SOCIOECONOMIC EFFECTS OF TERRORISM AND INSECURITY IN NORTHERN NIGERIA

Abstract

The most highlighted challenges confronting the growth of democracy in Nigeria at the moment are terrorism and insecurity.Terrorism in Northern Nigeria had forced the closure of schools and health facilities in many affected areas, constant killing of soldiers, policemen, aid workers, civilians and in addition to massive refugee problems. These had affected structures of political and economic development of the society. The intensity of terrorist activities and the anxieties it had unleashed on the population have resulted to moral panic. Since the advent of Boko Haram in the Northeast Nigeria in the past decade and followed by the Herdsmen violence across the country, Nigeria is facing the most daunting security challenges in its history. The nature of ethnoreligious divides in Nigeria creates problems in the fight to combat terrorism in the country. The paper looked at how terrorism had affected political stability, educational development, tourism, food crises, national cohesion and economy is general. The paper concluded that ethno-religious sentiments are the root cause of terrorism and constitute major obstacles in the control of terrorism, achieving of national security and the attainment of stable democracy in Nigeria.