Threat of Border Porosity to National Security of Nigeria

Impact of Porous Border on Movement of Arms and Ammunition

The national security of any country is sacrosanct to the welfare, wellbeing, peace and prosperity of the people of the country as well as for the nation itself. Nigeria is an African nation that is located on the western coast of the continent (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2021). Due to the proximity of the country with multiple other nations, it also consists of varied and different challenges in terms of border control that need to be mitigated by the border protection agencies of the country. As stated by Estevens (2018), the efficacy of the border control also has a direct impact on the national security of the country. This essay would analyse and evaluate border porosity threat to national security of Nigeria as well as the influence of different factors. 

Due to the rise of globalization, transnational relationships and other reasons, there has been steady progress in interconnectedness and movements across borders all over the world. Nigeria is no different. However, the unrestricted access and movement of goods and services across the border of Nigeria has been a cause of concern for national security of the country. According to Adeleke & Olayinka, the porousness of the border of Nigeria has resulted in unrestricted movement of arms and ammunition across the border that has affected the stability of the region. Lego border control has resulted in continuous movements of arms across the border into the country of Nigeria that has resulted in armament of the terrorist organisations and anti-social elements within the country. It should be noted in this regard that 8the stability of the region as well as insurgency attributed to the terrorist organisations of the country such as boko haram has continued to disturb the peaceful lives of innocent population. The primary idea is that due to the unrestricted access to the border as well as the porous nature of the border being guarded by insufficient border forces, corruption and illegal activities have continued to flourish within the country. In addition to the arms, there also has been significant influx of illicit items within the country that evade taxes and is utilised for funding activities of terrorist organisations. On the other hand, Iheanacho & Ohazurike (2019) indicated that the perspectives of multinational security due to the international borders being aligned with several other countries of the African continent, does national security issues have been exacerbated. The porous nature of the border also made it possible for terrorist organisations to recruit people from the vicinity, train them and armed with contraband armaments for armed insurgency within the country. Hence, it can be concluded that the nature of the border of Nigeria has added in movement of illegal items within the country from its neighbouring countries which has contributed significantly to the increase of illegal activities, terrorist operations thereby negatively affecting the national security of the country.

Rise of Criminal Activities Due to Porous Border

On the other hand, Olomu, Alao & Adewumi (2019) opined that the lack of inter-agency cooperation and collaboration has also resulted in increased porousness of the borders of Nigeria. Although it is the responsibility of the multiple agencies to protect the integrity of the border as well as regular the movement of goods and people across it, due to the lack of intelligence cooperation there has been significant loopholes and corruption that has contributed to the development of illegal activities being supported. The border security agencies has allowed unscrupulous increase in illegal movement of goods that also includes arms which is being supplied to the terrorist organisations. This affects the national security of the country as the rise of illegal activities has resulted in increase of criminal activities like smuggling, human trafficking, money laundering, arms trafficking and others. As stated by Fagge & Ibrahim (2021), there is a link between the trans-border crime from the perspective of national security implications as criminal activities increase probabilities of instability within the country which is conducive for associated detrimental impact on national security as well. Therefore, the porous nature of the Nigerian border has resulted in aiding and abetting the development of criminal activities within the country which is being supported by movement of goods and people across the border for continued sustainability and perpetuity negatively affecting the national security. It is also indirectly helped by the inefficiencies of inter-agency cooperation and application of jurisdictional reprimands that would act to prevent Anti National activities being perpetuated through unfettered movement across the border. Due to lack of security personnel being available to the border protection agencies of the country, it is impossible to check and control the flow of people and goods across the border from neighbouring countries. Hence, it has become a continuous and accessible channel that is utilised for channelling funds, people and operational activities that has continued to disrupt the normal livelihood of innocent people of Nigeria and stoked the fire of terrorism, anti-national behaviour, insurgency and other activities of social and political unrest that has severely degraded the ability of the governmental agencies to control and maintain peace and integrity of the nation. It has negatively influenced the national security of the country as well. 

It should also be noted in this regard that the economic impact of inefficient border control also has a direct relationship with national security. According to Isamotu (2021), inefficiencies of border control and restrictions has allowed growth of strategic alliances being formed between secessionist groups in Cameroon and Nigeria that have continuously worked for destabilizing the respective countries. It is an emerging trend of significant concern that requires immediate collective efforts of border control agencies and national security professionals to work together in order to destroy such alliances that would further escalate to cause harm to the security of the nation. The movement of counterfeit items within Nigeria has also resulted in loss of livelihood and rising prices of commodities as well as evading taxes that significantly contribute to the development of national security programs being implemented with sufficient funding (Abuja, 2021). However, the porous nature of the borders in Nigeria has enabled movement of goods that do not confirm with the standards of the products as well as is responsible for directly funding terrorist activities within the country as well as in the vicinity of the region. It should be understood in this regard that the protection of national security of Nigeria is not only essential for the country but also for civility and peace of the region. Hence, the porous nature of Nigerian borders seriously implicates the national security of the country through multiple level of impacts and influences including economic and social activities as well aiding and abetting the continuance of illicit movement of arms and people joining the terrorist organisations that is still continuing to cause unrest and exploiting the national security of the country. 

Conclusion

To conclude, the porousness of the border of Nigeria has resulted in unrestricted access to arms, counterfeit goods, people for terrorist organisations, training and development as well as radicalization of the political scenario the country that has negatively affected the national security of the country. It has resulted in a lack of economic funding required for the protection of the borders as well as rise of corruption within the border protection agencies and lack of sufficient personnel to implement any governmental initiatives against it.

References

Abuja, O. (2021). thenationonlineng.net. Retrieved 11 December 2021, from https://dailytrust.com/porous-borders-aggravating-nigerias-security-challenges-nsa 

Encyclopedia Britannica. (2021). Nigeria | History, Population, Flag, Map, Languages, Capital, & Facts. Retrieved 12 December 2021, from https://www.britannica.com/place/Nigeria.

Estevens, J. (2018). Migration crisis in the EU: developing a framework for analysis of national security and defence strategies. Comparative migration studies, 6(1), 1-21. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40878-018-0093-3

Fagge, M. M., & Ibrahim, K. (2021). Trans-Border Crime and its Implications on Nigeria’s National Security and Sustainable Development.

Iheanacho, E. N., & Ohazurike, E. U. (2019). Border Security and the Operations of Boko Haram Terrorism in Nigeria. African Journal of Social and Behavioural Sciences, 9(1).

Isamotu, I. (2021). Nigeria: Porous Borders Aggravating Nigeria's Security Challenges - NSA. allAfrica.com. Retrieved 11 December 2021, from https://allafrica.com/stories/202108250033.html.

Oladopo, S. O., Aladejebi, D. T., & Ayeni, A. O. (2021). The Porous Border on Nigeria Economics and Security Implications. Randwick International of Social Science Journal, 2(3), 335-340. DOI: https://doi.org/10.47175/rissj.v2i3.276

Olomu, B., Alao, D. O., & Adewumi, E. (2019). Border security issues and challenges of the Nigeria customs service. International Journal of Latest Research in Humanities and Social Science, 2(3), 10-19.