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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
One of the major setbacks to
development in Nigeria is insecurity. Until very recently, plethora of
explanations on the slow pace of development in Nigeria tends to pay
infinitesimal attention to the centrality of security to national development.
It is no surprise therefore that since 1999 when Nigeria returned to civil
rule, insecurity tends to have hampered the nation. Security is evidently the
pillar upon which every meaningful development could be achieved and sustained.
Whilst Nigeria is endowed with abundant resources, negligence to numerous
challenges of insecurity of the environment appears to have created porous
security condition that engendered violence and retards development. The
Nigerian economy is presently affected by insurgency.
According to Ladan (2012), insurgency
refers to a violent move by a person or group of persons to resist or oppose
the enforcement of law or running of government or revolt against constituted
authority of the State or of taking part in insurrection. Insurgency as defined
above becomes a violation to the Nigerian Constitution, Criminal Law and
Nigeria‘s international treaty obligations in the following circumstances: when
it constitutes an attack on defenceless civilians and their property resulting
into injuries, loss of lives and property as well as forced or massive internal
displacement of people out of their habitual places of residence; when it
drives business/investors (local and foreign) away from an insecure nation;
when it constitutes the elements of any of the following domestic and
international crimes punishable by law: Treasonable felony, terrorism, murder,
crimes against humanity and genocide (Ladan, 2012).
The Nigerian state is caught in the
crossfire of national insecurity arising from terrorism. The most prominent of
these, and one whose activities have had far-reaching destabilizing effect on
the polity, is the Boko Haram sect. The Boko Haram sect, who uses the Taliban
and al-Qaeda style terrorist tactics of suicide bombing and targeted
assassination, is responsible for thousands of deaths since it declared war and
engaged in armed insurgency in 2009. The sect has targeted and bombed state
institutions, the United Nations building as well as many Christian worship
centres, kidnapped innocent children in furtherance of its avowed objective of
deploying terror to achieve the islamisation of the Nigerian state (Omale,
2013).
This study relies on the technique of
content analysis as it looks at the imminent security danger posed by terrorism
in the light of the present onslaught and the extent it has shaped development
trajectories in Nigeria. It is the opinion of the study that security avails
the opportunity for development. This research will explore the extent to which
strategic intelligence is utilized within Nigeria and whether it could be used
to identify terrorism and other national insecurities within the country. In
this study, the researcher will obtain qualitative views and opinions of
strategic decisions makers on their use of strategic intelligence. It is,
however, generally viewed that the use of a strategic intelligence framework
could greatly enhance decision-making. By understanding the extent to which
strategic intelligence is utilized in countering terrorism in Nigeria, and the
benefits or problems that are experienced by implementing and using strategic
intelligence by our past and present presidents we can comprehend the value
that strategic intelligence adds in the decision making process.
The originality of this work concludes
in the identification and utilization of the most important factors of a
strategic intelligence framework that was used and is still used by former
president Olusegun Obasanjo and present president Goodluck Ebele Jonathan in
combatting terrorism which is one of our major insecurity problems in Nigeria.
Consequently, this research work is designed to evaluate the counter-terrorism
efforts of both President Olusegun Obasanjo and President Goodluck Ebele
Jonathan.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The major challenge of Nigeria‘s
national security is the containment of diverse manifestations of violence
spearheaded by various rogue groups. The major group in contemporary Nigeria
that has stretched the resources, expertise, patience and even the competence
of Nigeria‘s security apparatuses to the limit, both individually and
collectively, is the Boko Haram sect. The sheer number of deaths arising from
bomb attacks orchestrated by the Boko Haram far outstrips any other cause of
death in Nigeria, including epidemics (Bankong-Obi, 2012).
One of the shortcomings of Nigeria‘s
security management is its pro-realist orientation that accords the deployment
of force to areas where there is insecurity. This is a reactive approach, and
not a proactive approach to curtail insecurity. Thus, the strategy of choice
among national security managers is the use of force in various guises to
subdue those identified as threatening national security. But the government‘s
supposed superior force has not rolled back the menace of insecurity which
creates the impression that the government is not doing enough to secure the
people. This mind-set led Bankong-Obi (2012) to attribute Nigeria‘s intractable
security challenges to government‘s apathy towards exterminating the terror
group and inefficiency on the part of the security agencies as well the
incapability of our heads of state. The Boko Haram sect poses a security
challenge that is alien to Nigeria‘s regular security problems. While the use
of force might have worked in the past, it has proved inefficient in the case
of Boko Haram. This is so for four major reasons: one, the Boko Haram uses
al-Qaeda-style terror strategies, which combine suicide bombing, targeted
assassination and guerrilla strategies to unleash violence on the polity; two, the
sect has diffuse leadership system, making it impossible to initiate dialogue;
three, its ideology is anchored on irrationality driven by utopian anarchism;
and lastly, it has shifting membership that is patently faceless. The anarchist
bent of the Boko Haram worldview is validated by its bomb attacks on Christian
worship centres as well Muslims considered as not practicing orthodox Islam
(Onuoha, 2012).
The persistence of bomb attacks by the
Boko Haram sect despite an all-out deployment of force by the state and the
clamour by Nigerians for the government to find a lasting solution to the
problem of insecurity appeared to have swayed government towards the adoption
of non-military option of amnesty. The present amnesty being proposed by the
Jonathan administration seems to be driven by narrow political considerations.
Amnesty is not imposed by fiat but emerges through negotiated arrangement based
on certain defined conditions. The government had unequivocally set those
conditions earlier namely, that it would not negotiate with ghosts, due to the
sect‘s faceless leadership and membership; and that the sect must present its
basis of grievances as a platform for dialogue (BBC, 2012; Guardian, 2013).
The study acknowledges that amnesty is
a political tool designed to stop violence and restore peace but argues that it
must be driven by the tenets of justice. The study further seeks to know the
measures that have been taken by our past and present presidents in combatting
terrorism and if it is enough and why is it not effective as terrorism is still
very much part of our nation and security is still very far from us.
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The broad objectives of this study is
to enlighten us on what our leaders have done and are still doing to combat
terrorism in Nigeria and why their efforts have not reflected in the actions of
terrorists in the nation but rather booming them. However, the specific
objectives of this study are:
To view the efforts of our past and
present presidents on counter-terrorism.
To know why terrorism during
Obasanjo regime was not as pronounced as it is in Jonathan‘s regime.
To know why the efforts under the
government of Jonathan is not reflecting in attacking terrorism in the nation.
To know the objectives of the
terrorists against the government and leadership of Presidents Obasanjo and
Jonathan.
To give a comparative analysis of
the government of the immediate past and present presidents in respect to
counter-terrorism.
TOPIC: NIGERIA’S STRATEGIC INTELLIGENCE AND COUNTER-TERRORISM PRIORITIES UNDER PRESIDENTS OBASANJO AND JONATHAN
Format: MS Word
Chapters: 1 - 5
Delivery: Email
Delivery: Email
Number of Pages: 60
Price: 3000 NGN
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