THE ISSUE of insecurity has been central to the problems confronting working people in the country, making it difficult for them to earn a living.
Not a few people from the North-East region, where Boko Haram insurgency predominates, have been disrupted in their economic activities, particularly farmers, and have consequently been impoverished. This was also the case in the Niger Delta region earlier when militants targeted foreign workers in oil companies, endangering their lives and causing the country significant losses as crude oil exploitation reduced drastically.
The issue of insecurity has dominated public discourse more than ever in our chequered history. There is consensus that lives are not safe, with people being killed through armed banditry, insurgency, terrorism, ritual killings, auto accidents, plane crashes, political assassinations, herder violence, and cattle rustling. The latest trend is kidnapping, with victims released only after paying ransoms amounting to tens or hundreds of millions of Naira.
Hardly any part of the country today remains untouched by instances of kidnapping, banditry, cattle rustling, herder-farmer clashes, or community conflicts rooted in religious or ethnic factors.
It would therefore not be out of place to state that the poor are mostly affected, bearing the brunt of such insecurity.
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Another factor contributing to insecurity in the country has been the role of ruling elites (including foreigners) seeking to displace indigenous communities from their ancestral lands and homes, intending to seize these lands for grazing or to harvest seasonal agricultural products.
In the case of foreign interests, the goal has been to create mayhem in mineral-rich areas, diverting attention from illegal mining activities. This factor has been identified in crisis-prone regions such as Boko Haram-affected areas, as well as in Plateau and Zamfara.
There is no doubt that some members of the ruling elites and their families are also victims of this insecurity, as revealed by extant demographics. Thus, one cannot rule out this as a reason why the ruling elites are concerned about insecurity as a problem that must be addressed. Unfortunately, their military approach has failed to yield positive results. A holistic strategy – involving dialogue, participatory self-defence by affected communities, military action, and empowering sub-national governments to tackle security issues without hindrance – is believed to be more effective.
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It is therefore no coincidence that if the ruling elites cannot solve a problem that directly affects them, they cannot be trusted to address issues affecting only the working class. This clearly indicates that working people must fight to gain concessions from the ruling class—in this case, for a secure environment to work and live.
The issue of insecurity has dominated public discourse more than ever in our chequered history. There is consensus that lives are not safe, with people being killed through armed banditry, insurgency, terrorism, ritual killings, auto accidents, plane crashes, political assassinations, herder violence, and cattle rustling. The latest trend is kidnapping, with victims released only after paying ransoms amounting to tens or hundreds of millions of Naira.
Many have also lost their lives to illnesses such as COVID-19, malaria, HIV/AIDS, cancer, and heart and kidney diseases. For example, malaria caused an estimated 200,000 deaths out of 70 million cases in 2021. Additionally, no fewer than 50,000 maternal deaths occur yearly, while 250,000 babies die at birth, and 700,000 survive only until their fifth birthday before succumbing.
In the late 1980s, Nigeria embraced neo-liberal policies promoted by the IMF, extending exploitative economic relations. Local elites resisting were coerced through debt traps. This system benefits multinational corporations and local bourgeoisie, causing capital flight from poor nations.
Property and investments are equally unsafe. Recently, all banks in a state were forced to close due to armed banditry threats. Many banks have fallen victim to criminal activities, both day and night. Foreign investors have also been targeted, particularly in the oil and gas sector and South-South oil-producing states—a phenomenon now widespread across the country.
Constitutional Framework
These challenges confront both nationals and foreigners in business today. Any nation striving for economic development must resolve fundamental issues such as security, strong political structures, and infrastructure.
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The pervasive insecurity is not due to a lack of legal frameworks. The 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) provides for the safety of lives and property. Section 33(1) states: “Every person has a right to life, and no one shall be deprived intentionally of his life…” while Section 43 affirms: “Every citizen of Nigeria shall have the right to acquire and own immovable property anywhere in Nigeria.”
These provisions are fundamental because governance should ensure citizens’ welfare, enabling them to live productively and contribute to public good.
The Way Society is Organised
Property—what economists call capital for production—is essential for wealth creation and societal welfare. How society is organised determines conceptions of life, property, security, ownership, reward systems, and public good.
A society driven by private property ownership tends to favor individualism, benefiting only a few who control production. These elites influence political power and other spheres of life. Their wealth often stems not from personal effort but inheritance or government patronage. Even if the original accumulators were hardworking, their heirs often live in indolence, indulging in leisure and political influence without labor.
Socio-Economic System
The current system, allowing a few to accumulate wealth at the expense of the impoverished majority, fuels insecurity. Lack of opportunities perpetuates poverty, with many living in shacks while a privileged few reside in opulence.
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In the 1950s and 1960s, welfare programs like free primary education and foreign scholarships enabled social mobility, breaking cycles of poverty. These programs produced many professors who might otherwise have remained in menial jobs.
Reward System
The reward system in a class society often benefits the wrong people, sidelining merit. The rich maintain a system favoring themselves, inherited from colonial times and persisting 163 years later. Sixty-three years after independence, the poor remain disadvantaged.
Private property encourages individualism and profit-seeking, defended as fostering competition. However, this “winner-takes-all” mentality drives many to seek wealth by any means, including immoral but legal methods.
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Politicians engage in electoral fraud—ballot snatching, vote-buying, and manipulation—to gain power and wealth quickly. Electoral malpractice deprives rightful candidates of victory and denies the public beneficial policies. Lives are endangered under such leaders, who often employ thugs later turned bandits or kidnappers when abandoned post-election.
Neo-Liberal Policy Offensive in the 21st Century
In the late 1980s, Nigeria embraced neo-liberal policies promoted by the IMF, extending exploitative economic relations. Local elites resisting were coerced through debt traps. This system benefits multinational corporations and local bourgeoisie, causing capital flight from poor nations.
Working people must organize to counter elite agendas and propose alternative policies. Trade unions should lead this effort, uniting with informal sectors like market women and okada drivers to demand a decent minimum wage, lifting millions from poverty.
While living standards plummet in the Global South, profits for multinationals and local elites have soared post-World War II. For instance, Nigerian banks like Wema, Access, UBA, GTB, Sterling, and Stanbic recently recorded N3.11 trillion in annual profits.
Since economics underpins all superstructures, insecurity stems from economic structures. Despite oil wealth, Niger Delta communities remain neglected, breeding insecurity. Though concessions like a 13% derivation formula have been made, budget allocations rarely improve living standards, as elites siphon resources.
What is the Way Out?
Governance serves elite interests, leaving the majority in poverty. Poor individuals turning to crime emulate elite tactics, dispossessing others for personal gain. They see elites as models, aspiring to join the propertied class through class suicide.
The state, as a coercive force, criminalizes such deviance, brutalizing and isolating offenders. The ruling class also wages ideological warfare, using media, religion, and education to blame victims. Those labeled criminals either survive and ascend or are crushed as scapegoats.
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Working people must organize to counter elite agendas and propose alternative policies. Trade unions should lead this effort, uniting with informal sectors like market women and okada drivers to demand a decent minimum wage, lifting millions from poverty.
Conclusion
Lasting safety and prosperity require mobilizing the oppressed to build a socialist society where all participate equally. The first step is a united campaign for a living wage, empowering workers and benefiting the informal sector. Only collective action can dismantle the exploitative order fueling crime and insecurity.
