GOVERNANCE AND DIMENSIONS OF NATIONAL SECURITY

EXPLORING NIGERIA’S EXPERIENCE, 2010 – 2015.

Abstract

This paper argues that Nigeria is facing serious challenges that border on national security. The incessant nature of insecurity in the country has led to scores of deaths of innocent civilians, foreigners, and some members of the nation’s security personnel. Using elite theoretical framework, the study offers an overview of security challenges in Nigeria particularly from 2010 to 2015 and discovered that violence has persisted in the country because the right caliber of leaders have not taken the center stage of governance in Nigeria. In other words, political alienation and non-participation of the citizens during electoral process has been responsible for the recruitment of bad leaders who are not well trained in the art of leadership. Finally, the paper suggests that there should be a total value re-orientation among the leaders to accommodate full participation of the citizens in electoral process. By and large, political alienation in its entirety should be discouraged. Through this way, the right caliber of people that will promote security through vibrant policies will emerge.