Pervasive Insecurity and the Challenges Facing the 2023 Elections in Nigeria
Article
As Nigerians look forward to the general elections in 2023, there is growing concern that the nation’s pervasive insecurity condition could offer a significant barrier, if not an obstruction, to those elections. This is the crux if this study. This paper examines Pervasive Insecurity and the Challenges facing the 2023 Elections in Nigeria. The study mapped out the issues and events that have been causing tensions prior the elections in 2023; the steps taken to reduce them nationally as well as the instances when no significant action was made to de-escalate the likelihood of conflicts and violence. 61FGD sessions and 46 KII interviews were used were utilized to qualitatively collect data. Six States: Sokoto, Kaduna, Katsina, Zamfara, Niger, and Imo are among those adversely affected by violence and were chosen as case studies. They were content-analyzed to highlight the study’s key findings. According to the survey, there is a huge arms market for weapons in Nigeria. Violent non-state actors get arms from both government and non-government sources. The paper concludes that if the spread of weapons is not stopped, the security issues caused by terrorism, banditry, and violent extremism will become worse, and government’s efforts to restore order will be fruitless. The study recommends the need to ensure border security, strengthening of national intelligence and security institutions, and committing to the execution of a national, regional, and international framework against arms proliferation.