Insecurity and economic development in Nigeria: Boko Haram insurgency in perspective

Abstract

Since the advent of nation states, insecurity, has remained a critical challenge to governments in their bid for development through national cohesion. A key catalyst of growth in any country is Economic Development (ED) which refers to qualitative and quantitative changes in an existing economy in terms of human capital development, improvements in health, safety, literacy and infrastructure amongst others. However, this is greatly hampered by security threats such as terrorism, insurgency, banditry, and cyber warfare amongst others. The Nigerian authorities have been contending with insecurity in the mentioned areas especially terrorism. Accordingly, efforts have been made by the Federal Government of Nigeria to tackle these security threats particularly against the Boko Haram Terrorist (BHT). The efforts include non-kinetic measures of economic incentives and strategic communications to degrade support for the sect’s dastardly acts. Where these failed, kinetic measures which entail military and paramilitary operations have been utilised to defeat the threats. However, some challenges have militated against the efforts emplaced by Nigeria to curb insecurity. It is against this background that this research seeks to conduct a detailed qualitative analysis of secondary data using triangulation method to draw logical conclusions. The objective of the study is to analyse the effect of the insecurity due to BHT on the ED of Nigeria and suggest strategies to address the challenges for enhanced ED.