INSECURITY AND POVERTY IN NIGERIA 1980 - 2024

Abstract

Globally, the twin problem of poverty and insecurity in Nigeria has become so pervasive that both government and citizens are overwhelmed. This situation has contributed to the deepening conditions of the people in the midst of plenty, with the attendant effects on national development. The recent development in security studies has led to the emergence of a new concept called “human security” which focuses on an individual’s safety in a country. To date, Nigeria still experiences security challenges at the hand of Boko Haram, a terrorist sect with the agenda to impose Sharia law on secular Nigerians. Therefore, this research. Thus, this study focused on insecurity and poverty in Nigeria, from 1980-2024. The objectives of the study are; to investigate the effect of Nigeria total terrorism activity index on the poverty level in Nigeria economy, to examine the effect of total terrorism activity index on number of people undernourished in Nigeria, to ascertain the effect of total terrorism activity index on agriculture aggregate food production output index in Nigeria. The study adopted simultaneous 2 stage equation model, unit root, Co-integration test, Granger Causality Test diagnostic to analyze the data. The results show that; terrorism activity Index has effect on Number of People Undernourished in Nigeria which proven the presence of poverty level in Nigeria. Terrorism activity Index has strong positive effect on agricultural aggregate Food Production output index in Nigeria. Based on the results, the research recommended that; Nigeria governments that have limited public funds, or limited tax revenue, should fund security programs and should prefer to use security literacy as a national strategy for poverty level reduction because it is relatively cheaper to educate the population about effect of insecurity on poverty level and the benefits of using formal security services. For Nigeria to achieve the zero hunger targets of 2030 by MDG, CBN, ministry of agriculture and defense minister must work together towards protection and securing live, properties and agro-economic values in Nigeria. Nigerian should fight insecurity at all level without political under turn.