Insecurity in Nigeria, a Threat to National Development -By Etemike Augusta Ezimano

No nation can achieve meaningful development when its citizen live in constant fear. Today insecurity remains one of Nigeria’s greatest challenges, affecting lives, livelihood and feature of the country. Many Nigerians now live with necessity as violent crimes continue to clean, lies, destroy properties and disrupt, economic, and social activities. This needs urgent attention because he threaten the life and well-being of Nigerians and slows down national development.

There are different forms of insecurity like kidnapping, which happens all over Nigeria mostly in the northern part of Nigeria in May 2026 government attack schools in Oyo State and abducted more than 30 peoples teachers included same thing happened in June 2026 where are students were kidnapped in Zamfara state.

Another form of insecurity is mandatory which is a form of violence crime and is common in Northwestern state in Nigeria, such as Zamfara Katsina ETC. An incident of banditry happened in February 2026 in Katsina state where bandit attack Doma community in Faskari local government area killing at least thirteen people, they also set houses on fire forcing resident to leave their home of residence and flea despite earlier effort by community leaders to make peace with the bandits.

There are other forms of insecurity, ranging from terrorism and robbery. Communal crashes, banditry, and kidnapping are the most common and major forms of insecurity which he does the development of Nigeria and made Nigerians live in fear.

One major cost of insecurity in Nigeria is unemployment and poverty many young people are unable to find jobs upon graduating from school. It’s only in Nigeria you will find a two year old graduate, riding motorcycle or tricycle to make a living, some become frustrated and are lured into these criminal activities in order to sustain or make quick money.

Poor governance and weak law enforcement also encourages insecurity criminal participates, and engage in this illegal activities because of weak Law enforcement because they believe they can escape justice and when government fails to provide basic amenities and create employment opportunities, this leads to violence and other security challenges. President Bola Tinubu also stated in his Democracy Day address that insecurity in partly due to the collapse of grassroots governance and ineffective local government administration. According to him, when local governments fail to function effectively, communities become more vulnerable to crime and violence. He also stressed that democracy and development cannot thrive in an atmosphere of insecurity. This view supports the argument that addressing insecurity requires more than military operations.

Also, the easy accessibility to illegal weapons has worsened insecurity across the country. You can find an 18 year old boy possessing firearms. These factors enables bandits to attack with Greater is putting Innocent lives at risk.

Insecurity has taken a great effect in the lives of Nigeria we have heard of a cases of lots of lives and property, fear and displacement of citizens reduction in investment and economic goods. These are not good for a developing country like Nigeria. Nigeria is a developing country with great human and natural resources however, challenges such as insecurity unemployment corruption slowed down its development.

In my opinion, more needs to be done to tackle insecurity in Nigeria. Although the government has made efforts by deploying security personnel and carrying out military operations, the problem still exists. Many people still live in fear because cases of kidnapping, banditry, and terrorism continue to occur. insecurity deserves urgent attention and the Nigerian government have been sent to that with some recorded as the incident of the rescue of the sister of the former minister of Adebayo Adelabu in June 2026. Citizens also have important role to play in fighting insecurity by obeying the law and reporting any suspicious movement to the Nigerian police and avoid taking part in crime when the public and security agencies walk together it becomes easier to curb and reduce crime.

I also believe that the government should not only focus on arresting criminals but also solve the problems that lead people into crime. Issues like poverty, unemployment, corruption, and poor education should be addressed. If these root causes are ignored, insecurity will continue even if many criminals are arrested.

Therefore, both the government and citizens must work together to fight insecurity. If everyone plays their part, Nigeria can become a safer and more peaceful country where people can live and work without fear.