HISTORY OF VIOLENCE AND SECURITY DYNAMICS IN NIGERIA FROM PRE-COLONIAL TO POST-COLONIAL ERAS

Abstract

The rising level of insecurity globally has thrust discourses around insecurity to the front-burner of global scholarship. Growing concerns over hard economic realities have also played a significant role in forging this trend. It is becoming more apparent that insecurity negatively impinges on socio-economic development, and that to arrest the latter the former must be dealt with. However, violence and insecurity in general can be understood more from historical perspective. More importantly, a better and fuller grasp of how violence and other manifestations of insecurity have shaped human relations, as well as how they have been managed over time is only possible through historical study. This paper therefore examines the history of violence and security dynamics in Nigeria from the Pre-colonial to the Post-Colonial eras. A historical method is adopted for the study. Secondary sources on the subject matter are utilized, and these are analyzed qualitatively using a discursive and narrative approaches. The paper finds that the undue use of force in managing violence has proved counter-productive, and that better strategies short of force is necessary in better stemming the tides of violence and insecurity in Nigeria.