Abstract:

Many scholars have identified insecurity in Nigeria as one of the major reasons for the country’s continuous under-development. This paper analyses the effects of insecurity on the socioeconomic development of Nigeria, with the main objective of proffering policy solutions to address insecurity challenge that has almost brought the county to her knees and stunted her development. The paper adopted the Conflict theory propounded by Karl Marx as the theoretical framework to interrogate the causes of insecurity and the effects on various aspects of the Nigerian socioeconomic system. The study employed qualitative research methods to critically assess the relationship between insecurity and Nigeria’s socioeconomic development. It is theoretically based, with the use of secondary data, using in-depth explanatory analysis that produced results with understanding, meanings and views. The study identified severe unemployment, endemic poverty, ethno-religious conflicts, corruption, deprivation, inequalities and small arms and light weapons proliferation as the major causes of the unending insecurity challenge in Nigeria. These have led to population displacement, social dislocation, depression and trauma among the people, declining health situation, worsening school attendance, food insecurity and lack of foreign investment. The study recommended that governments at all levels should implement policies that will ensure serious reductions in unemployment rate, poverty and general inequality, by providing infrastructures and the enabling environment that will encourage entrepreneurs and small-scale industries to thrive, revamp the country’s entire security architecture, strengthen border security, tackle the proliferation of firearms, improve the legal system, among many others. Key words: Insecurity, socioeconomic development, conflict theory, small arms and light weapons, Nigeria.