The pulse and rhythm of our country’s heart beat suggest that; Rwanda is staring at us in the face and we may soon find ourselves in Central African Republic. The activities of Non State actors have continue to brew exponentially and are seemingly getting out of hand. It used to be Boko Haram in the North East, then Killer Herdsmen in the North Central, Bandits in the North West and Unknown Gunmen in South all surfaced within a short period of time.

No Region is rancor-free today in Nigeria. Not even Abuja. The country has long plunged into anarchy.
What is more dangerous about this, is the fact that, the situation has been given: Political, Religious, Ethnic and Regional colorations.

Experts have anatomised Nigeria’s security challenges and concluded that, it is a hydra-headed one. According Dr. Thompson (2020) our security challenges are designed to have multiple faces so as keep us distracted from unearthing the root causes. I cannot but cunncur with this submission.

Coming from a slightly different perspective; we are dealing with a socioeconomic security challenge.
The Karl Marx theory of conflict presupposes that; Conflict arises when different groups with different interest are occupying a location with limited resources. More so, the elites theory presupposes that inequality ensues in a society when its resources and affairs are being controlled by a small subset of it’s members.

Just like in every capitalist State, Nigeria is socially polarised. Meaning our economic system is under the whims and caprisis of the political class, while the masses wallow in abject penury. There is no economic meeting point between these groups. We are in a state where the masses can no longer afford basic needs.

There is a huge deficiency in terms of equitable distribution of resources in all the tiers of government. The projection that Nigeria is blessed with abundant resources seems to be a reality whose testament can only be given by the political class, because they are the only beneficiaries of the blessings. The inevitability of these arrengements is what birthed the security challenges and social instability we are grappling with today.

Russell says, peace is a by-product of justice, equity and quality governance. Our political class have deliberately jettisoned this idea.
Nigeria sits at 98th position out of 107 countries in the global hunger index. Another heart wrenching statistics by the World Food Programme reveals that, 60% of Nigerians live below the poverty line. According to Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) our unemployment rate is currently at 33.5%. Not to mention our crumbling infrastructure. These are the underlying factors that promote curruption, kidnapping, banditry, terrorism, insurrection and all manner unrest in Nigeria.
When you put the impact of these factors into proper perspective, you’ll understand why it’ll be easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for Nigeria to exist devoid of arnarchy, civil violence, terrorism and other social instabilities we are confronted with presently.

This underscores why non kinetic approach should be foundation to addressing these security challenges.

count | 88

NIGERIA’S SECURITY CHALLENGES: THE KARL MARXIAN PERSPECTIVE. By Kefas Bangripga