Leadership and national security: an interrogation of the Boko Haram violence in Nigeria

This study contends that an analysis of the nexus between leadership and security offers useful insights into explaining conflict by stating that the conceptualisation of these argots, especially through the definition of leadership as a process, helps to explain and address Nigeria’s security challenges. By arguing that leaders’ ability to establish mutuality with their followers in any situation and set collectively-generated means for attaining these set goals for societal security, the study shows how such a relationship creates a secured state. This is not the case in Nigeria, where leaders’ security decisions are influenced by external actors rather than by their followers. By showing that the Nigerian ruling elite’s security agendas intersect with dominant global notions of security while neglecting genuine security interests of ordinary Nigerians, the study contextualises the complex global and local security interests in Nigeria. The lack of an intersection at home, however, has contributed to the emergence of extremists such as the Boko Haram sect, as well as the escalation of the acts of violence they perpetrate. As national insecurities become complex and intractable, ‘elegant’ or unilinear solutions – such as a military approach – lack the capacity to address these problems.     

THE PROHIBITION OF BLINDING AS A METHOD OF WARFARE

Abstract

From the 1982 Maitatsine Uprising to the 2009 Kala Kato Riot, Nigeria has been bedevilled by ethno-religious uprisings with devastating human and material losses. In almost all these crises the police and the military have featured prominently as agencies tasked with the responsibility of maintaining law and order and suppressing insurrection. While it was not alleged that they precipitated some of these risings perhaps in their attempts to stem or nip them in the bud, they have been accused of escalating the conflict either by their slow and inadequate responses, their partisanship and their arbitrary responses, or by their slackness in managing the crises and their aftermath. However, but for their efforts the security basis of the Nigerian state would have been considerably compromised by religious fundamentalism given the level of preparedness of the groups involved, their resistance and, more importantly, the recurrent nature of the uprisings. This article reflects on the management of ethno-religious uprisings in Nigeria by the police and the military. It considers the nature of the security agencies' involvement in the crises and examines the factors both within the agencies and in the larger Nigerian society which have aided or hindered their effective management of the conflicts.     

Ethnic crises and national security in Nigeria

The article focuses on the interface between ethnicity and national security in Nigeria. It critically explores the negative mobilization of ethnicity in Nigeria's fourth republic, and how this has been shaping (and reshaping) the democratization process, particularly in the management of cooperation and conflict over contestations for power and other resources. The re-democratization of Nigeria in 1999 has been preceded with high expectations of meaningful reductions in the high level of insecurity witnessed under the long years of military suzerainty. However, this has not been the case. Rather, what is obtained is an increase in national insecurity on a much larger scale. This article argues that one of the banes of national security in the Nigerian state is ethnic politics, which continues to witness changes in context and character with grave consequences for the future of democracy. The central argument is that ethnicity has always been a major driver of politics and conflicts in Nigeria and the trend is not likely to change anytime soon.     

State fragility and violent uprisings in Nigeria

Abstract

The emergence of the Islamic sect, Boko Haram, and its transformation into a terrorist organisation has dominated recent discourse in the fields of political science and security studies, both within and without the socio-politico enclave known as Nigeria. Much of the discussion has centred on the extra-judicial execution of its founder, Mohammed Yusuf, which purportedly intensified the radicalisation of the group, and whether or not the sect receives operational and/or financial support from foreign terrorist associations. The interest of others has been to forecast the possibility of the internationalisation of the group's activities. This paper aligns with those whose interest is to identify and proffer ways of resolving factors that predisposed the Nigerian state to the levels of violence perpetrated by Boko Haram, with a view to averting much greater crises in the future. It adopts some historicism in demonstrating that the responsibility for the deepening insecurity in the country resides in the Nigerian state structure, which has often been seen as willing to sacrifice the well-being of the many for the benefit of a few. On the whole, the paper utilises state fragility as the framework of analysis by identifying the incapacity of the state in effective service delivery, which has as a result created a situation of mass unemployment and extreme poverty that has fanned the Boko Haram uprising. It concludes that a sustainable solution to the crisis lies in addressing the root causes of inequality, unemployment and poverty, with which most Nigerians, particularly in the north, subsist.     

How and why Boko Haram blossomed: examining the fatal consequences of treating a purposive terrorist organisation as less so

Boko Haram (BH) is an insurgent group that operates mainly in northeastern Nigeria. Its stated aim is to establish an Islamic state, and it employs terrorism as its strategy. Earlier interests of security analysts centred on the drivers of BH uprising and the possibility of its internationalisation. Today's concerns relate more to why the rebellion has lasted this long. In toeing the same line, this article demonstrates that BH is a purposive terror group against which the government has evolved no viable strategy. It examines some gains of BH over the past six years and how it benefitted from the government's underestimation of its capacity and determination. It concludes that to effectively engage BH, the Nigerian government must revaluate its threat and sincerely pursue an expanded strategy beyond the current military-centric approach. To be effective, government's response must be packaged in such a way as to enhance human security in the region.     

‘Today we shall drink blood’: internal unrest in Nigeria

Despite some tentative internal peace agreements, Nigeria continues to face violence from multiple groups. This violence feeds upon itself, with segments of the population being mobilized both for self defense and for pressing their ideological and practical goals. These multiple sources of violence, which the Nigerian government appears unable to control to any significant degree, have a long term corrosive effect on the country's internal stability. There are few reasons to be sanguine as to any rapid changes to the level of overall violence or the relative number of armed groups, although their specific identities may shift. Nigeria represents a good case study of a country in which relatively low but persistent violence by a multiplicity of groups can have major impacts on internal security.     

Unsolved murders and the investigative failures of the Nigerian police force: Security and sociopolitical implications

This article focuses on the systemic failures of the Nigerian police force to unravel the mysteries surrounding homicides in the country, along with the security, social and political implications of the ongoing trend. The article draws on documented pieces of evidence of high-profile murders, along with the causes of the upsurge in murder incidences and the inhibitive factors relating to the investigative procedures of the police. The suitability of the theory of subaltern realism and the concept of third-world security predicaments in explaining the peculiarities of Nigeria’s internal security challenges is examined, along with the problems of the legitimacy of political regimes and weak borders. There is a need for the National Assembly of Nigeria to exercise its constituted powers in reawakening and supervising investigations into dormant cases of murder through its committees on police affairs, public safety and national security. The police should check its organisational failures, which may be related to using the wrong investigative approaches, low levels of information, limited resources, corrupt practices, and pressure to obtain quick results.     

Boko Haram and the challenges of Nigeria's war on terror

Boko Haram terrorism has been recognized by Nigerian President Jonathan as the most threatening and complex security issue in Nigeria since independence. In response, the Federal Government of Nigeria has committed itself to different counterterrorism measures, which are largely dominated by “hard politics” and military mobilization. Spending heavily on defense to upgrade military hardware and train personnel in a counterterrorism role, Nigeria has also boosted its strategic importance in the “Global War on Terror”. However, this attempt has become unpopular as it has failed to contain Boko Haram within a short time frame and has made insufficient headway against unabated terror, with human rights costs among the host communities and amidst a surge of stakeholders' discordance. As a matter of concern, this article seeks to assess Boko Haram as an opponent in Nigeria's war on terror (WOT) and to ascertain the challenges the country faces, the alternative measures open to it, and possible ways forward.     

Turning the tides of war: The impact of private military and security companies on Nigeria’s counterinsurgency against Boko Haram

Since the 2003 war in Iraq, private military and security companies (PMSCs) have become increasingly legitimate actors in modern conflicts. Despite this normative shift, rumours in March 2015 regarding the use of South African mercenaries in Nigeria to combat Boko Haram insurgents caused an international outrage, while the Nigerian government remained nonchalantly silent on the matter. This article investigates the impact of mercenaries on the conflict in the last six months of the Jonathan government. Using primary and secondary qualitative research, it assesses the role that PMSCs played in Nigeria’s counterinsurgency strategy, along with the ensuing reaction of international and local media to the outsourcing of violence to foreign companies. The article concludes that – notwithstanding the improved image of PMSCs in the world, and the actual impact of the contractors on the Nigerian counterinsurgency effort – the stigma of mercenaries continues to plague the industry, particularly on the African continent.     

基于广义随机Petri网GSPN的系统安全性研究

针对基于广义随机Petri网GSPN的动态系统安全性建模与分析方法进行了系统研究。基于Petri网、GSPN模型的基本原理,提出了关键状态搜索算法,并进行了安全性仿真分析.将广义随机Petri网的扩展模型应用于安全性分析领域,丰富了动态系统安全性问题的研究手段。     

校园网Linux环境下入侵诱骗系统的研究与实现

当今的网络环境变得越来越复杂,网络安全管理员的工作不断加重,不经意的 疏忽便有可能遗留下安全的重大隐患,同时网上黑客教程和千余种入侵工具随手可得,因此 网络安全问题防不胜防,网络的防卫必须采用一种纵深的、多样的手段。入侵诱骗技术是网 络安全中的一个新兴的领域,是对现有的网络安全体系的一次重要扩充。结合校园网络平 台,将入侵检测和入侵诱骗有机地结合起来,对入侵诱骗系统进行了研究和具体实现,并详 细阐述了入侵诱骗系统的中心管理端和网络代理端的构成和功能。     

加强城乡结合部消防管理工作的探讨

尽管全国火灾形势逐年呈下降趋势,但是城乡结合部的消防安全工作仍然不容乐观,因此加强和改进城乡结合部消防管理工作是公安消防部队必须面对和解决的问题.分析了城乡结合部的消防安全现状和影响城乡结合部消防安全的主要问题,探讨了改进城乡结合部消防安全工作的对策.     

The politics of renewed quest for a Biafra Republic in Nigeria

The quest for a Biafran Republic by the Igbo ethnic group has become a recurring demand in Nigeria since the late 1960s. The agitation has been premised on claims of marginalisation and exclusion of the Igbo people in the Nigerian body politic. In spite of the consistency of the agitation through various Administrations, there was a noticeable lull in such demands during the time of President Goodluck Jonathan, only to assume a frightening proportion since the advent of the Administration of President Muhammadu Buhari. This article locates the factors in the outcomes of the 2015 general elections: the question of inclusion and representation; the unfinished nature of the Nigerian civil war; economic challenges, miscalculation both on the part of the Igbo people and indiscretion in the initial appointments made by President Muhammadu Buhari. The article recommends political restructuring of Nigeria as one of the ways to address secessionist tendencies.     

浅谈网络信息安全系统构建

网络信息安全已成为当今社会所面临的安全威胁之一，校园网、电子邮件系统、电子政务系统等等都存在不同程度的安全隐患，介绍了网络信息安全中存在的问题及应对对策，以不断提高全社会的信息安全意识和保障能力。     

No war,no peace

The armed conflict over crude petroleum oil in the Niger Delta has raged for several decades. A host of peace initiatives have been adopted by the Nigerian state to address it, but with minimal impact. The amnesty offer to repentant militias in 2009 by President Umaru Yar'Adua's administration is one of the most recent and broadest peace initiatives by the Nigerian government intended to end the general tendency to warfare and the absence of peace in the Niger Delta. This article, based on secondary sources of data, examines the components of the amnesty, its critical problems and their implications for peacebuilding in the Niger Delta. It finds that though the programme has engendered relative peace, the issues and grievances that occasioned the general tendency to warfare and absence of peace in the region – such as inequitable distribution of oil revenue, environmental degradation, and underdevelopment – are not properly articulated in the disarmament, demobilisation, and reintegration components of the programme. Thus, it holds that the prevailing situation in the region largely approximates a swinging pendulum of no war, no peace.     

Prospects for creating a regional security structure in the Middle East

‘The Middle East talks the talk, but it doesn't walk the walk’, argues Heller when relating to attempts by parties in the region to create some kind of a cooperative security relationship. Concepts of regional security have simply been grafted onto traditional political-military doctrine, with the result that multilateralism has become just another vehicle for pursuing long-standing policy. He shows this with regard to the Middle East peace process as well as the Barcelona Process and attempts to forge a Euro-Mediterranean Partnership. What should be done in order to promote the process? Heller's conclusion is that moving along the track of cognitive convergence while bypassing the sequencing problem by simultaneously pursuing both peace and security building will help mitigate some of the major problems in regional security.     

动态性警卫勤务卫星通信保障非技术性障碍及对策

卫星通信技术为警卫勤务的通信保障提供了可靠的技术平台,但临时现场、临时住地以及路线等动态性警卫勤务的通信保障问题一直没有得到较好地解决,动态性警卫勤务中应用卫星通信还存在着一些非技术层面的障碍。阐述了动态性警卫勤务运用卫星通信保障的必要性和可行性,分析了动态性警卫勤务卫星通信保障非技术性障碍,提出了消除动态性警卫勤务卫星通信保障非技术性障碍的对策。     

Iraq, 2003–2011: succeeding to fail

ABSTRACT

This study examines the US experience during the Iraq war, from the planning phase that began in 2001 to the withdrawal of US forces in 2011. It reveals a dearth of planning and intelligence leading up to the invasion; reluctance by conventional coalition military forces to conduct reconstruction, political and security capacity-building; and, later, full spectrum counterinsurgency operations. These forces took on some missions traditionally reserved for special operations forces, and they increasingly assumed diplomatic roles as they interfaced with the Iraqi leadership and local kingpins. Although these efforts yielded some impressive organizational learning and limited operational successes, they were hampered by lack of adequate preparation, a poor understanding of the human terrain, shortsighted strategies, and ultimately a dearth of political will to stay the course. The outcome was far from the model Middle East democracy envisioned by the invasion’s architects, and the American experience in Iraq instead became a cautionary tale for military intervention.     

基于遗传算法的信息系统安全技术方案

组织如何制定优化的信息安全技术方案以降低脆弱性对其信息系统的威胁,是信息安全管理领域的关键问题。在描述信息系统安全技术方案决策模型的基础上,提出了一种求解信息系统安全技术方案优化问题的自适应遗传算法,使得组织能以最少的方案实施费用最大限度地处置脆弱性,并以实例说明了该算法的有效性。     

当代西方城市安全观念变迁

城市安全问题伴随着城市的产生而出现,近年来随着城市化进程在全球范围迅猛推进,城市安全问题显得尤为重要与紧迫。资本、人口向城市大量集聚,城市物质空间结构和城市社会结构巨变,城市整体建成环境及其依托的自然生态环境恶化趋势明显,城市安全脆弱度增大,当代城市安全面临新的挑战。西方发达国家对当代城市安全问题的新动向极为关注,对城市安全观念作了深入全面的拓展研究。从城市安全动态发展的视角,对相关文献进行梳理与总结,考察当代西方城市安全观念研究变迁态势,以期为我国城市安全问题的研究深化提供有益的借鉴和启示,推动我国城市化进程的健康和可持续发展。