The Impact of Counter-insurgency on National Security in Nigeria

Terrorism in Nigeria is an impediment to national security and sustainable development. Nigeria is presently preoccupied with multi-polar insurgency, with antecedents dating back to the 1960s and 1980s. The attacks on security agencies, civilians, churches, mosques, foreign embassies in Nigeria and the United Nations offices in Abuja have become more worrisome as such attacks have always resulted in collateral. With the new media, improved and sophisticated weaponry, the terrorists have unleashed mayhem on national security. In the wake of the insurgency, the federal government initiated a counterinsurgency operation, involving all the national security agencies. This naturally brought insurgency, counterinsurgency, and national security in an interface. Disagreeing with the human needs centre view on national security and drawing from studies by other scholars, this study examines the implication of insurgency on national security to examine the interaction between, counterinsurgency, and national security. It points out the issues and lessons emanating from the interaction and their impact for national security. Thus, this study recommended among others, a global agreement and cooperation to be reached among nations in various areas in order to bridge socio-economic inequalities which results in aggressive behavior among the less privileged and reduce insecurity.  The study also revealed that the current strategy was unduly targeted at Boko Haram due to the media hype of its activities. It noted, however, that boko-haram poses an equally viable threat due to its links with Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). Consequently, the current strategy is not suitable in dealing with the current insurgency in the long term. The study thus called for a more holistic counterinsurgency strategy.