AN EMPIRICAL INTERROGATION OF THE NEXUS BETWEEN DEMOCRACY AND TERRORISM IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The series of terrorist incidents in Nigeria have continued to increase despite the existing strategies to combat the phenomenon. Its impact on human lives, infrastructure and national peace and security, has also increasingly worsened. In Nigeria today there is widespread discontent and disenchantment among the various communities because of the inability of successive democratic governments in the country to resolve grievances arising from the state’s unresponsiveness and insensitivity to the people’s plight over long periods. This has generated despair and frustration which certain leaders capitalize on to organize acts of defiance or incipient lawlessness and acts of terrorism as the current Boko Haram crisis which Nigeria now witnesses thereby raising questions on capability of democracy to address the misfortune of Nigerians. This study with the aid of scientific data from Nigerians establishes a link between democracy and domestic terrorism. The paper found that the seeming insensitive attitude of successive governments to the poor living condition of a vast majority of the populace has contributed to the palpable despair of the people. Democracy has therefore not doused the tension in the land but given it more intensity. This study concludes that unless the Nigerian state develops and implements comprehensive plans to tackle not only insecuritybut also the injustices that drive much of the insurgency, Boko Haram, or groups like it, will continue to destabilise large parts of the country.