RETHINKING PEACE, SECURITY AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA

Abstract

There is growing recognition that peace and security are fundamental for socio-political and economic development of any country in the world. Yet Violent conflicts, whether social, political, or environmental, has significantly contributed to the crisis of sustainable development and security challenges in terms of loss of human and material resources. This paper has therefore, examined the nature of peace, security and sustainable development in Nigeria. The study adopts a combination of theories like; the clash of civilization theory, the frustration-aggression theory, state fragility and failed state theory. Qualitative method, such as textbooks, journal articles, internet, among others was used as sources of data collection. The work was descriptively analyzed through the content of the information gathered. The paper explores various dimensions of the social, political, economic and other conditions that have over the years affected the indices for measuring peace, security and sustainable development in Nigeria. Consequently, the paper revealed some of the symptoms that have truncated the “God given” peace, security and sustainable development in Nigeria, which includes; corruption, unemployment, Weak institutional system, structural imbalance, human trafficking, bad leadership, among others. The paper concluded with some useful policies recommendations regarding the way forward therein and most importantly, called for the need by the Nigeria government to learn from history, as attempts been made to tackle the challenges currently upsetting the attainment of sustainable peace, security and development in the country.