Abstract
Terrorism in whatever dimension poses threat and insecurities to human existence in regards to which defenseless nations live in perpetual fears and anxiety. Knowing full well that Security is presently a major challenge in Nigeria and Nigerians are killed on daily basis and in their numbers. Though the government claims to be on top of the situation, the problem persists. The effects of these acts of terrorism are the threats they posed to national security, peace, unity and development of the country. This paper examines Terrorism and the Challenge of National Development, rethinking the Nigerian Dilemma. It provides a basic discourse on the concept of terrorism and national development while focusing on basic issues such on the development perspective. It also analyzes the implications of terrorism which range from economic crises to political instability. This paper observes that there is a negative relationship between terrorism and development in accordance with literature and hence recommends that the government should take the business of addressing issues of terrorism as priority one on the agenda
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Terrorism is the use of violent action in order to achieve political aims or to force government to act (Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary). It can also be seen as using violent or threat to obtain a political objective. Terrorism has become a hydra headed monster characterized by unprecedented and unpredictable threats, both domestically and internationally and has kept governments of developed and developing countries on their toes. It has become one of the most complex and complicated phenomenon of the contemporary world (Stibli, 2010). The current wave of terrorism now poses a greater threat than ever before. It has caused sufficient harm to society in areas of loss of lives and property, economic loss by diverting foreign direct investment (FDI) from target countries to other non-target countries; crowd out government resources meant for development purposes by government channeling a large part of its revenue into security vote. The world has recorded a lot of terrorist attacks. Some of these incidents include; the Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA) attacks on hotels and resorts in 1980s in Spain; the Irish Republican Army (IRA) attacks on London’s financial district at the Baltic Exchange (April 10, 1992) and Bishopsgate (April 24, 1993); attacks on London’s transport system in July 7, 2005; the al-qaida attack on the world trade center in September 11, 2001(9/11) (Gaibulloev and Sandler, 2009). Others include recent attacks in kenya, Pakistan, Nigeria, etc. The level of insecurity and terrorism in Nigeria both in the northern and southern part has become a major issue for the government. Since 1990 when the activities of the Niger Delta militants started until recent times when Boko Haram insurgents arose in the Northern part of the country, Nigeria has witnessed unprecedented security challenges. These challenges ranges from kidnapping, suicide attacks, bombings, ritual killings, assassinations, armed robbery, and this has led to the destruction of lives and properties, hindered business activities, discouraged local and foreign investors, increases government expenditure on security, all of these stifles and retards Nigeria’s socio-economic development (Ewetan and Urhie, 2014). The events surrounding September 11, 2001 and other recent events of terrorism across the globe especially the current wave of terrorism in Nigeria, has focused our minds on issues of terrorism and insecurity. However, in the trudging steps to tackle the challenges of terrorism, insecurity and underdevelopment, the discernible approaches of past and present government efforts in that regard have largely been ad-hoc and dysfunctional. In other words, successive Nigerian governments prefer to tackle problems as they arise in an ideological vacuum. Again, flowing from this ad-hoc approach is the conceptualization and treatment of the challenges of terrorism, national security and development as if they are mutually exclusive categories. Moreover, although our statute books are replete with laws designed to combat terrorism and insecurity, the socio-political and psycho dimensional incumbents which ventilate the vices have constantly been glossed over by Nigerian political actors with the hope that time will take care of things, or at worst they employ state power to repress dissent. The net effect is that notwithstanding the copious provisions in various national policy documents intended to foster development they have remained mere pious exhortations. In this paper we shall urge a re-conceptualization of the ad-hoc approach in favour of a holistic and ideology driven approach. It will be argued that only such a re-conceptualization will provide the platform for a symbiotic onslaught against disruptive forces in the triadic interactional processes
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The high level of terrorism and violence in Nigeria has heightened fears among the populace and the international community and has eaten deep into our economy and as a matter of fact, the hostility has gone beyond religious or political coloration. Several meetings, summit, conferences etc have being held in a bid to curb the menace in the country but all to no avail. Also apart from the fact that meetings have been held, the federal governments have spent millions of naira in making sure that security is brought back to the country but that has never looked worked. The president has told all security agencies to be at alert and to get their arsenals ready and to put more effort in the promotion of effective security in the country. Also the president in one of his speeches prompts all Nigerians to take security seriously because it is everybody’s business. But the question is will it ever stop? Can we say that the Boko Haram menace could be understood from the argument that Islam which give hope to the poor Muslims is being threatened out of extinction by Christianity and the Muslim youth who derive hope of a brighter future from the teaching of Islam are fighting to defend the survival of the hope of the hopeless Muslims, or do we see the insurgency from the prism of nationalism?
The objectives of the study are;
- To ascertain if ideology and funding is the fundamental factor that propelled terrorism in Nigeria
- To ascertain the effect of terrorism to National development
- To ascertain the relationship between terrorism and challenges of National development
- To ascertain the causes of terrorism in Nigeria
For the successful completion of the study, the following research hypotheses were formulated by the researcher;
H0: there is no effect of terrorism to National development
H1: there is effect of terrorism to National development
H02: there are no causes of terrorism in Nigeria
H2: there are causes of terrorism in Nigeria
1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The significance of this study is that it will act as a guide to the government in their quest to quell the problem of terrorism as it affects the economy of the country. Also judging from the fact that terrorism is currently a prevailing cankerworm and it’s very spontaneous and topical, this study will help to proffer solutions. More so, this work theoretically will be useful to writers, scholars, journalists etc. in order to add to their existing knowledge what they already know about terrorism and its challenges to national development
- SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
The scope of the study covers terrorism and its challenges to national development. The researcher encounters some constrain which limited the scope of the study;
- a) AVAILABILITY OF RESEARCH MATERIAL: The research material available to the researcher is insufficient, thereby limiting the study
- b) TIME: The time frame allocated to the study does not enhance wider coverage as the researcher has to combine other academic activities and examinations with the study.
- c) Organizational privacy: Limited Access to the selected auditing firm makes it difficult to get all the necessary and required information concerning the activities.
1.7 DEFINITION OF TERMS
TERRORISM: Terrorism, in its broadest sense, describes the use of intentionally indiscriminate violence as a means to create terror, or fear, to achieve a political, religious or ideological aim. It is used in this regard primarily to refer to violence against peacetime targets or in war against non-combatants.
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT: National development is the ability of a county or countries to improve the social welfare of the people e.g by providing social amenities like quality education, potable water, transportation infrastructure, medical care, etc
TERRORISM AND ITS CHALLENGES TO NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
