The Imperative of Social Security in Time of Insecurity in Nigeria

Abstract

The Nigerian state has been having insecurity challenges at different times since
independence but the recent wave of insecurity has taken different and outrageous dimension. Today,
loss of lives and properties in the hands of insurgents are no longer news because we have lost count
with the numbers of deaths. With the combined efforts of agitation for regional secession, religion
extremism cum insurgency, and herder/farmers clashes, the Nigeria society has been soaked with
blood of defenseless civilians massacred in their homes. Unfortunately, despite huge national budget
committed to this menace in response to recommendations of many studies towards tackling state
insecurity in Nigeria that include increment of defense allocation and regional and international
assistance, the result has been disappointing. But anchored on the social contract theory, this study
posits that with effective social security administration, state insecurity will be drastically reduced in
Nigeria because state insecurity is driven by local grievances of poor governance and lack of
economic opportunities, among others. This position was derived from data generated from secondary
sources and analyzed with the content analysis approach. The paper thus, recommended among others
that Nigeria government should spends more on social security and less on state security.