Insecurity and development administration in Nigeria: A cross-road

: Development Administration is primarily concerned with the various strategies adopted to achieve accelerated national development, especially in developing countries. In Nigeria, various strategies for achieving national development seem not to achieve the desired objectives. The country has been bedevilled by various development problems which permeate all the sectors in the country. One of the problems is the high rate of insecurity in Nigeria. The paper examines the state of insecurity in Nigeria and its consequences on the quest to achieve Development Administration in the country. The paper adopts qualitative analysis as the bulk of data is collected from official documents, books, journals, newspapers and magazines, among other instruments. The results showed that the high rate of insecurity in Nigeria perpetuated by different forms and groups of criminals significantly affects the national development in Nigeria. The results showed that the high rate of insecurity in Nigeria perpetuated by different forms and groups of criminals significantly affects the national development in Nigeria. The situation reflected the rate of unemployment, poverty, disruption of farming and other economic activities, destruction of lives and property, and out-of-school children among other problems. The paper suggests renewed and vigorous efforts at providing employment opportunities to the youths, engaging the criminals who are ready for peace, engaging the various traditional institutions and religious bodies in the fight against criminal elements, and adopting high tech in the fight against criminal elements, voting for leaders with the requisite knowledge, honest, and those that would be above primordial sentiments.


CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK 2.1. Concept of security
The definition of security has been controversial due to the divergent views among scholars on what constitutes insecurity. The definitions are subject to the perspective of each scholar and time. Nwanegbo and Odigbo (2013) defined security from a narrow and broader perspective. From a narrow perspective, security is a feeling of being safe from harm, fear, anxiety, oppression, danger, poverty, defence, protection and preservation of core values and threats to those values (Muyiwa, 2015). It is the elimination of threats, especially those threats that tend to threaten the survival of a particular reference object (William, 2008). It refers to protection from hostile forces, potential harm, resilience against potential danger or harm and availability of essential goods and services. From a wider perspective, security implies the ability of the state and non-state security apparatus to prevent and manage anxiety, uncertainty and harm that can distort peace and development. It is the distortion in growth and prosperity caused by social, economic or political inhibitions. These inhibitions often lead to recurring conflicts that result in the systemic destruction of lives and property (Yusuf & Mohd, 2022). The above definitions of security all pointed toward the absence of every form of hurt or threat to the life and material well-being of individuals and the state.

Development administration
Development administration is a dynamic concept embracing the political, economic, social and administrative changes in society. To Weidner (1962), development administration is "an action-oriented, goal-oriented administrative system." It is the process of guiding organisations to achieve progressive political, economic and social objectives that are authoritatively determined by the state. Development administration is a carrier of innovative value. It embraces the array of new functions assumed by developing countries that embarked on the path of modernization and industrialization (Riggs, 1976). Development administration constitutes the establishment of planning machinery and achieving economic growth. Development administration is the mobilization and allocating of scarce resources to enhance economic growth, national income and national development. Here, development administration is the overall efforts put in place by the government to achieve national development.

Concept of national development
National development is an encompassing concept. It involved the human and material resources in a country mobilized to improve the standard of living of the people. Bawa (2022) defines national development as a comprehensive term which involves the growth and expansion of industries, agriculture, and socio-cultural and educational institutions in a country. It is an all-around and balanced development in different aspects and facets of a nation which include political-economic, socio-cultural, scientific and material resources (Bawa, 2022). Bamgbose (2022) define national development as a qualitative advancement of the living standard of the citizens of a country. It enhances internal cohesion and integration, the economic well-being of the masses, improves access to quality education, and mass participation of the citizens in the act of governance. Therefore, national development here implies the general improvement in the general well-being of the citizens visible in the political, economic, social, and administrative development of the state. It enhances the safety and peaceful co-existence and the overall wellbeing of the citizens. However, achieving national development has been a mirage in Nigeria. Umunakwe, Nzeagwu, Aguzie and Akaire (2022) submit that as far as the systems of politics in Nigeria are controlled and determined by and in the interest of a few bourgeois, it will be difficult to achieve national development objectives in Nigeria. To them, the development process is guaranteed and achieved where the principle of equality of opportunity is upheld and sustained.

INSECURITY AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT: A CROSSROAD 3.1. Relationship between security and national development
The cardinal objective of every state is to ensure the security of the lives and property of the citizens. The major is the responsibility of the state is to ensure the security of lives and property and the welfare of its citizens. Any responsible government must ensure that these two objectives are achieved. According to Omoniyi (2013), security is a concern that is before the state. This responsibility of the government has long been advocated by Thomas Hobbes in his epistemology, state and the law. To him, security is the prime responsibility of the government. Alemika (2012) posits that there are various forms of insecurity which can be classified under four dimensions. Physical insecurity constitutes violent and property crimes. Public insecurity entails violent conflicts, insurgency and terrorism. Economic insecurity includes poverty, and unemployment. Social insecurity consists of illiteracy, ignorance, disease or illness, and human right by state and non-state actors. Political insecurity is the denial of good and social democratic government (Alemika, 2012). That implies that insecurity is all-encompassing and it is a global problem that cuts across all nations in different forms and gradation.
Insecurity is anti-development in nature and national development can not be achieved at the expense of a lack of peace. This shows the reason why the government of these developing nations initiated and embarked on policies, projects and programmes which are all geared to achieve national development. The scourge of insecurity in Nigeria is no doubt a threat to economic growth and national development. Abidoye (2021) asserts that due to insecurity in Nigeria, the country in recent times has been faced with endemic rural and urban poverty, high unemployment rate, low industrialization; high exchange rate due to out flux of foreign investors; high inflation mention but a few. Udeh, Okorofor and Ihezie (2013) assert that the hardship faced by the citizens of Nigeria was due to a decline in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) as foreign investors leave the shores of the country due to the upsurge of insecurity. No nation can survive in isolation and the advent of globalization (the trans-national border of exchanging goods and services among nations) has proven it so. The presence of these investors is healthy through employment generation, poverty reduction and technological advancement, among others. This implies that any nation faced with such a magnitude of security challenges is on the verge of an economic downturn which will resultantly cause hardship to the populace.
Therefore, an understanding of the present situation calls for proactive actions that profer solutions to the problem and the adverse consequences of insecurity in Nigeria. The cross-road here is that it has reached a point where the government must rise above sentiments and proffer a lasting solution to the problem of insecurity in Nigeria.

Causes of insecurity in Nigeria
Some of the factors attributed to the lingering insecurity in Nigeria include the following: Porous Borders: One of the factors attributed to the high rate of insecurity in Nigeria is the continual influx of foreigners and arms from the neighbouring countries of Cameroon, Libya, Niger, and Lake Chad, the Benin Republic. These criminals find themselves in the country and cause mayhem to innocent citizens. The armed bandits allegedly from Libya recently attacked worshippers at a Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State, Nigeria, on 5 June 2022 (Akingboye, 2022). The attack led to the death of more than 40 worshippers and about 160 injured. That indicates the porous and vulnerable nature of the Nigerian borders.
There are also cases where arms and ammunitions find easy access from other countries to Nigeria and end up in the hands of a terrorist, and bandits, among other criminal elements, who are not supposed to be in the position of such deadly weapons. For instance, the International Center for Investigation Report (ICIR) revealed that the Turkish government supplies weapons to Boko Haram. Also, the uprisings in Liberia, Sierra-Leon, Cote devoir, Mali and Libya led to the proliferation of arms and other light weapons into the country through her porous borders (Premium Times Newspaper, 2021). These arms and ammunitions find their way into the country due to the porous nature of the country's borders. These arms and ammunition are thereby used to cause havoc on innocent citizens. Collaborating further, Ya'u (2021) was of the view that the inability of the Nigerian government to manage its border affected domestic and international economic activities and as well threatened the security and national sovereignty of the country. For instant, a terrorist arrested in Sokoto with a gun truck worth 28.5 million confessed he brought them in through one of the porous borders in the state. His confession indicates that he has done that on several occasions for a notorious terrorist leader in Sokoto before he was eventually caught (Usman, 2022). These dangerous weapons and bandits are said to sneak into the country between 12 midnight and 2 a.m. through land and sea borders.
Corruption: The menace of corruption permeate every fabric of Nigeria. Corruption in Nigeria has done more damage than other problems in the country. Ensuring national security is the priority of every government. Thus, financial resources are disbursed to security agencies and state governments to achieve this objective. Unfortunately, these financial resources end up in the pockets or bank accounts of individuals. The Center for Democracy Development (CDD) indicates that about $15 billion (6.1 trillion) was diverted by military officials through fraudulent arms procurement deals within the last 20 years (CFDD, 2022). The abnormalities eventually led to the death of more than 35,000 citizens in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states. Also, an estimated 314,000 people died from indirect consequences of these corrupt practices by military officers in the entire northeastern region (Sanni, 2021). A report by Premium Times (2021) reveals that soldiers protested in Maiduguri due to unpaid allowance and obsolete weapons despite the huge amount disbursed to the fight against insecurity in the country.
Between the periods of seven years (2015-2021), 8 trillion Naira has been spent on defence. An additional 762 billion loan was requested to add up to this amount (Guardian, 2021). Unfortunately, troops were still complaining about obsolete weapons and unpaid allowances with the large sum of money disbursed to fight insurgencies. It is obvious that some people are benefitting from these corrupt ventures, thus, making the fight against insecurity in the country a phantasm. As stated earlier, any government that is responsible must ensure the protection of the lives and property of its citizenry using every available resource at its disposal. When the government fail to carry out its primary responsibility, the masses are exposed to danger in the hands of criminal elements like Boko Haram, Bandits, secessionist, Kidnappers, agitators, militancy, and human traffickers among others. But it will become more worrisome when the government seems helpless to protect the citizens of Nigeria where the scourge of insecurity has taken an alarming rate. The citizens were encouraged to protect themselves against violent attacks. This is what we termed the "Self-Defence theory". Individuals and communities resort to self-defence when government refused to protect them from dangers. For instance, a former military general and minister of defence, Gen. Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma, believes that the Nigerian government and the military are aiding criminals in causing mayhem to citizens as he urges the masses to defend themselves or they will all die (Mkom, 2018). This further thrust us to a famous quotation purported to have been credited to Late Gen. Sani Abacha, "If insurgency lasts more than 24 hours, the government has a hand in it" (Bamali, 2021). The indictment of the federal government by some individuals and state governors as aiding and abetting criminalities is also worrisome.
Recently, the Zamfara state government encouraged the citizens of the state to get firearms to protect themselves from bandits and territories brutalizing the citizens of the state. The governor has also signed the Law that stipulates the death penalty for bandits, their sponsors and informant and other collaborators (Channels Television. News, 29 June 2022). The scholar's appeal might be borne out of frustration because the federal government have failed in their responsibility. The governor of Benue state has also indicted the federal government as abetting and aiding Fulani militias to unleash terror in his state and other states in Nigeria (Morning Show, Arise TV, 2022).
Also related to the above is the government's lack of political will to sincerely provide the requisite resources to fight the terrorist and Bandits. One major cause of military rebellion or mutiny is the extant sabotage exhibited by high-ranking officers in the security apparatus and the government officers. The lackadaisical attitude shown by high-ranking officers in the fight against insurgencies and bandits demotivates the gallant officers on the battlefront. That reflects in form of given urgencies to urgent situations, refusal to allow officers to react to emergencies and non-release of ammunitions to officers to fight criminals.
Also, are cases of sabotage on the part of some of the military officers on the battleground. Some military officers were accused of revealing official information to criminals, providing them with ammunition, and even joining them to kill innocent Nigerians. Some officers have recently been accused of being informants to these terrorists and bandits. Some traditional rulers and prominent community leaders have also been indicted as abetting and aiding criminal activities in their local communities. Some of these traditional and community leaders were removed from their positions and arrested in Zanfara State (Premium Times, 2022). Also related, is the lack of willingness to provide information by the local communities. One major reason for this attitude is the act of sabotage on the part of the security officers who revealed the identities of informants to the criminals. Most individuals and communities who relayed information to these security agencies have been killed by these criminals in retaliation.
Unemployment: It is no gainsaying that "an idle man is the devils' workshop". Unemployment and crime are two inseparable terms. The presence of one invariably leads to the birth of the other. In a country where the majority of its citizens are youths and these youths were not properly engaged, such a nation is sitting on a time bomb which will ultimately explode. Statistics from the National Bureau for Statistics NBC indicate an increase in the rate of unemployment in Nigeria from 33 per cent in 2020 to 35 per cent in 2021. The 33 per cent constitute 23.2 million of about 70 million citizens who are of working age in Nigeria. Youth unemployment constitutes 53.4 per cent of the unemployed people in Nigeria (Okafor, 2022;National Bureau of Statistics, 2020, Trading Economics, 2021. The unemployment rate in Nigeria seems to be at an alarming rate and has caused the youths who are frustrated with idleness to resort to all kinds of crime such as cybercrime, kidnapping, banditry, and terrorism to mention but a few. A critical instance is a case where Boko Haram insurgents were said to be recruiting jobless youths in northeastern Nigeria and paying them because most of the youths are either unemployed or underemployed. Recently, one of the splits away of Boko Haram (Ansaru) is said to be embarking on vigorous recruitment of youths in Kaduna state (Sadiq & Yaba, 2022;Hassan-Wuyo, 2022). The report shows that the youths were lured by these Bandits using various incentives. Akpakan, Kia and Lucky (2015) argued that the high rate of insecurity in Nigeria can be attributed to youth unemployment. These youths become ready soldiers for militia groups and ready petrol for the inferno of factional or ethno-religious crisis all over the country. Arguing further, Kayode (2011) as cited by Akpakan et al. (2015) asserts that due to the upsurge in the unemployment rate in Nigeria, the level of insecurity is bound to increase as the aftermath of the socio-economic dislocation among the citizens who are mostly youths. This will plunge them into various forms of crime such as militancy, banditry, kidnapping, terrorism, prostitution, political thuggery and other debilitating social vices which are borne out of frustration and unemployment. As Nwagbosa (2012) rightly posited, the failure of successive governments in Nigeria to tackle the challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequitable distribution of wealth among ethnic nationalities aggravated the rate of insecurity in the country. The spontaneous increase in the unemployment rate from 2020-2021 could be attributed to the numerous attacks carried out by Bandits and Fulani militias in the northeast, north-central and other parts of the country.
Drug abuse: The security challenges of a nation are often attributed to the use of hard and illicit drugs which are usually taken by those who perpetrate a crime against ordinary citizens. As Marwa (2021) rightly asserted, there is incontrovertible evidence of a linkage between drug use and the rate of insecurity in Nigeria. Drug abuse is the major instigator of crime and could be attributed to the rate of insurgency, banditry, kidnapping, armed robbery, rape and other related crimes in the country. The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has seized over 2000 tonnes and over N90 billion worth of drugs from criminals and it was stated that bandits, insurgents and other criminals use drugs before carrying out their heinous crimes in society (Marwa, 2021).
The problem of drug abuse and insecurity in Nigeria has taken an alarming rate as 8 out 10 criminals attributed their deeds to drugs either as kidnappers, armed robbers, rapists, and bandits among others. Despite the efforts of government drug-related regulatory bodies such as the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and the National Administration of Food, Drug and Control (NAFDAC), to control the traffic and use of drugs, these drugs still end up in the hands of these criminals. Reports by the military officers that are carrying out the fight against insurgency in the northeast reveal that hard drugs were found in those camps of most of the terrorist camps that were dislodged by the military. This confirms the words of Marwa who affirms that bandits, insurgents and other criminals use hard drugs before launching attacks on the citizens.

Effects of poverty on insecurity
The current population of Nigeria is estimated at 200 million with the bulk of the citizens leaving below the poverty line. Nigeria was the poverty capital of the world from 2016-2021. In 2021, 93.9 people in Nigeria are below the poverty level. In 2022, Nigeria was ranked the number two poverty capital of the world with 70 million people living below the poverty line with India taking the first position (…….). There is a symbiotic relationship between poverty and insecurity. This implies that the two co-exist in the same environment. The security challenges bedevilling Nigeria is attributed to poverty as the act of frustration, denial and lack of basic human needs by the youths can spur them to take up arms against the state (Yakubu, 2020). The upsurge of insurgency in the Northeastern part of Nigeria where Boko Haram terrorists lure youths due to the rate of poverty in the region. Alison (2021) believes that the youths join Boko Haram to earn wages and support their families due to high levels of food insecurity and malnutrition within the region. The recent outcry by the governor of Kaduna state, El-Rufai and other community leaders in the Birni Gwari axis of the state that a terrorist group called (Ansaru) have embarked on the recruitment of many youths in Kaduna state further attested to this fact. Most of these youths were lured by the Asharu group of terrorists using poverty alleviation incentives (Sadiq & Yaba, 2022;Hassan-Wuyo, 2022). Consequently, as long as poverty is allowed to thrive in Nigeria, the more phantasm the fight against insecurity becomes with great consequences for efforts at national development in Nigeria.
The fact remains that young able-bodied Nigerians who cannot meet the basic necessity of life or live in abject poverty will easily get irritated at the state and can easily delve into crime at any opportunity. This shows why youths are at the forefront of crime (for example, robbery, kidnapping banditry, insurgency, and militancy among others) in Nigeria. Nigerian youths remain veritable tools in the hands of politicians to disrupt electioneering processes and perpetuate electoral violence in the country (Gadau & Malami, 2022). These anomalies harm the democratic process and the quest to achieve socio-political and economic development in Nigeria. Therefore, it can be deduced that poverty and insecurity are two faces of the same coin.

Effects of insecurity on national development
Since the emergence of independence from the colonial government in 1960, Nigeria has been striving to achieve sustainable development through its various national development plans such as Vision 20:2020, and Operation Feed the Nation (OFN) among others. Primarily, the government is responsible for the protection of the life and property of its citizenry. Thus, government allocate state resources towards achieving that aim with the view of providing other basic social amenities and other infrastructural development to the citizenry.
The nexus between development and insecurity hinged on the fact that for development to strive, there must be peace and stability. This invariably implies that insecurity will retard development in any environment. Tackling insecurity is costly as funds which could be used for developmental purposes will be spent on military hardware and other sophisticated weapons. Stewart (2004) states that insecurity negatively affects economic growth and development, exports, consumption per capita, government revenue and a declining Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The author further reiterated that expenditure on the military will rise while social expenditure will fall. Thus, there would be a drastic decline in the living standard of the populace and the issue of achieving national development would be a mirage.
Insecurity is a state of being unsafe or unprotected. It is a state of vulnerability to attacks that could cause injuries and loss of lives and property. From a wider perspective, it implies a state of a general breakdown of law and order or a situation where the citizens of a country are exposed to an uncontrollable danger and where everyone lives in fear of whatever might happen the next moment (The Advanced Learner Dictionary, nd). It implies a state of anarchy where terror is unleashed on the general populace and human life becomes nasty, brutish and short as indicated by Thomas Hobbes (Oyewusi, 2022). Unfortunately, this seems to be the situation for a decade in Nigeria. Nigeria is confronted with various insecurity problems for example. Boko Haram, Bandits, kidnapping, Unknown gunmen, ritual killings, and the herder-farmer crisis, among others.
The problem seems to be overwhelming as it has transited from national to international dimensions. The problem seems to have taken an international dimension. For instance, ISWAP, an offshoot of Boko Haram is an offshoot of a globally recognized terrorist network with a strong base in the Middle East, North Africa and other parts of the world. According to the Global Terrorism Index (GTI), Nigeria has the two most deadly terrorist groups in the world i.e. Boko Haram and Fulani extremists. Nigeria has also been rated the 3 rd worst country on the Global Terrorism Index (GTI), behind Afghanistan and Iraq (Trading Economics, 2021, Institute of Economics and Peace, IEP, 2022). However, the report indicates that the Nigerian ranking dropped from fourth last year to Sixth position in the Global Terrorism Index (GTI). This according to the report was attributed to the successes recorded by the military in the fight against Boko Haram. Furthermore, an assessment carried out by IEP to rate countries in terms of peaceful places to live shows that Nigeria is still a dangerous country to live in or do business in. Nigeria scored 2.712 points in the Global Peace Index for 2021, which places her in 146 th position out of 163 countries examined. Among Sub-Saharan African countries, Nigeria was placed 39 th out of 44 examined in the region (IEP, 2022). Nigeria which was once the haven for most people citizens and foreigners has of recent time become a hotspot that the United States and a few other countries have had to issue a red-flag warning to its citizens not to travel to some parts of the country.
This implies that the security situation in Nigeria is still alarming despite the various policy measures and strategies put in place by the various governments in Nigeria. For instant, a National Security Strategy was initiated in 2019 by the Office of the Security Adviser (ONSA). The Strategy was aimed at ensuring that Nigeria's sovereignty, territorial integrity, and country institutions are preserved, protected and enhanced. However, the ravages of insecurity are getting worst every day. The porous nature of the Nigerian border paved way for the proliferation of dangerous weapons into the country. The statistic shows that over 70% of about 8 million illegal weapons being circulated in West Africa are used in Nigeria (Madobi, 2022).
Insecurity affects every facet of the Nigerian economy. It affects economic growth and performance. It increases poverty and unemployment and hunger in the country. Nigeria, over in years, has been the poverty capital of the world. However, India overtake Nigeria to become the number one poverty capital of the world in the year 2022. As of 2021, 93.9 million Nigerians live below the poverty line. As of 2022, over 70 million people, representing 33% of the population are poor. Also, due to the escalation of insecurity in Nigeria, a foreign investment worth over $40.6 billion was diverted to other countries with great consequences for the Nigerian economy. Also, the rising rate of insecurity in Nigeria has cost the country 11% of its GDP with N119 billion. Also, due to insecurity and other challenges in Nigeria, projects worth N12 trillion were abandoned across the country (Agbelusi, 2022).
Several studies carried out the on the causes and consequences of insecurity point to the fact that insecurity is detrimental to peace, individual well-being and national development (Okoro, Derbile & Anzora, 2020;Okon, 2020: Abdullahi & Oyinlola, 2020. Writing on the adverse effect of insecurity on development, Adofu and Alhasan (2018) asserted that Nigeria faced uneven development due to the scourge of security challenges. The implication of the above is that government attention will be shifted from her responsibility of providing basic social facilities and other development agendas to that of reducing the rate of insecurity in the country. On the other hand, Adeleke (2013) averred that measuring the consequences of insecurity in monetary terms is very difficult. He concludes that the high level of insecurity has caused Nigerian enormous human and material resources which are both components of sustainable development. Insecurity affects the productive sector of the economy as most manufacturing and business firms depend largely on rural areas for a regular supply of raw materials for production. Hence, the high rate of insecurity in the rural areas in Nigeria has a great effect on the productive activities of these firms that relies on these areas for raw material.
The government at the state and federal levels have allocated much money in the fight against insecurity in Nigeria without corresponding output. Bright (2018) also contends that the federal government through its annual budgets continue to vote huge allocation to the recurrent components of internal security, and welfare and training of security personnel, military personnel cost in terms of training and welfare, but, the level of insecurity remains high. Data indicates that the money allocated for security from the federation account is huge and has continued to increase over time. The sum of N1.72 trillion was allocated for security expenses in 2020 which shows an increase of 83.7 % compared to the N969 billion allocated in 2019. It was N1. 97 trillion in 2021, including another N802 billion allocated as a supplementary budget. The budget increased to N2.41 trillion in 2022. The allocation for 2022 is no doubt a very huge budget as it constitutes 15% of the entire federation budget. The allocation is also more than that of education and health put together (Azimazi et.al., 2021;Seye, 2021). The fact remains that despite the increasing allocations to security over time, the so-called success against insecurity has been a failure. There is a symbiotic relationship between infrastructural development and economic growth and development. Infrastructure remains the bedrock on which meaningful full productive and other economic activities are carried out. It is also the basis on which human welfare is secured and guaranteed. One of the fundamental problems in Nigeria is the gross infrastructural deficits in the country. Also, the level of infrastructure decay in the country cannot be overemphasized. Yusuf and Mohd (2022) argued the insistent attacks and destruction of infrastructural facilities by criminal elements could lead to the disruption of business activities and thereby raise the cost of doing business in the country. Statistics revealed that Nigeria lost over N1.6 billion in business and commercial assets between 2015 and 2018 due to infrastructural deficits. Also, the daily oil production declined from 2.2 million to 1.5 million barrels per day in 2018 leading to decreased revenue generation in Nigeria (Yusuf & Mohd, 2022). The high rate of pipeline and other infrastructural vandalism in the oil, communication, power, educational, health and transport sectors perpetuated by criminals has a significant effect on national development in Nigeria.
The spate of insecurity has greatly affected the educational sector. The rate of kidnapping of school children has increased the number of out-of-school children over time and the socio-economic consequences of this cannot be financially countrified. Statistics from UNICEF show the increase in out-of-school children over the years. As of 2020, there are about 10 million out-of-school children in Nigeria. It increased to 10.5 million in 2021 and 18. 5 million in 2022. The trend could be attributed to the numerous attacks by Boko Haram and its affiliate ISWAP and Bandits in recent times. Young girls have been the major target of these terrorists. Since the Chibok girls' abduction in 2014, many school girls have been abducted and many of them are sexually molested and married off. As of 2021, about 1500 students were kidnapped by armed men. Due to incessant attacks on schools by these terrorists, many schools have been destroyed or closed. Statistics from UNICEF show that since December 2020, more than 11,000 schools were closed in Nigeria. The situation is worst in the northeast where 802 schools are completely closed, 494 classrooms are destroyed, and 1392 are damaged, but are repairable. The situation is the same in the northwest zone of Nigeria. In 2021, there are 25 attacks on schools. 1440 children were kidnapped and 16 were killed. Also, as of March 2021, about 618 schools were closed over the fear of attacks and abductions of students and staff in the state of Sokoto, Zamfara, Kano, Katsina, Niger and Yobe, all in the northern part of Nigeria (UNICEF, 2021;UNICEF, 2022;Agence, 2022). Thus, the several attacks on schools by Boko Haram, ISWAP, and Bandits have had a devastating effect on academic activities in these areas. These have contributed significantly to the rising rate of out-of-school children in the country.

RECOMMENDATIONS
The paper further recommends the followings: ➢ Government has to be proactive, sincere and honest in the fight against any form of insecurity in Nigeria. ➢ Local vigilantes should be trained and provided ammunition to fight criminal elements in their area. The security agencies should monitor the arms given to these vigilantes so that they won't misuse them. ➢ There is a need for religious reorientation on the need to respect people's beliefs and customs. ➢ More, that is the need to reassure the citizens of their security when they give confidential information on the activities of criminals. ➢ The non-kinetic approach could also go a long way to solving the problem. Those involved who are ready for genuine reconciliation should be encouraged to do so. ➢ Religious and traditional leaders should be incorporated into the security architecture in every local community. ➢ There is the need to use high-level technology in the area of surveillance, intelligence gathering and arrest. ➢ There is a need to create more avenues of employment, especially through agriculture and industry. ➢ There is a need to improve the education curriculum. The country requires an education curriculum that will integrate the mind for entrepreneurship, nation-building, religion and ethnic integration and selfdiscipline.
➢ There is the need to choose leaders who are knowledgeable, innovative, honest, and above all rise beyond ethno-religious sentiments.

CONCLUSION
The issue of national security is now a priority in any national discussion by both the government and the private sector due to the spate of insecurity in Nigeria. The fact remains that the menace of insecurity has led to the loss of lives and property, hinders business and other economic activities, increases poverty, unemployment, out-ofschool children, displacement, and discourages local and foreign investment and productivity. The insecurity situation is now overwhelming affecting all efforts at achieving national development in Nigeria. Every facet of the economy is been affected by the menace of insecurity. People's lives and property are not safe and a lot of national resources are been used to fight the menace without much success. Thus, it is obvious that the country has reached a crossroads and decisive actions are required to win the battle against insurgents, bandits, and other criminal elements disrupting the security in the country. Collaborative efforts by the citizens and the government are required to win the battle.