By Peter Osalor

Nigeria’s long history with conflict and bloodshed begins not long after its independence from British Colonial rule in 1960. Six years later, Army officers executed the then Prime Minister and two of his cabinet colleagues in the of the country’s first of many coup d’etats. Political upheaval stoked social fires as religious, ethnic and regional disparities billowed over to create a climate of official persecution and brutal governance.

The string of military takeovers continued into the ‘90s and until the very end of the last century, when the first peaceful transition to civilian power brought back some degree of normalcy to a beleaguered nation.

As significant a development as it was, the return of relative political stability did not bring about the automatic cessation of internal divides and hostilities that one might have wished for. Nigeria’s volatile economic and political unity continues to be a threat to its security and stability.

The existence of potentially destabilising forces within its boundaries has long been obvious to the international community. Radical separatist groups, some demanding devolution and others autonomy, have sprung up across both northern and southern territories. Although more of a recent phenomenon, growing Islamic extremism is emerging as another point of grave concern for Abuja. The cumulative socio-economic impact of these activities has been tremendous.

More than half of the 148 million Nigerians are officially docketed as poor, while an estimated 35% of the population lives in extreme poverty1 . Human development indicators are abysmal across the board and many see this condition, existing despite considerable national wealth, as the primary reason behind its emerging as a prominent centre of international criminal activity. This brings up the second important aspect of Nigeria’s internal security: crime and the rule of law.

The spectrum of criminal activity in Africa’s second largest economy and its most populous nation is understandably extensive and diverse. The country’s strategic location makes it a key transit point for a host of illegal networks, including major international drug routes. Administrative inefficiency and malpractices fed by the billions in annual petrodollar profits have also made it a centre of massive economic corruption and fraud.

In fact, the country was listed by the inter-governmental Financial Action Task Force as a non-cooperative country until 2006, when it finally issued formal commitments to fight economic crime. Nigerian scams called 419s are known for ingenious ways of targeting foreigners across the globe and causing both monetary loss as well as personal harm. The condition is much more unsettling at the street level, where armed assault, burglary, kidnappings and extortion, involving both individuals and gangs, are everyday occurrences across the country. The US state department reports 44 abductions of foreign oil workers from Nigeria since 2008.

There are several reasons behind the lawless disrepair in Nigeria’s state of affairs:

· Economic disparities that grew out of non-inclusive policies and the exclusive dependence on oil, which destroyed indigenous economies and livelihoods, spawned critical levels of inflation and unemployment, and left millions reeling in poverty.

· Political misrule, corruption and neglect of social development projects that over the years alienated the vast majority of Nigerian, amplified urban-rural divides and deepened fractures along religious and ethnic lines.

· Flaws in the judicial law enforcement process, largely due to the existence of multiple criminal justice systems based on often contradicting but separately applicable penal codes, Islamic edicts and customary laws.

· Legislative emasculation brought on by decades of military rule. This severely curtails the government’s ability to oversight of core development programmes.

While this by no means exhausts the lists of challenges facing Nigeria, the return of civilian rule sparked a triumphant renewal of national ambitions. Abuja embarked on a process of radical reforms and restructuring to correct decades of misdirected economic policy and reinforce its standing as a significant regional and global economic power.

The Vision 2020 and Millennium Development Goals have forced the government to sharpen its focus on rapid SME development as a means of driving accelerated economic growth. Nigeria’s long-term objectives are critically dependent on achieving rapid enterprise development across sectors to sufficiently diversify and consolidate the non-oil economy. Considering the enormous imbalances that continue to plague the system, what the country effectively needs is a sustained enterprise revolution that channels its vast economic potential in one determined push. Reinforcing the security situation is one of the first hurdles on the way.