Abstract

Insecurity has become a hydra headed monster which security agents in Nigeria
appear incapable of handling vis a vis its multifaceted manifestations like
bombing, kidnapping/hostage taking, destruction of property, creation of fear,
to mention but a few. This paper therefore examines the causes, government
efforts at fostering peace as well as the effect of insecurity on human being and
the nation economy. The study revealed that the power shift from the northern
hegemony to a minority geo-political zone of South-south is currently on top
in the list of issues that are instigating groups and individuals against the
interests of the state. This paper analyses the COVID-19 situation in Nigeria, its
effect on the economy and the structural causes that worsen the coronavirus
(COVID-19) crisis. The findings reveal that the economic downturn in Nigeria was
triggered by a combination of declining oil price and spillovers from the COVID-19
outbreak, which not only led to a fall in the demand for oil products but also
stopped economic activities from taking place when social distancing policies
were enforced. The government responded to the crisis by providing financial
assistance to businesses and a small number of households that were affected by
the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. The monetary authority adopted
accommodative monetary policies and offered a targeted ₦3.5trillion loan
support to some sectors.

Introduction

One of the fundamental human rights of the people in any given state is the right
to security and this is why it is always provided for in the constitution of most
sovereign states. Nigeria is not an exception, thus Section 14 (2) (b) of the
Nigerian 1999 constitution states clearly that “the security and welfare of
the people shall be the primary purpose of the government”. Although the
problem of insecurity is not new in Nigeria, however since the confirmation of
Goodluck Jonathan in February 2010 as the President and Commander-in-
Chief of Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria following the
hospitalisation and eventual death of President Yar’adua the nation has been
witnessing unparalleled security challenges. Now, hardly a day goes by without a
report of one security challenge or the other. Unfortunately, ordinary citizens as
well as the nation’s economic resources are at the receiving end of this wanton
destruction. The series of bombings and killings in the north; kidnapping and
armed robbery attack in the south; political and economic related
assassinations as well as the politically-influenced communal wars has become
a multi-hydra headed monster which security agents in Nigeria appear
incapable of handling. Security has long been a part of human existence and
sustenance and could be aptly viewed as freedom from threat or violence
which could lead to the loss of lives and properties.

This study analyses the COVID-19 situation in Nigeria, the economic crisis and the
structural causes. The COVID-19 pandemic has had far-reaching effects on the
global economy (Ozili and Arun, 2020). It affected the global travel business,
national health care systems, the food industry, events industry, education and
global trade.

Effect On The Nigerian Economy

The prevalence of violence across the surveyed areas can be correlated with
people's opinions about the response to the coronavirus. While COVID-19 brings
its own epidemiological challenge, past insecurity seems to make things worse.
Controlling for other variables, respondents who reported personally
experiencing insecurity or violence in the past 12 months are also more likely to
negatively rate the response of the Nigeria federal government to COVID-19.
Respondents without a recent experience of insecurity are more likely to rate the
response of the Nigeria federal government positively. For example, in Kaduna
state, between 58 and 63 percent of respondents without an experience of
insecurity evaluate the government's response to the covid-19 positively, while
only 44 to 55 percent of respondents who had experienced insecurity feel
positively about the government's response. In plateau, similar trends can be
observed: 52 to 61 percent of respondents without a recent experience of
insecurity feel positively about the federal government's actions to tackle covid-
19; only 46 to 49 percent of respondents of a recent experience of insecurity feel
as positively.

At first glance, criminality and internal conflicts might seem to be entirely

unrelated to tackling the coronavirus. This data suggests otherwise, and implies
that reducing insecurity would improve the confidence people feel in the
government's response to other areas, such as with regard to COVID-19, and,
extrapolating further, to potential public health challenges.

There are five main ways through which the COVID-19 pandemic spilled over into
Nigeria. One, the COVID-19 pandemic affected borrowers’ capacity to service
their loans, which gave rise to non-performing loans (NPLs) that depressed
banks’ earnings and eventually impaired banks’ soundness and stability.
Subsequently, banks were reluctant to give additional loans to borrowers as more
and more borrowers struggled to repay the loans granted to them during the
COVID-19 outbreak. Two, there were oil demand shocks which was reflected in
the sharp decline in oil price. The most visible and immediate spillover was the
drop in the price of crude oil, which dropped from nearly US$60 per barrel to as
low as US$30 per barrel in March. During the pandemic, people were no longer
travelling and this led to a sustained fall in the demand for aviation fuel and
automobile fuel which affected Nigeria’s net oil revenue, and eventually affected
Nigeria’s foreign reserve. Three, there were supply shocks in the global supply
chain as many importers shut down their factories and closed their borders
particularly China. Nigeria was severely affected because Nigeria is an import-
dependent country, and as a result, Nigeria witnessed shortage of crucial
supplies like pharmaceutical supplies, spare parts, and finished goods from
China. Four, the national budget was also affected. The budget was initially
planned with an oil price of US$57 per barrel.

Leadership Factor The Nigerian state for sometime now has not had the benefit
of being administered by good leaders as most of the political leaders are in
office for pecuniary gains. Often, sadly, these crops of political leaders
oppress the citizens with the looted money, train thugs and hooligans who
later turn to robbers or engage in other forms of crime when they are dumped
by the politicians after elections thus constituting a major threat to the security
of the nation. Unemployment Factor Idle hand, they say is the devil workshop
so as the rate of unemployment continues to rise so does the wave of crime
and its attendant effect. The Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) cited in
Ogah et al., (2011) puts unemployment in Nigeria at 23.9 per cent and still
raising. These unemployed people now employ themselves by engaging in illegal
activities such as kidnapping, robbery, bunkering, and other nefarious activities.
Jobs Racketeering Factor Today in Nigeria, jobs are for sales and only for the
highest bidders. Jobseekers to this extent have continued to suffer great losses, as
often a lot of money has been collected from them without getting the promised
jobs. For instance, recently job seekers filled online application for
recruitment into the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) and
were asked to pay certain amount of money into designated bank accounts or
cash to some persons who claimed to be consultants to the Corps (Vanguard,
2013). On job racketeering also, the erstwhile Comptroller-General of
Immigration (CGI), Mrs. Rose Uzoma, was sacked over alleged job racketeering
at the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS). This has brought to the fore the shady
deals that permeate recruitment exercises in Ministries, Departments and
Agencies (MDAs) in Nigeria. Reports had it that the recruitment scandal was
blown open when a House of Representatives Committee probed the CGI for
carrying out a recruitment exercise without advertising it in the media as
was usually the practice (sunnewsonline, 2013). The Senate Committees on
Federal Character and Inter-governmental Affairs has noted with dismay the
irregularities which pervade employment at the Nigerian Immigration
Services, Nigerian Customs Service, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and
other Ministries, Departments and Agencies in Nigeria. Other reasons may
include- growing poverty, poor infrastructural facilities, high illiteracy level
(especially in

social dislocation as a result of rural/urban migration and the breakdown of

societal values, community unrest and the inefficient and ineffective security
agents which are saddled with the responsibility of guaranteeing security to the
citizens (Daniel, 2011). Level of Insecurity and Security Degeneration in Nigeria
Insecurity paranoia is continuing to haunt all inhabitants of Nigeria as it is
already fast dawning on them that government cannot effectively guarantee
the security of lives and properties. The state security agents who are saddled
with the responsibility for the security of life and property which include-
the police, state security agencies, the military, immigration, and prison
service have all performed abysmally in the discharge of their duties. The level
of insecurity in Nigeria is multifaceted as such one cannot accurately categorise
the patterns of insecurity. Agomuo (2013) posits regarding the nature of
insecurity in Nigeria that At different times in the past, these different groups
have held the Nigerian nation to ransom. In each of these different times, the
groups reigned, the nation’s security agencies were unable to deal with
them or quell their lawless conduct through superior fire power. The
government has always reached a form of settlement with these
organisations. The trend is that each time the government reached a compromise
with these lawless groups, it became weaker and new groups emerged to use
violent means to extract a commitment from government. In a typical behaviour
of a nation that thrives on a rent economy, the government has always sought
to buy peace and always ended with the peace of the graveyard like the
current situation in the Niger Delta where former militants have been
transformed into either top level government contractors or emergency crude oil
refiners in the creeks or kidnap merchants, despite an amnesty programme that
still costs the government billions of Naira every year (Agomuo,
http://businessdayonline.com, 2013). There are different forms of insecurity in
Nigeria. For example in the South-West geo-political zone, armed robbery is
prevalent especially in cities like Lagos, Ibadan, Akure and Abeokuta; in the South-
South and South-East which is the oil base of the nation, kidnapping is
rampant and the activities cover every part of the zone with victims of all ages
and all walks of life; in the North, robbery across the border coupled with Boko
Haram insurgence is the security challenge. The menace of the Boko Haram for
sometime now has constituted a thorn in the flesh of Nigerians; from the first
time they struck in Borno State part of Nigeria in 2009, over 4000 people
including Nigeria citizens as well as expatriates has been killed in violent
deadly attacks targeting Christian churches, police, a few mosques, military
installations, Western-type educational institutions with innocent students and
even children (Edukugho, 2012). They have also carried out a series of deadly and
costly bombing campaigns in the country - the Independence anniversary
bombing, the bombing of the United Nations office in Abuja, the bombing of the
Police Headquarters in Abuja, the bombing of the military base in Kaduna (cited
in Egbewole, 2013). Security Challenges and Governmental Efforts at Fostering
Peace The government has made several efforts at putting an end to this
menace of insecurity. One of which is the inauguration of the security outfit
known as the Joint Task Force (JTF) with the singular aim of quenching the
activities of robbers, ethnic Militia, kidnappers as well as terrorism. Furthermore,
in the Niger-Delta government has granted amnesty to the erstwhile militants
as well as setting up rehabilitation programmes for them. Government has
also set up several extra-ministerial bodies such as the Oil Mineral
Producing Area Development Commission (OMPADEC), Niger Delta
Development Commission (NDDC), Technical Committees, Ministry of the Niger
Delta, and the National Council of Niger Delta (NCND). Insecurity: Implications
for Human Wellbeing and Economic Development Although the cost of the
prevalent insecurity in Nigeria is difficult to measure in monetary or real
terms, however it is clear to observers that it has cost Nigerians enormous human
and material resources. Security plays a major role in the existence and
sustenance of human being. In this wise Coupland (2007) observed that
insecurity has a far reaching impact on people’s lives and well-being and for this
singular reason the government has to be alive to its responsibility of
guaranteeing security. When people’s security are guaranteed, it gives them the
freedom, physically and mentally to get on with the business of building
their lives without fear of molestation or violent death. Thus, to experience
a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being security is
essential (Meddings, 2001), without security, there can be no stable society
rather there will be prevalent fear and danger from violent death (Hobbes 1651,
cited in Coupland, ibid).

CONCLUSION

The danger of insecurity can not be over emphasize. When a nation is saddled
with the problem of insecurity every other plans are stalled. Nigeria a country
with a population of over one hundred and fifty million people cannot allow
insecurity to derail her political and economic development plans. The country’s
young democracy is being threatened.

Recently, we have experienced increased in violent activities in Nigeria which has

claimed several lives and properties. There is therefore urgent need to tackle it
before it makes the country ungovernable.

This paper also analyses the recent economic crisis in Nigeria. It showed that the
spillover of COVID-19 pandemic into Nigeria coupled with declining oil price,
which were external shocks, caused to the economic crisis in Nigeria in 2020. The
structural problems in Nigeria at the time prolonged the economic crisis.

The implication of the study is that policy makers should pay attention to three
areas of the economy for economic and structural reform. One, policy makers
should introduce economic reforms to diversify the economy and reduce Nigeria’s
dependence on revenue from crude oil export. Two, policymakers in Nigeria
should invest in health care infrastructure to improve the ability of the national
health system to withstand the outbreak of contagious diseases. Three, there is
also a need to build appropriate digital infrastructure to facilitate the transition
from ‘face-toface’ business activities to a ‘digital or online’ business activities,
which can help to grow the digital economy. Also, policy makers should use
legislation to create a robust social welfare safety net for all citizens particularly
for unemployed citizens and poor households. Finally, the government need to
focus on rebuilding institutions, and pay more attention to institutions like
National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), and the
Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

The scope and severity of the economic crisis in Nigeria, caused by the fall in oil
price and the COVID-19 pandemic, is a clear signal that growth and development
reforms are needed in Nigeria.

In retrospect, the Nigerian government was wise to use fiscal and monetary
stimulus package as a partial solution to revive the falling aggregate demand
during the pandemic. It used public money to slow the spread of coronavirus.

We do not fully know how bad the increasing spread of COVID-19 will become in
Nigeria in the coming months if not years. But what we do know is that this crisis
creates an opportunity to reconstruct Nigeria’s economy. The economy shutting
down and the overloaded public healthcare systems shows that the entire public
healthcare system and the economic system needs to be reinvigorated. We
should not waste this opportunity to rebuild the country’s infrastructure. But if
we do not get our house in order then we will be severely punished in the months
and years ahead when the next crisis comes. At the national level, the President
needs to implement a reconstruction and development program for the country.
At the individual level, citizens should not waste this crisis. This is a time for us to
enrich our physical, spiritual, and emotional health, and not just focusing on
avoiding the coronavirus. Create a new normal daily routine by eating well,
exercise, and get sufficient rest. Enrich our mind by reading some great books,
learning a new skill, visualize and document your long-term goals and plan to
pursue those goals with passion when the Covid-19 pandemic is over.

This study has two limitations. The first limitation relates to the sample period.
The sample period of analysis is small. A longer sample period is desired because
it can yield a much richer research insight. Secondly, the currency of the data is
another issue. It is possible that the currency of the data may be overtaken by
future events as the coronavirus continues to spread rapidly on a daily basis in
Nigeria.
Future research can examine the direct impact of the coronavirus pandemic on
the performance of financial institutions in Nigeria. Future studies can also
examine the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the level of financial
development and inclusion in Nigeria. Future studies can also examine the impact
of the coronavirus pandemic on other macroeconomic indicators in Nigeria.

More so, future research should carry out a more robust analysis that could also
be adopted by other countries with similar characteristics.

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