrupt in Nigeria. Violence frequently befriends a large proportion of the unemployed and unemployed youth where the state is in ruins. This has occurred, especially among those who were not reintegrated into society following the Demobilization and Disarmament (DD) programmes and are thus returning to the ravines to regroup. The Niger Delta Avengers have recently resurrected their militancy. Unfortunately, in this country, we want to hide things with understatements [10]. Bribery is an agreement if it is observed. Corruption has been a stumbling block to any genuine government in Nigeria. The palliative measures by the government aimed at bettering the poor have been drained, and the rich and powerful have salted millions of naira from them. That is why the elites have sacrificed the reintegration programme for short-term gain, compounding the problem of long-term peace in the Niger Delta Owolabi et al. [10]. Similarly, pertinent questions that require immediate responses include: who has been reintegrated into society, what selection criteria were used, who developed the criteria, and how can peace be achieved through the amnesty programme. As a result of the militancy’s reaction to the situation, peace should have been viewed as part of a process that would lead to long-term peace [10]. In any case, long-term peace will remain elusive unless the issue of poverty and underdevelopment in this region is addressed. ii. Kidnapping The kidnapping crisis in Nigeria is becoming a tidal wave and it is so prevalent in the country’s southeast and southwest, it is a national security concern. Kidnapping is now a large “industry” and a reliable source of income, particularly in the country’s southeast [13]. Although some kidnappings are politically motivated, the primary motivation driving the “industry” is monetary gain, with victims paying large sums of money as ransom. In Nigeria, poverty, unemployment, and mismanagement are the factors responsible for insecurity in the country with youths who are easily tempted to commit violent crimes to survive. The kidnapping incident harmed Nigeria’s national image. It has also had an impact on Nigeria’s efforts to develop the tourism industry, as its neighbouring countries regularly warn visitors not to visit Nigeria [1]. According to Inyang, the major reason why abduction is frequently associated with youth unemployment in Nigeria is because of the famous adage “an idle guy is the devil’s workshop”, which explains unemployment in Nigeria. He referred to the fact that untold numbers of abled women and men in Nigeria roamed the streets, searching out a process that no longer existed. As a result, many idle youths have engaged in criminal activities, which include kidnapping, on account of frustration and mounting responsibilities. Inyang similarly recounted that a graduate who cannot stabilize a process is psychologically bereft of different manners of subsistence. In one of these situations, the younger individual may want to broaden his or her mindset toward society. Inyang additionally believed that the spread of arms because of the miscreant political patronage dumped after elections may circuitously inspire and beautify abduction. More so, Inyang likened the ultramodern kidnapping scenario to the scourge of armed theft in the early 1980s. iii. Armed robbery One of the most common crimes in Nigeria today is Armed robbery [1]. It has taken on various dimensions over the years. Carjacking, mugging, home and office burglary, and kidnapping are all examples of armed robbery in Nigeria. Confirming this, Nigeria is currently beset by numerous insecurity challenges [10]. Nigeria has become a breeding ground for daring thieves and other criminal activity, in addition to the scourge of kidnapping. Thieves abound on Nigeria’s major highways, making travel frightening. Between December 2015 and November 2016, the Nigerian Police Command in Lagos State arrested 486 armed robbery suspects. This report contains no statistics on successful armed robberies in Lagos or elsewhere in Nigeria. Armed robbers attack banks in Nigeria every day, stealing billions of naira. They are loud. iv. Youth unemployment The beast that the country is dealing with today is unemployment in Nigeria. Like other African countries, is grappling with the issue of youth unemployment. This has become a major threat to the country’s political space’s survival [14]. Unemployment occurs when qualified people want to work but are unable to find it. Unfortunately, the youths are disproportionately affected by Nigeria’s rising unemployment rate. In Nigeria, young school leavers are expected to spend at least ten to fifteen years on the streets looking for work before finding it. According to the National Statistics Bureau in 2017, the unemployment rate in Nigeria increased from 10.4 % in the fourth quarter of 2015 to 12.1 % in the first quarter of 2016, 13.3 % in the second quarter of 2016, and 13.9 % in the third quarter of 2016 when compared to the Benin Republic, which had an unemployment rate of 1 % at the same time. v. Poverty Poverty is strongly linked to disorder and financial deprivation [15]. He also stated that poverty’s financial deprivation and disorder prevent children from reaching their intellectual and physical potential. Nigeria is one of the most resourcerich countries on the planet, but its people live in abject poverty. This is because the nation’s wealth is inhabited by negative people. Although Nigeria’s oil and fuel line manufacturing debts account for more than 90 % of sales, Nigerians live in abject poverty, social deprivation, and injustice. Inappropriately, as poverty worsens, the adolescent population has continued to engage in kidnapping and other forms of civil unrest for survival. According to Butler, n.d., poverty is a social annoyance. For many years, but especially in the last two decades of civil rule, there has been a persistent paradox of wealth inhabited by negative people. Most experts agreed that poverty should be viewed in terms of proportions rather than absolutes. The concept of absolute poverty has numerous extreme conceptual problems because it focuses solely on food. Furthermore, there may be no single subsistence level that can be used to define poverty. One of the many causes of Nigerians’ lack of confidence is poverty. The impact of poverty on the poor cannot be overstated. The poor cannot afford three square meals a day, and the available meals do not provide the necessary diet for human health. Poverty, once again, prevents people from receiving adequate shelter, as many people sleep under bridges or in open spaces with poor hygiene. The poor cannot send their children to school because their primary concern is survival. They are also easily persuaded to engage in prostitution, child labour, drugs, terrorism, and a variety of other social and criminal vices. This is another sign of human insecurity. vi. Leadership Failure Even though Nigeria’s security situation has worsened over time as a result of poor governance, political distraction, and the government’s inability to deliver the desired dividend [16]. Good governance and targeted management are required for peace and security. Every authority is required by law and morality to meet its citizens’ aspirations by providing them with things like better roads, better jobs, better healthcare, better training, better meal protection, better opportunities, and better choice. Almost all of these items have vanished in Nigeria due to management failure. When governance fails, as it does in Nigeria, the safety framework deteriorates [17]. There should always be a few links between the top security factors to ensure a strong security system. Examples include the rule of law, obligations and transparency in resource control, political stability, the provision of basic wants and offers, and the absence of corruption. It should be noted, however, that poor governance constantly sows the seeds of violence within the state and poses a threat to any nation’s internal security. Since the country’s return to civilian rule in 1999, people’s expectations of successive Nigerian governments have been far from met. Instead, Nigerians are filled with dread and hopelessness as they witness corruption, political impunity, and deliberate looting of the national treasury. Second, land insecurity diverts development funds to cover the cost of violence. Typically, investors request country risk insurance. Individuals and governments frequently spend large sums of money on various forms of security. The average Lagos or Onitsha household spends approximately N5,000.00 per month on security. This is on top of the exorbitant cost of fortifying his space. Third, the state’s tourism potential is jeopardised because both tourists and potential investors will prefer to spend their money somewhere where there is peace and safety rather than somewhere where there is a high risk of being killed. A fourth aspect of insecurity is the devastation it causes to both individual and societal psychological health. When a person feels unsafe, he is less productive. Land insecurity has serious ramifications for the state’s meaningful development. vii. Corruption: Corruption is defined as deception or illegal behaviour by residents in positions of authority. According to Ikejiani, corruption is “the inducement of the way of wrong things to violate duty, an inducement in cash or kind to stable offerings or items from public officials or companies illegitimately or abnormally”. There will always be insecurity where there is corruption. When society begins to honour and recognize residents who have become wealthy in questionable ways, as Nigeria has done in recent decades, we send signals that crime can pay the wealthy. This discourages hardworking and honest people from pursuing a criminal lifestyle. The Nigerian monetary system has deteriorated so dramatically that we now have a problem with corruption. A fraudster is far more likely than a hardworking member of the community to be rewarded with a traditional name. This is another reality that jeopardises human security. Corruption has the potential to deprive people of necessities like primary health care, safe drinking water, roads, electricity, and primary education. The World Bank defines corruption as “the use of public office for private gain”. When a public official accepts, edicts, or extorts a bribe for personal gain, he or she is abusing public office. It is also abused when private agents actively offer bribes to gain a competitive advantage and profit by circumventing public policies and processes. Even if there is no bribery, the public office can be abused for personal gain through patronage and nepotism, theft of state assets, or diversion of state revenue according to Awojobi. viii. Inequality and marginalization: Inequality between first- and second-class citizens is a common variable in Nigeria today. This is due to the current Nigerian government’s strong association with ethnic disparities and the marginalization of certain parts of the country in terms of providing basic infrastructure, which has significantly worsened Nigeria’s security according to Nwadialor. Key political positions are currently held by people of northern descent, leaving the Southeast out of the loop. That could explain the agitation for the Biafra Republic and the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) and subsequent security breaches. In addition, it is abundantly clear that life chances in Nigeria are extremely varied. A large part of the population feels disadvantaged, oppressed, and excluded, which leads to dissatisfaction and hopelessness, especially among young people. Such young people are now expressing their dissatisfaction with the situation through any possible means, legal or illegal, such as kidnapping, leading to increased insecurity according to Onuoha. ix. Conflicts between herders and farmers: This is an important aspect of Nigeria’s human insecurity. The majority of Nigerian farmers are peasants who rely solely on farm produce for food, shelter, and other necessities. Herders rely heavily on their cattle for a living as well. Herders and sedentary farming communities have coexisted peacefully in the past. In general, they had a peaceful, mutually beneficial relationship in which herders’ cattle fertilised farmers’ land in exchange for grazing rights. However, tensions have risen in the last decade, with increasingly violent outbursts spreading throughout the country’s central and southern states; incidents have occurred in at least 22 of the country’s 36 states (Crisis Group Interview, 2 June 2017). According to one report, over 2,000 people were killed and tens of thousands were displaced in the states of Benue and Kaduna alone in 2016 (Crisis Group, 21 March 2017). In the states of Benue and Kaduna alone, over 2,000 people were killed and tens of thousands were displaced in 2016 (Crisis Group, 21 March 2017). One of the causes of the increased clashes was the introduction of irrigation farming in Nigeria’s savannah belt to improve food security for the country’s growing population; as a result, more land was dedicated to farming activities. This limited access to the vast area used by Fulani herders to rear their herds, particularly along the riverbanks of savannah belts in the country’s north [10]. Tenuche and Ifatimehin in 2009, Solagberu and Oluwasegun in 2010 identified the need for grazing movement across regions to access pasture and support herds. Climate change (frequent droughts and desertification); population growth (loss of northern grazing lands due to human settlement expansion); technological and economic changes (new livestock and farming practise); crime (rural banditry and cattle rustling); political and ethnic strife (exacerbated by the spread of illicit firearms); and cultural changes (the collapse of traditional conflict) were all cited as causes of the clashes. Farmers and pastoralists have taken matters into their own hands due to a broken legal system that allows crime to go unpunished. Conflicts between herders and farmers have resulted in untold losses of life, economic damage, and a wide range of social, psychological, and emotional consequences. Tens of thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes. Between January 2015 and February 2017, at least 62,000 people were displaced in Kaduna, Benue, and Plateau states; in the absence of Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps, most sought refuge in other poor, rural communities, straining their already limited resources (Crisis group, 2014). Women and girls are frequently disproportionately affected. The relatives of men killed in the violence frequently evict widows from their farmland. Furthermore, post-conflict economic and social marginalisation increases the vulnerability of women and girls to sexual and economic predation (2014) (Crisis Group). Theoretical framework The theoretical framework used in this work and the research it underpins is based on two theories: the theory of frustration and aggression and the Marxist theory of structural conflict, which are used to explain corruption and insecurity, respectively. “Frustration-aggression theory”, one of the classic theories of resentment in social psychology, was proposed in 1939 by a group of Yale University researchers, most notably Dollard, Dub, Miller, Maurer, and Sears in their book Frustration and Aggression. Aggression, according to the theory, is the result of frustration caused by a person’s frustration and inability to achieve one’s goals in society. As a result, insecurity is caused by aggressive behaviour as a result of issues such as poverty and unemployment, among others. Applying this to the study, extreme poverty, unemployment, environmental degradation, injustice, and insecurity have resulted from the country’s high level of corruption. Tensions and conflicts arise when resources, status, and power are unequally distributed among groups in society, according to Karl Marx’s conflict theory, and these conflicts serve as engines of social change. According to Marx, conflict not only changes relationships within the existing social structure but also transforms the entire social system. According to Coser in his book “Social Conflict and the Theory of Social Change”, conflict arises when various dissatisfied groups and individuals try to increase their share of satisfaction. Those with a “vested interest” in the distribution of honour, wealth, and power will oppose their demands. Similarly, resentment is likely to arise when certain groups in a social system compare their share of power, wealth, and status with that of other groups and call the legitimacy of that distribution into question. Methodology The study was based on easily documented ex post facto data gathered over time. Nigeria is the study area because a security problem in one part of the country affects the rest of the country, and the investigation is qualitative. As secondary materials, magazines, books, unpublished works, official government documents, and newspapers were used and reviewed. Findings and Discussion Because of the country’s onslaught of insecurity, Nigeria is one of the failed states, and any serious effort to combat the monster necessitates an understanding of the root causes. Because the causes of violence and insecurity are complex, people who are oppressed, discriminated against, socially excluded, or poor may resort to violence [4]. This speech addresses some of Nigeria’s underlying causes of insecurity, such as youth unemployment, poverty, corruption and leadership failure, exclusion, and injustice. Conclusion and Suggestions The human security approach sought to foster a cooperative, peaceful, and stable environment conducive to the advancement of human rights and overall national security. It focuses on improving a state’s citizens’ existential conditions by preventing or combating threats to their security, well-being, and survival while also preserving the state’s corporate existence. To summarise, if Buhari’s administration does not address the threats of hunger, diseases, poverty, acute youth unemployment and underemployment, poor governance, political and economic exclusion, and a lack of social amenities, fortifying security walls with the latest security equipment/gadgets and assigning security professionals to secure the populace will be futile in Nigeria. This study suggests the following security measures for Nigeria: • To promote democratic stability and overall national security, the government should increase efforts at all levels to address security threats such as hunger, diseases, poverty, acute youth unemployment, political and economic exclusion, and human rights violations. • The Nigerian government’s revenue sources must be expanded to include agriculture, tourism, and space technology. This can be accomplished through the transfer of technology, the acquisition of skills, the development of capacity, the reform of public services, and the provision of critical infrastructure. Additionally, the government should increase capacity-building efforts through extension education. • To increase agricultural productivity and food security in the country, the government should support agricultural research and training through research institutes, universities of agriculture, federal and state colleges of agriculture, and other components of the national agricultural research system, as well as the provision of associated amenities for improved rural farmers’ livelihoods through the construction and maintenance of rural infrastructure. • The government should promote national unity by reinforcing positive social norms • To foster national pride, states should undergo cultural and value reorientation to ensure peaceful coexistence of among different ethnic nationalities in states.

About the authors

Ladan O. Nasirudeen

Sains University; Isa Mustapha Agwai I Polytechnic

Author for correspondence.
Email: nashon1420@gmail.com
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-4255-1201

Lecturer, Political Science Section School of Social Science Universiti Sains (Malaysia) and Isa Mustapha Agwai I Polytechnic (Nigeria)

E42, USM, Penang, Malaysia, 11800; C92, Bukar Saidi, Nasarawa, Nigeria, 950101

Nahdrah A. Kadir

Sains University

Email: nadhrrah1@gmail.com
Dr.Sci., Lecturer, Political Science Section School E42, USM, Penang, Malaysia, 11800

References