THE DYNAMICS OF HUMAN AND NATIONAL SECURITY IN NIGERIA: LESSONS FROM THE BOKO HARAM INSURGENCY

Jacob Iba Omenka¹ Ekpe Dickson² Bisong Francis Ali³ Tabitha Venenge Agishi⁴ Maurice Ayodele Coker⁵⁺

^1,4Department of Political Science, Benue State University, Makurdi, Benue State, Nigeria

^2,3.5Department of Political Science, University of Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria

Keywords: National security, Human security, Boko Haram, Insurgency, Security architecture, Economic marginalization, Marginalization.

Article History: Received: 6March 2017, Revised: 27April 2017, Accepted: 16May 2017, Published: 19 June 2017

Contribution/ Originality: The study seeks to probe the dynamics of the forces of the human and national security of the BokoHaram insurgency in Nigeria; with a view to ascertaining the implications of the strategy adopted by the Nigerian state to control, contain, and resolve the crisis. The study argues that adopting an overly military option has tended to be partially successful. It posits that addressing the question of human security which encompasses the necessites to provide the welfare needs, socioeconomic and political inclusiveness of the aggrieved militants is more likely to achieve the desired peace and stability in the Northeast geopolitical zone in particular,and the country in general. In a nutshell, the study has contributed to confirming the theoretical basis that military option on its own is not likely to ensure national security without the complementarities of evoking the human elements. This is vividly demonstrated from the lessons drawn from lessons of theBoko Haram insurgency and the military campaign in the north east of Nigeria.

1. INTRODUCTION

Nigeria, since independence in 1960 and, particularly following her transition from military to democratic rule in 1999, has been contending with various forms of crises and conflicts ranging from ethno-religious, tribal, communal, political and militancy in various parts of the country (see Ado (2013)). The current Boko Haram insurgency in the North East, though not the first of such religious extremist agitations appear more complex as its strategies, especially that of suicide bombing using the under-aged, has exposed certain flaws and inadequacies in the country’s national security architecture. Dambazau had substantiated this point as follows:

Since the return of democracy in 1999, the security situation in Nigeria has been quite disturbing, and in the past fifteen years things have been worsening on a daily basis. Of course like any other human society, conventional crimes have always been part of the experience, especially after the civil war, but the more recent experience in violent extremism, insurgency and other forms of militancy have made the situation much more complex (Dambazau, 2014).

There is no gainsaying that

currently, the most serious security threats in Nigeria are those in the category of discontent or separatist agenda, specifically the violent extremism of Boko Haram and the violent militancy in the Niger Delta. While the former uses religion as its platform, employing such tactics as suicide bombing, organized attacks on police and military installations, terrorizing rural communities, etc.

(Dambazau, 2014).

Furthermore, security is

“a situation where a person or thing is not exposed to any form of danger or risk of physical or moral aggression, accident, theft or deterioration. …has always been associated with the safety and survival of the state and its citizens from harm or destruction or from dangerous threats (Zabadi, 2005) cited inNkechi (2013).

Zabadi (2005) posits that National security by extension is essential for “maintaining the survival of the state” through a number of means such as: “the use of economic diplomacy, power projection and political power.” Therefore, it is more instructive to discuss perceive national security within the purview of the State. It is useful to observe that initially the concept impinges on the “non-military or economic security of the nation and the values espoused by the national society”(Nkechi, 2013). Nkechi (2013) opines that to “possess national security, a nation needs to possess economic security, energy security, environmental security, etc” Indeed, Nkechi argues

Security threats involve not only conventional foes such as other nation-states but also non-state actors such as violent non-state actors, narcotic cartels, multinational corporations and non-governmental organizations; some authorities include natural disasters and events causing severe environmental damage in this category (p.13).

Against this backdrop Nkechi counsels that concerted effort be taken to embrace“diplomacy to rally allies and isolate threats” by ordering

economic power to facilitate or compel cooperation; maintaining effective armed forces; implementing civil defense and emergency preparedness measures (including anti-terrorism legislation); ensuring the resilience and redundancy of critical infrastructure (p.13).

Other measures suggested include:

Using intelligence services to detect and defeat or avoid threats and espionage, and to protect classified information; using counterintelligence services or secret police to protect the nation from internal threats(Nkechi, 2013).

Basically, the adoption of military option in defeating Boko Haram insurgency has tended not tohave fast-trackedthe achievement of national security in Nigeria because the re-enforcement its human security components are as crucial as its military stratagem. This vulnerability clearly demonstrated by Nweke (1988) as follows: (1) there is a tendency tolink “defense” with “security” and to bestow undue responsibilities to the military as if the armed forces alone are the guardians of national security. Such predisposition inadvertently generates the belief that only military campaign that would secure, stabilize and ensure progress in the country; (2) the adoption national security by “civilian statesmen as political rhetoric or slogan for rallying the citizens in the face of perceived internal or external threats to the governments in power and for bolstering their local influence and political base”.Experience has tended to prove the soundness of the above disputations even though it is true that “national security embodies the sovereignty of the state, the inviolability of its territorial boundaries, and the right to individual and collective self-defense against internal and external threats (Adebayo, 1986; Nkechi, 2013)&Dyke (1996) cited in Nkechi (2013). The study agrees with their assertion that

the state is secure only when the aggregate of people organized under it has a consciousness of belonging to a common sovereign political community; enjoy equal political freedom, human rights, economic opportunities, and when the state itself is able to ensure independence in its development and foreign policy (Nkechi, 2013).

This security challenge, apart from its heavy toll on human and material loss, has also affected the socio-economic development of the country at large. Socioeconomic activities have largely been grounded in Yobe, Adamawa and Bornu State as the much needed scarce resources of both the mostly affected States, and the Federal Government have been channeled into fighting this insurgency. This no doubt, has also affected the governments’ ability to meet it other socioeconomic and developmental commitment to the citizens in other parts of the country.

It is useful to note that the North East geopolitical zone, (the home of Boko Haram insurgents) is presumed to be the poorest part of the country with a very high level of illiteracy, acute poverty and a huge army of the unemployed and disillusioned youths who are easily exploited by such religious and political zealots to pursue their self-seeking drives. Departing from the lessons from insurgency, the study seeks to examine the nexus of dynamics ofhuman and national security to the overall socioeconomic development of Nigeria. That is, how on one hand human security impacts on national security, which engaged together have implications for the overall socioeconomic development of the country?

It is also imperative to observe that the Boko Haram insurgency traces its roots to the inability of the government to meet the basic and welfare needs of that region. This led to a feeling of dejection and disillusionment, anger and the violence (all of which threatens the security of the citizens). Boko Haram perceives the State as being responsible for their predicament, as the threat to their survival and security, and so seek to replace it with an Islamic caliphate which has promised to redress their plight. So far, the repressive military strategy may have succeeded in degrading the insurgency, but it has failed to address the root causes of this insurgency, and have forced them into changing tactics to suicide bombing of which the national security agencies lack the necessary intelligence to counter. All these have necessitated the demand for a modification of our current national security strategy which depends on the use of repressive military force to a human security approach which emphasizes the satisfaction of the welfare needs of the citizens as the best strategy to guarantee national security andthe overall socioeconomic development of Nigeria.

Fundamentally, this paper is ordered into five sections: the first section focuses on the conceptual clarification; the second section discusses the activities of the Boko Haram insurgency and its implication on national security; the third deals with establishing the nexus between human security and national security through an enunciation of the key elements of human security while section four focuses on recommendations and section five summarizes and concludes this paper.

2. CONCEPTUAL CLARIFICATION

For effectiveexposition of the subject matter in this study, it is instructive to tidily conceptualize the inherent major variables. The variables include National Security and Human Security.

2.1. National Security

To properly conceptualize national security, it behooves the study to appraise the root word “Security”. Folarin and Oviasogie (2014); Nkechi (2013) posits security as “as state of being safe and the absence of fear, anxiety, danger, poverty and oppression. It is the preservation of core values and the absence of threats to these values.”Nkechi went further to add that “some scholars argue that “security” “… has always been associated with the safety and survival of the state and its citizens from harm or destruction or from dangerous threat.” Security according toImbobighe (2011) is: generally associated with the protection of lives and property be it at the individual, family community or national level”. This perception is corroborated by Nnoli (2006) as encompassing the efforts by nation-state to overcome various external and internal threats. By extension, National security adumbrated by Held and McGrew (1998) is the "the most sort after form of security following the emergence of the state as the main political unit in the international political system that emerged from the Westphalia Treaty of 1648 which ended the thirty year war in Europe. From the foregoing it becomes obvious that the study is concerned with security at only the micro, but also at macro levels. This has to do precisely with not only the individual citizen but with the entire citizenry, usually consummated in a state; hence, the concept national security.

Consequently, Imobighe (1990) observes that such nation-state has as its primary functions, the protection of the political and territorial integrity of its country as well as ensure the safety and wellbeing of all citizens and foreigners within its territory. Imobigbe identifies two phases of concern for national security: The first is related to the general state of harmony existing between the constituent communities and groups within relevant state, and the presence of the necessary socio-economic and political conditions within the state that enables the citizens to pursue their legitimate interest unhindered; The second phrase deals with the level of cordiality and harmony existing between the state and other actors with the international community to ensure the absence of any threat or any violation from outside its borders (cited in: Maduagwu et al. (2011)).

National security, as perceived, and contrived in Nigeria today is traceable to the Treaty of Westphalia of 1648 which gave intensified the emergence of the Nation-state as the principle unit and actor in the international system. This international system was one in which all states are perceived as equals,and are constantly driven by “Fear” that their survival might be threatened. These States as Nnoli (2006)noted, therefore are depended on how much power (chiefly military power) they could muster as the primary means by which the safety of its population and the integrity of its boundaries could be guaranteed. This therefore made national security equated with power, and power with military might. This perception have since persisted and endured; with every state bidding(exasperatingor otherwise) to maximize its power in its desire to survive.

To fullycomprehend the concept“security”, and especially “national security”,Baldwin (1997) inBajpai (2000) urges a closer and greater specifications as it relate to such pertinent questions as: security for who?, security for which values?, what threats and security?, by what means? Answers to these fundamental questions show that national security in Nigeria focuses on the protection of the state, its sovereignty, territorial integrity and regime against external aggression; with military power as its most potent means. This does not strategically situate it to address the contemporary security challenges such as one posed by the Boko Haram insurgency in the North East geopolitical zone. This is obvious asNnoli (2006) aptly puts it:

By emplacing the security of the state; the Westphalia national security doctrine does not consider the possibility of demands for security from elements within the state. By so doing, it only ignores these demands but also legitimizes the state, building an aura or mystique around it which retires it and makes it look like a system divorced from the individuals and groups that compose it Nnoli (2006).

In fact, threats to national security in the 21^st century in most developing countries such as Nigeria are morelikely to be generated by internal issues of poverty, socio-economic and political marginalization, unemployment, corruption, bad governance and lack of infrastructure all of which affect the wellbeing of the citizens and threaten their survival and security than fear of external aggressors. In desperation, aggrieved citizens see the state as being responsible for their circumstances, and so seek to replace its leadership, destroy or restructure it. Such threats cannot be addressed especially by expending repressive military forces since asSampson (2014) noted, “recent security challenges in the country have revealed that repressive violence would only provide temporary reprieve to” dissentions behaviours . This is to a large extent demonstrated in the military campaign against the Boko Haram insurgency (which has only succeeded in degrading their operations but has not stopped them from their suicide bombing tactics} to which the military is still grappling with. The various National Security Agencies, encompassing the State Security Services (SSS), the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) with the Armed Forces, the police etc. are all systematized to meet the demands of the Westphalia conception of national security (that seeks to protect the state, institutions and regime). All these insufficiencies within our national security architecture has prompted the calls for a fundamental shift in the strategic focus on the state, to focus from the primary object of national security to strategic cross-examination of the human security dimension which sees the citizen and their wellbeing as the necessary object of national security within the confines of what it termed the seven key elements of human security.

2.2. Human Security

Although the concept of human security appears relatively new in the lexicon of nation security discourse, the concern for its core values dates back to the 1860’s with the formation of the Red Cross Society. From that period, a doctrine based on the safety of persons especially in conflict situations began to gather momentum. This was eventually formalized in the Geneva convention of 1929, the character of the United Nations in 1945 and the universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948(Abgu and Dakobu, 2006).

The Commission on Human Security (CHS) of the UN, in its final report, Human Security Now, defines human security means protecting fundamental freedoms – freedoms that are the essence of life. It means protecting people from critical (severe) and pervasive (widespread) threats and situations., and

• … using processes that build on people’s strengths and aspirations. It means creating political, social, environmental, economic, military and cultural systems that together give people the building blocks of survival, livelihood and dignity.” (CHS: 2003: 4) Human security according the Report (2003) should complement state security in for major dimensions; namely:

• Its concern is the individual and the community rather than the state.

• Menaces to people’s security include threats and conditions that have not always been classified as threats to state security.

• The range of actors is expanded beyond the state alone.

• Achieving human security includes not just protecting people but also empowering people to fend for themselves (p.4).

A former UN secretary-general, Kofi Annan (2000;2001) the issue, had this to say:

Human security, in its broadest sense, embraces far more than the absence of violent conflict. It encompasses human rights, good governance, access to education and health care and ensuring that each individual has opportunities and choices to fulfill his or her potential (2000; 2001: 1, 2013:4&6).

Annan further advises

Every step in this direction is also a steep towards reducing poverty, achieving economic growth and preventing conflict. Freedom from want, freedom from fear, and the freedom of future generations to inherit a healthy natural environment -- these are the interrelated building blocks of human – and therefore national – security.” (2001:1 2013:4).

Interest in human security could be traced to theUnited Nations Development Program (UNDP) (1994) chaired by the renowned development Economist, and Consultant to the Univted Nations, Mulbuh UL-Haq.The reports, following the end of the Cold War in 1990, sort to draw global attention of the need to redirect resources hitherto invested in huge military spending (that characterized the Cold war era), into addressing the basic needs of the people of the world. The 1994 Report affirmed that:

The world can never be a peace unless people have peace in their daily lives. Future conflicts may often be within nations rather than between them – with their origins buried in growing socioeconomic deprivations and disparities. The search for security in such a milieu lies in development, not in arms (p.13).

It further attested to the supposition that

More generally, it will not be possible for the community of nations to achieve any of its major goals – not peace, not environmental protection, not human rights or democratization – except in the context of the sustainable development that leads to human security (p13).

The study is in agreement with the Report’s position. After, any development that is not focused on the individuals and groups of persons is largely anti-human. This is precisely the case when it does not create opportunities for reducing poverty, inequality and unemployment in the society.

Earlier, Organizations such as the Multinational World Order Model Project (WOMP) had in the 1970’s the Independent Commission on Disarmament and Security Issues chaired by Olof Palm which authored the famous “Community security” and the Late Boutrous Boutrous Ghali’s advanced an “Agenda for Peace Report 1992 aimed atachieving determined safety and wellbeing globally(Bajpai, 2000).

Again, there was the “MIDDLE POWER” concept of human security; championed by the Canadian Government through its Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT); and supported by the Human Security Network consisting of thirteen (13) concern countries: Austria, Canada, Chile, Rica, Greece, Ireland, Jordan, Mali, Netherland, Norway, Switzerland, Slovenia, Thailand with South Africa as an observer(Tadjbakhsh, 2005;2006).

It is the UNDP (1994) and the Canadian“Middle power” conceptions of human security that has remained fundamental to the analysis and conceptualization of the study of human security. In fact, the UNDP (1994) highlighted what it considered the seven elements of human security. These include are: Economic Security; Food Security; Health Security, Environmental Security; Community Security; Personal Security; and, Political Security. These seven elements, were offered as the human dimension alternative to traditional security thinking and necessary supplement to human development(Bajpai, 2000).

The UNDP report 1994 argued that, whereas the traditional concept of national security (Westphalia model) emphasized territorial integrity and national independence or sovereignty as the primary values that need to be protected, human security ranks above all, since the safety and wellbeing of all people everywhere; in their homes, in their jobs, in their streets, within their communities and their environment) should take central position in public policy. Accordingly, human security should seek the protection of the individual from the threats of diseases, hunger, unemployment, crime, social conflict political repression and environmental hazards. The human security approach to national security is preferred because human security is that child that did not die at birth (for lack of adequate health come facility); a diseases that did not spread to become an epidemic (for lack of immediate medical attention); a job that was not cut shot (resulting in unemployment); an ethnic tension that did not escalate into violence; a dissident who was not silenced; or an environment that is not polluted and made uninhabitable. Cases of such aberrations are pervasive in Nigeria). Human security also appreciates how people live and breathe in society, how freely they exercise their many choices, how much access they have to market and social opportunities, and whether they live in conflict or in peace(UNDP, 1994).

Concluding, the Report adopted John Gultung’s analysis of violence;which structuredviolence into two dimensions: direct structured and indirect structured violence; and argues that just as people die from wars (direct violence) hunger, disease, political crisis and environmental degradation (indirect structured violence) could equally kill people.

The Canadian “middle power” concept of human security on its part focuses more on economic privations and an acceptable quality of life, and the guarantee of fundamental human right; of basic human needs, sustained economic development and social equality (Axworthy, 1999) cited in Tadjbakhash (2006).

They all agree that the security of the state is a necessary condition of the security of its citizens but contend that contemporary national security architecture is not enough to guarantee peoples security and pointed out that the breakdown of state, society and governments mostly in the developing world is the cause of deprivation and violence (DFIAT 1992 cited inBajpai (2000)).

They concluded that:

The widespread unrest and violence that often accompany economic crisis demonstrates a clear economic underpinning to human security and that poverty and insecurity are interlinked in a vicious cycle and breaking this cycle requires measures to promote human development through access to reliable employment, education and services(Bajpai, 2000).

They too just as the UNDP report 1994 argue that the individuals rather than the state should be the referent object of national security as emphasized by the Westphalia conception of national security.

As it would be expected, the concept of human security as a strategy for national security has had its fair share of criticisms. The neo-realist for instance pick holes with its theoretical limitation pointing out that the lumping together of such a range of disparate sets of threats causes the term security to lose all theoretical utility (Florina and Simon (1988); cited inBajpai (2000). For them, equating threats with direct and indirect violence only muddles the issue since security is about war and organized violence between states and between states and other armed groups.

The policy analyst on their part contend that the multifaceted nature of the threats to human security make appropriate policy formulation and implementation difficult. This is because any security policy that does not require the direct use of forces falls outside the scope of security altogether.

Be all these as it may, in the face of contemporary security challenges that center around government in-ability to meet the welfare needs of the citizens the human security approach to national security remains the best option for achieving national security objectives.

3. THE BOKO HARAM INSURGENCY IN NIGERIA

This second section of the paper focuses on the activities of the Boko Haram insurgency in the North Eastern part of the country and its implications on national security. The origin of the Boko Haram sect has remained controversial. However, some scholars traced it to a handful of students from the Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Bayeno University Kano, University of Mariduguri and the AbubakarTafawaBalewa University, see(Sampson, 2014). Its original name was Jammatul Alisuna id da a wal jibal’ meaning ‘people committed to the propagation of the prophet teachings and Jihad (Omotosho, 2014). However, the name Boko Haram became popular during the reign of Ustaz Yusuf due mainly to its professed abhorrence for Western Education and so Boko Haram which literally means education is evil or western education is bad in Hausa languages. The group’s ideological motivation, according to Abdu 2011, could be traced to a “BACK TO THE SOURCE”. Islamic movement driven by a salifis doctrine that aims at establishing an Islamic Sharia state in Nigeria in line with orthodox Islam (cited inOmotosho (2014).

Scholars have argued that although their operations were minimal, the introduction of the Sharia law first in Zamfara state in 2002 and later in other northern state helped in motivating the group into more action. The group became better organized with the emergence of Ustaz Yusuf as its leader in 2002 who then established its headquarters in Kannama. Omotosho 2014, while citing the works of Ibrahim 1987 and Kukah 1993 attributed the popularity of the Boko Haram in the North Eastern part of Nigeria to the Islamic indoctrination which constitutes the basic of family upbringing. He argues that because of this social formation, most of the children in that part of the country grow up with an educational foundation grounded in Islamic indoctrination. This he says infuses them with radical and fanatical creed that shapes, indirect and controls their thoughts and conscience for life.

Beginning with its first attack on the Divisional Police Headquarters Kannama, in Yanusani Local Government area of Yobe State on 22 December 2003, when a police man was killed and the armory looted, the group spread its activities to the neighboring states of Adamana and Bornu State. Here, it found a ready number of unemployed poor disillusion youths most of who, given their Islamic indoctrination at childhood readily found meaning in the message of salvation from a western education driven state administration which they had already termed bad.

The North Eastern region of Nigeria, according to research, is the poorest part of the country with poverty levels put at over 70% and illiteracy level of over 80% according to statistic from the Nigeria Bureau of statistics. Their attacks intensified mainly on security agencies including the military, the police and prisons mainly for weapons to continue their campaign.

Following the capture and death of their leaders, Yusuf in suspicious circumstances by the security agencies, the group now become coordinated and moiré sophisticated attacks organized and authorized by 18 members ‘Shuna’ led by its new spiritual leader, Imam Abubakar Shekau. (Omotosho 2012 cited inSampson (2014)). The Nigeria Police Headquarter and United Nation Building in Abuja, motor parks, Mosque, Churches Market places all become targets and were attacked by the group. These attacks using high caliber explosives have created fear among the citizens and adversely affected the socio-economic life of the citizens in that part of the country.

As earlier mentioned, the Boko Haram insurgency is a reaction or product of prolong neglect and near frustration of the citizens in the North Eastern part of Nigeria. With a poverty level of 76.3% illiteracy level of 77% of woman and 56% of men and 83% of the children between the ages of 5-6 years not being able to read and write except in Arabic, no doubt the region is a fertile ground for such fundamental disposition. This situation is aptly captured by Sampson when he noted that

Although the Boko Haram challenge appears to be a religious/ideological push to orthodoxy, certain factors such as poverty, unemployment, general alienation of the masses and a general atmosphere of despondency generates desperation among the people which serves as a predisposing factor to violent orientation(Sampson, 2014)in Nwoke and Oche (2014)).

This situation has played well into the hands of the Boko Haram whose activities has paralyzed socio- economic activities in that part of the country and also affected the Federal Government’s ability to attend other needs of the citizens as so much resources is committed into fighting this insurgency. With most citizens in the North East now displaced and living in camps as internally displaced persons (IDP), their general wellbeing is compromised which has a direct bearing on the country’s national security. Their direct threat to the corporate existence of the country, as they seek to establish on Islamic caliphate, is one that has stretched our security agencies and exposed the lapses in our national security strategy. Although they have be degraded military, their new tactics of suicide bombing is posing a new challenge to national security as our national security agencies do not seem to have an effective response to counter their activities.

The therefore emphasized the fact that the ability of any government to meet the welfare needs of its citizens has a direct bearing on its national security. This is the major lesson from the activities of the Boko Haram insurgency which lends credence to the calls for a movement away from or orthodox conception of national security leveraging on military force to a human security perspective which emphasizes the need to meet the welfare needs of our citizens as the best strategy for guaranteeing national peace and security which is the essence of any national security policy.

4. HUMAN SECURITY – NATIONAL SECURITY NEXUS

The third section of the paper will focus on establishing the nexus between human security and the national security. The seven key elements of Human Security as enunciated by the United Nations Development Programme Report 1994 captures the very essence of human existence which needs to be protected if the objectives of national security are to be achieved. A proper analysis of these key elements would help establish the link or nexus between human security and the dynamic of national security in Nigeria as the very essence of this paper. The seven key elements include; Economic security, Environmental security, Community security, Food security, Health security and Political security.

4.1. Community Security

Community security to the UNDP Report 1994 engenders the need to respect the traditional relationship and social values of the people and ensuring that they do not lose such communitarian values.

Most people in Nigeria derive their security from being members of certain groups such as family ethnic group, organizations and community which provides some form of cultural identify and necessary values that sustain them. Such individuals and groups have the right to associate and interact without any form of hindrance or violence directed at them. This is more important in Nigeria given its ethnic diversity and its propensity to ignite conflict. The UNDP Report 1994 agree when it noted that ethnic tensions are on the rise mainly over competition for scares resources. It goes on to say that these tension deepens when there are cultural differences especially between the indigenes and settlers. This was the situation in the Zango Kataf crisis in Kaduna state in the late 1990’s.

In fact, the need to protect such community rights and values was underscored by the United Nations when it declared 1993 as the year of the indigenous people to highlight the continuing vulnerability of the 300 million aboriginal people in 70 countries(UNDP, 1994). This according to Menchi was to enable it strengthen the unity within the organization and above all to bear witness to the emptiness and the painful situation of misery, marginalization and humiliation in which we continue to live (cited inUNDP (1994)). Menchi, the 1992 Noble peace prize winner replayed her experience thus:

My cause is not borne out of something good, it was out of wretchedness and bitterness. It has been radicalized by the malnutrition which I as an Indian have seen and experience and by the oppression which prevent us from performing our ceremonies and no respect for our way of life, the way we are…(UNDP, 1994).

This situation has been found to be partly responsible for the series of crisis in Jos as the indigenous Birom’s and other natives sort to protect their cultural norms and values from threats by the Hausa/Falanis who have settled among them since the colonial days. Such crises no doubt have impacted negatively and threatened national security in Nigeria.

4.2.Economic Security

Economic security according to the UNDP Report 1994, requires an assured basic income from either a productive and or remunerative work or some publicly financed social welfare scheme. Statistics show that the rate of unemployment in Nigeria today is high and keeps increasing as most youths (mostly university graduates) cannot find jobs.

This is compounded by the lack of skill acquisition as an integral part of the educational system such that most of these graduates can only be employed mainly in the public sector which is already over stretched. The economic situation in Nigeria has become a major cause for concern and especially, given the low price of the country’s oil which happens to be the country’s major source of foreign exchange. Also because of our near non-existent manufacturing sector occasioned by our low power generating and distribution capacity, even the small and medium scale industries are crippled. In the absence of any publicly finance social welfare scheme, a very huge army of unemployed youths become ready tools for use by such extremist groups such as the Boko Haram. The UNDP Report 1994 captures the consequences of this on national security more vividly thus;

Several nation-states are beginning to disintegrate. While the threats to national survival may emerge from several sources-ethnic, religious, political-the underlying causes are often the lack of socio-economic progress and the limited participation of the people in any such progress (p.2). This shows how closely linked is economics security is to national security.

4.3.Environmental Security

Environmental security requires living in a healthy physical environment which is free from negative impact of desertification, deforestation, pollution and other threats that endangers people health and threatens their survival. Human beings depend almost entirely on a healthy physical environment for their survival and even through nature replaces whatever damages is inflicted on it, the intensive industrialization and rapid growth and their attendant consequences are making such natural replacement grossly inadequate (Fatori, 2006). He goes on to point out that desertification and deforestation caused by human pressure on the forest is resulting, in loss of arable land which is causing serve threat to national security. In fact, the recent frequent clashes between herdsman and farmers in the country are attributed to desertification resulting to the loss of grazing land in the North. These herdsmen are then compelled to migrate down south with their cattle in search of grazing land resulting in their invading farms and destroying crops in the process leading o this clashes, all of which is threatening national security.

Shuaibu et al. (2015) narrating the impact of Boko Haram Insurgency on national security in the northeast in particular and Nigeria in general before the advent of the Mohammadu Buhari, citing Zenn (2014)noted that it tended to “pose a serious threat to country’s security system and corporate political entity” as the insurgents not only attacked and bombed police stations, schools, churches and mosques, they also masterminded indiscriminate and sustained kidnapping (the Chiboks girls being a case in point) and seizures of Nigerian territories. They initiated a number of jail break in Bauchi in 2010 and set free over 700 inmates, including the sect members. These activities inundated culpable fear in the citizenry who felt that the Nigerian military and other security outfits were not capable to provide the needful human and national security.

4.4. Food Security

Coker et al. (2015) argues that a severe problem confronting most third world countries is food security. Departing from Mwaniki (2006) position; citing: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI): 2002, Coker et.al. are all agreed that food security a situation “in which all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active healthy life. Food security has three aspects; namely: food availability; food access; and, food adequacy, Rosegrant (2005) cited in Coker et al. (2015). For a society to experience human and national security, the availability of food, food access and food adequacy is very imperative. This was expounded in the UNDPReport 1994; which emphasized that the people must not only have ready access to food but must be entitled to food by growing it for themselves, by buying it or by taking advantage of a public food distribution scheme. The UNDP (1994) acknowledged that the availability of food is a necessary condition of security, pointing out that people can still starve even when food is available but are not affordable.

The problem has always been with the food distribution chain. Indeed, the F.A.O pointed out that despite the increase in food production, over 240 million people, about 30% of the total population in sub-Saharan Africa are still undernourished. That, Nigeria, in spite of her large arable land is still dependent on food import to feed its population, a situation that cannot guarantee peace and stability. People are hungry not because there is not food, but because either they lack the access, or cannot afford it. The UNDP Report 1994 said it all when it pointed out that:

Access to food comes from access to work and an assured income. And, unless the question of access to employment and income security is tackled upstream, intervention can do little for food insecurity downstream (UNDP Report (p. 27).

Sustaining food security as reproduced in its three aspects, earlier mentioned is very fundamental if hunger, malnutrition, frustration and anger, which to a large extent results in venting violence on perceived cause of their” economic, political and social castrations.” This is obvious, taken in to consideration the exploitation of the naivety of both leadership and followership of the Boko Haram sect.

This situation has not changed and has contributed to the rise of the Boko Haram insurgents in the North, which profoundly demonstrates the link between food security, as an element of human security and national security in Nigeria. The conflict has further deteriorated the human and national security in Nigeria as encapsulated by the 32^nd Annual Meeting of the OECD on Food and Nutrition Insecurity in North East Nigeria as follows:

Eight years of violent conflict across north-eastern Nigeria have severely weakened already fragile livelihoods resulting in a deep humanitarian crisis. Due to the Boko Haram insurgency and massive population displacement, the three north-eastern states, Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, reached extremely high levels of food insecurity in 2016 (p.1).

The severe food insecurity in the zone was statistically illustrated thus:

• One out of three people in North-East Nigeria (or 4.6 million people) (are) currently faced with acute food insecurity.

• 55 000 people face the threat of famine (phase 5) in the worst affected and less accessible pockets of Borno state. 

• 1.8 million people are internally displaced within the three states of North-East Nigeria (Adamawa, Borno and Yobe) (p.1).

Such despicable scenarios are not likely to create the enabling environment for national security to thrive nationwide irrespective of the amount of military force at the disposal of the Nigerian state, without the complementing human security elements.

4.5. Health Security

Health security has to do with the affordability and availability of basic healthcare for all the people at all times. According to theUNDP (1994) the major causes of death in developing countries are infectious and parasitic diseases which kill 17 million people annually. Most of these deaths it noted are associated with poor nutrition and unsafe environment. Polluted water in particular the Report claims had contributed to the nearly one billion cases of Diarrhea a year. The significance of health security to the overall security of any country cannot be over emphasized. In Nigeria, health facilities particularly in the rural areas where the bulk of the pollution resides, is are grossly inadequate just as the trained manpower is in very short supply.

This was noted in the Guardian Newspaper Edition on the 12^th February 2015 thus; “with a medical ratio of one medical Doctor to 36,000 people, the problem health security poses a great danger to our national security”. No doubt, every country relies on a healthy population for its socio-economic and industrial development just as it needs same to defend itself from internal and external threats. The issues of HIV and AIDS, high maternal mortality and death from communicable diseases such as tuberculosis are all on the increase and our new born and young people keep dying daily from such preventable deaths. This pathetic situation was capture thus in the NUDP Report 1994 in relation to mortality generally

Thus a miracle of life often turns into a nightmare of death just because a security cannot spare the loose charge to provide a birth attendant at the time of the greatest vulnerability and anxiety in a woman life (p.28).

Such unnecessary death depicts our population which directly impact the national peace and security and by implication, its national security.

4.6.Personal Security

The security of persons within any country remains the primary concern of and in fact the very essence of any government. Personal security involves the security of citizens from physical violence, either from the state or other element and organizations within the state.

The threats to personal security today take various forms which include:

• Threat from the state (physical violence)

• Threat from other states (War)

• Threats from gangs of people (insurgents/militants)

• Threats from other individuals/Groups (ethnic/religious conflicts)

• Threats to self (drug abuse/suicide) UNDP Report p. 29)

Globally, threats to personal security are on the increase as cases of violent cases, such as armed robbery, suicide bombing, kidnapping, terrorist attack, attack by Herdsmen and other armed groups keep threatening the citizens in Nigeria. In as much as it is the individual citizens that collectively constitutes the citizens of any country, any threat to their security invariably means a threat to that nations security because the country cannot be secured while the security of its individual citizens is under this is worse when the state itself becomes the major threat to their security as it is with the citizens in the North East whose economic, health and even community security had been threaten for long due to neglect and marginalization which has predisposed them to violent reaction resulting in the Boko Haram insurgence which today threatens Nigeria’s national security and so show the link between personal security and national security.

4.7.Political Security

Political security refers to people living in such condition that guarantee their basic human and political rights and freedom. The issue of political security as it relates to citizens access to political resources and power has been fundamental to the corporate existence of Nigeria. Political repression, exclusion and marginalization occasioned by fraudulent elections have resulted in several political crises which have threatened the nation’s security just asNnoli (2006) noted

Political marginalization and social discrimination threaten the security of citizens to such an extent that they regard the state as the primary threat to their survival and in desperation, the citizens take the laws into their hands as a means of safeguarding their fundamental values form threat of unacceptable government policies. (p. 9).

In Nigeria, the problem of access to political power by the diverse ethnic groups have led to threats of secession which led to a bloody civil war between 1967 and 1970 with the then Eastern region seeking a sovereign state of Biafra. These agitations do not seem to have died down just as various other aggressed groups complain of political marginalization.

The issues of free, fair and transparent elections as a means of securing political power have remained very turbulent. Various forms of electoral malpractices such as, ballot box snatching and stuffing, political thuggery have resulted in the manipulation of results; out-right intimidation, and pervasive killings of political opponents in Nigeria. It is pertinent to note that the right of citizens to freely participate in the electoral process is crucial to the survival of democracy and until the electoral process and the state can guarantee this, the political insecurity will continue to threaten the nation’s national security with consequences that would affect all the citizens of the country.

5. SOME CRITICAL ISSUES

A critical evaluation of these seven elements of human security discuss above show that they are strategic to the very existence of the citizens of every country. This shows the universality of the concept of human security just as it also shows their interdependence, people-oriented and preventive in their potentiality to ensuring national security. It is worth reiterating that most security challenges confronting countries today are intra-state and centres around the distribution of scarce resources be they social, economic or political. This position is corroborated by Johns (2014) in the following extract from Mahbub (1995)

…the world is entering a new era in which the very concept of security will change – and change dramatically. Security will be interpreted as: security of people, not just territory. Security of individuals, not just nations. Security through development, not through arms. Security of all the people everywhere – in their homes, in their jobs, in their streets, in their communities, in their environment (p,1).

This new thinking – is hinged on the human security concept which, as Imobighe rightly noted, puts the human element at the center of focus because according to him, it is the security of the ordinary man woman in the objective of any national security policy. The inability of the state to meet the basic needs of the citizens precipitate people to violence which in most cases in Nigeria, have been suppressed by force by the state. This “FIRE FOR FIRE” approach which Imobighe describes as ‘PAX’ ARMANENTA’ (quest for peace or security through arms buildup) has failed to achieve the aims of national security. This is because it is always reactionary and fails to address the root causes of these problems which lie at the heart of the elements of human security.

National security must address freedom from threat not only to the physical existence of the state but also its ability for self-protection and development as well as the advancement of the general wellbeing of its citizens Imbobighe (2011). The Nigerian state must reorganize its national security architecture towards a human security dimension where the basic needs of its citizens as enunciated in the seven key elements of human security, human security, would be the priorities of government. This advocacy could best be appreciated against the definition of security the South African White Paper on Defence (1996) thus:

Security is an all-encompassing condition in which individual citizens live in freedom, peace and safety, enjoy the protection of their fundamental rights, have access to resources and the basic necessities of life and inhabit an environment which is not detrimental to their health and wellbeing (1996: 6)

This definition has come to dominate security thinking with the individual, rather than the state, as the object of security be it at any level including national security. The various national security agencies in Nigeria, the state security services/department of state security (SSS/DSS) responsible for domestic intelligence and protection of political office holders, the national intelligence agency (NIA) responsible for foreign intelligence and counter intelligence operations and the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) charge with the responsibility for military intelligence as presently constituted leverage the Westphalia National security thinking. But given that current security challenges as posed by the Boko Haram insurgency are caused by issues of underdevelopment unemployment, illiteracy political marginalization and in fact the neglect of the elements of human security, these national security can only react of them but not prevent their occurrences which is supposed to be the product of a dynamic national security policy.Ado (2013) was not far from this when he noted the ‘insurgency has sociological roots in poverty and illiteracy, stating that the lack of gainful employment for youths would make them vulnerable to joining extremist organizations such as the Boko Haram.

All these point to a clear nexus between human security and the dynamics of national security in Nigeria. This has led to calls from scholar, security experts and analyst for a total overhaul of Nigeria’s national security objectives which will led to a change in its strategy. Col. Ajayi (Rtd.) advocated for this change when he pointed out that “what we need today is not just the sanitization of the military but also a complete and total over haul of the national security architecture and strategic intelligence system. He advocated for a change from our current tenure survivor security mentality to the evolution of genuine national security (Tell magazine June, 2015). Such a genuine national security policy must evolve a dynamic national security strategy that focuses mainly on the citizens as its primary objective. This is because as Sampson 2014 rightly pointed out, there is no “one-hat-fils-it all approach to security challenge. The envisage national security policy must be dynamic and proactive such that it can identify potential conflict areas that could be the contending issues address before they develop into crisis that could threaten national security such as the Boko Haram insurgency is doing presently. The cause of this current insurgency as earlier pointed out have clearly shown that there is a linkage or nexus between human security and national security, globally and particularly in Nigeria.

6. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

Having surveyed the concept of human security, and the dynamics of national security in Nigeria, and having drawn from the lessons of the Boko Haram insurgency and its implications on national security, it is established that because the Boko Haram insurgency is caused by the neglect of the key elements of human security encompassing socio-economic and political deprivations; the current repressive military approach alone is not sufficient to address this threat to national security. It is advocated that components of the human security be adapted to the insurgency in all its ramifications in the North Eastern part of Nigeria.

7. RECOMMENDATIONS

From the forgoing, the study recommends as follows:

1. There must be a conscious and deliberate shift in strategy away from the current orthodox (Westphalia) conception of national security leveraging on repressive military force to a human security dimension which emphasizes sustainable socio-economic and political development.

2. The welfare needs of the citizens must be made the object of national security instead of the state, its institutions and regime protection.

3. The envisaged national security strategy must incorporate an early warming mechanism that would detect potential conflict areas issues for early attention before the developing into crisis that threatens national security.

4. The national security must be diversified and opened up to create room for greater participation in it by the citizens who are essential to our national security objectives. This will help in creating jobs and addressing other issues of poverty, and a feeling of disillusionment in the citizens.

5. Finally, because of the key role of government in moving the state forward, the political process must be reform to accommodate opposition views as a basic for acquiring legitimate political power. The electoral process must be free, fair and transparent to ensure the emergence of leaders who enjoy the support of the citizens because they are their choices.

Funding: This study received no specific financial support.

Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Contributors/Acknowledgement: All authors contributed equally to the conception and design of the study.

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