Global Insecurity and its Aftermaths: Nigeria @ 2011

A A Adedeji, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria

Introduction
War, a major public health problem, is a situation where the interests of public health, human rights, and humanitarian law intersect. People's insecurity is a massive global health issue and it comes down to armed violence and its effects, both direct and indirect. The health impact of insecurity can be documented and used to change security policies that in turn can have a powerful positive impact on health - good living. The required security can be and has been achieved by interplay of international, national and personal security measures, many of which constitute national obligations under international law. The effects of the global insecurity are clearly shown in most of the developing nations especially in Africa and Nigeria in particular. The result of the global insecurity is not far-fetched when we talk of Boko-Haram and Delta Region problems in Nigeria. Other African nations are not left out Battles for most of the North African Nations and trouble in Somalia to mention a few (Figure 1). What is the aftermaths? Hunger, striking poverty in the majority that lead to ill-health to death No wonder the average death rate of Africans is 15 years/1000 population. See Table 1.

ZONE 1

ZONE 2

Africa (Current High Trouble Areas)

Nigeria (Zone 1 and Zone 2)

Spreading Spreading wit feedback Figure 1 Africa and Nigeria: The current serious trouble zones
During conflicts, women's reproductive health is severely threatened. Breakdowns in public health services and the scarcity of money mean little or no access to birth control, to life-saving pregnancyrelated care, and supplies for menstruating women. A notable account by Rhen and Sirleaf (www.irinnews.org, 2011) of some other problems in any conflict area includes: Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) especially in young girls who have lost family guidance due to war and displacement are especially vulnerable to sexual exploitation; The mental effects of war and GBV can be enormous. Anxiety, post- traumatic stress disorders, depression and suicide are the most common; Often husbands who do survive and stay with their families become so depressed that they drink too much and abuse their families; children after birth are half-normal, the few normal ones are fully stressed so as to die early. This paper use Nigeria as case study, having in mind that most African Countries are not in good shape in terms of global insecurity effects on them. The new thinking about people's security is promulgated by the international health community. While the generous donation by governments/organizations that indirectly provide funds for promoting health and

people's security in Africa is not the only issue, direct teaching only is the key on how to fish for such security. The usual kangaroo solutions from The Able Nations can no longer have effects on the confused African Nations, especially Nigeria where both natural and artificial resources are abundantly available.

Table 1 Death rate (deaths/1,000 population)- partly shown

Rank Country 1 Swaziland 2 Angola 3 South Africa 4 Lesotho 5 Sierra Leone 6 Zimbabwe 7 Liberia 8 Zambia 9 Mozambique 10 Niger 11 Djibouti 12 Central African Republic 13 Malawi 14 Nigeria 47 Egypt 48 Algeria 49 Libya Source: indexmundi.com Death rate(deaths/1,000 population) 30.7 24.44 22.7 22.33 22.26 21.7 21.45 21.35 20.29 20.26 19.16 18.26 17.89 16.41 5.09 4.62 3.46

In Nigeria
Boko Haram THE GROUP: Boko Haram became active in around 2003 and is concentrated mainly in the northern Nigerian states (See Figure 1) of Yobe, Kano, Bauchi, Borno and Kaduna. Boko Haram, which in the Hausa language spoken in northern Nigeria, means "Western education is sinful" and is loosely modeled on the Taliban movement in Afghanistan. The group considers all who do not follow its strict ideology as infidels, whether they are Christian or Muslim. It demands the adoption of Islamic law, sharia, in all of Nigeria. Boko Haram followers have prayed in separate mosques in cities including Maiduguri, Kano and Sokoto, and wear long beards and red or black headscarves. MAJOR ATTACKS: In July 2009, Boko Haram staged attacks in the northeastern city of Bauchi after the arrest of some of its members, and clashed with police and the army in the northern city of Maiduguri. Some 800 people were killed in five days of fighting in the two cities. Later that month, August, sect leader Mohammed Yusuf was captured by Nigerian security forces and shot dead in police detention hours later. In early July 2010, Abubakar Shekau, a former deputy leader of the sect who was thought to have been killed by police in 2009, appeared in a video and claimed leadership of the group. He said he was ready to launch attacks on western influences in Nigeria. Boko Haram has said it was behind almost daily attacks in the remote north-east of the Country and in a car bombing at police headquarters in Abuja in June, 2011

In a global perspective, a strike on an international target like the U.N. would mark a rise in its ambitions. At least 18 people were involved while a car slammed through security gates of the U.N. complex, crashed into the basement and exploded, sending vehicles flying and setting the building ablaze. Without concluding a thing, it has an international connotation in its latest action. In June, Boko Haram pulled off a similar strike on police headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria. In both attacks the bombers died but police were not sure the driver in June intended to be killed Trying to confuse people or something else. This unclear. It important to note that if the attacker at the U.N. was a suicide bomber, it would be the first ever in Nigeria. Intelligence officials claimed that there is evidence to suggest some Boko Haram members have trained in Niger and have connections with al Qaeda's North African wing, al Qaeda in the Islamic Mahgreb (AQIM). The attack on the U.N. has increased fears about those links,

Figure 1. A typical scene each time Boko hara struck POSSIBLE LINKS The scale of the explosion at the UN building suggests that a different method was used, for instance involving military grade explosive such as Semtex, or explosive made from ammonium nitrate," risk forecasting company. Report from Nigerian news early September indicated that in two major cities in the Northern part of Nigeria, factories/workshops manufacturing local time bombs were found This would be a clearer indication that training or supply lines have been opened between Boko Haram and other external links such as Talibans or Al-qaeda (AQIM)" On the second bomb blast, a committee last been set up to look into the unrest in the northeast but the team has delayed delivering its report, while the heavy-handed security forces have done more harm than good, according to local residents and Amnesty International. While there is a layer of Boko Haram that is driven by fundamental ideology, many of its members are disillusioned, unemployed youths, and over-glaring poverty in the area that kills children and the olds. Further attacks are stoked by local politicians, hiding under the guise of the sect, in an effort to damage opponents. President Jonathan condemned the U.N. attack and said it is a reminder of the international character of terrorism. This current and single insecurity in the north is quite different from the usual past insecurity that ravaged the North on the common belief: MUSLIM NORTH and CHRITAN MAJORITY SOUTH. This is out of fashion. This recent assaults are not helped by a growing sense of economic alienation in the country. The Delta Region The Niger Delta is an unstable area of Nigeria, and inter-ethnic clashes are common - often access to oil revenue is the trigger for the violence. Pipelines are regularly vandalized by impoverished residents, who risk their lives to siphon off fuel. Vandalism is estimated to result in thousands of barrels of crude oil

wastage every day - a loss to the Nigerian economy of millions of dollars each year. Nigeria is the world's sixth largest oil-producing nation. However, mismanagement and successive military governments have left the country poverty-stricken. Ijaw ethnic nationality of the Niger Delta within the Nigerian state is scattered across six states -- Ondo, Edo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers and Akwa Ibom States. The Ijaws are a nation of more than fourteen million people in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, the most populous indigenous inhabitants of the Niger Delta and constitute the fourth largest ethnicity within the borders of Nigeria. Since the discovery of crude oil in commercial quantity in Oloibiri (Ijawland) in 1958, oil companies such as Shell (Anglo/Dutch), AGIP (Italian), Elf (French) and Chevron (American) have colluded with the military and successive governments of Nigeria in war of economic exploitation, environmental degradation, and of internal colonialism. In Africa COMMON SCENERIO The worst leaders in Africa obtain 98% of votes through elections rigging, and the use of diabolical means (when in power). These leaders render the dreams of peoples inspiration and hope dashed and unattainable, while they tend to remain in power for ever. Issues of peace and security in Africa are a robust requirement, but unfortunately there are very few brave professional experts in peace and security development, as the majority have fear of sudden death or final poverty that could be their reward from those leaders of 98% - MET and not EMET. Lack of human resource necessary to avert conflict and redefine security in line with contemporary challenges remains a challenge. At any level, security and peace must be sought through action when entire population is left to know and practice their rights, which on the other hand compel governments to act responsibly. The people must give direction to myopic leaders as a means to achieve security and peace. The results of any war/conflict torn areas are as shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3.

NO WATER http://www.reliefforafrica.org
Fake Solution

DRY WELL Figure 2 No water, no existence

The fake or kangaroo solutions civilized on: The poor begging for alms from the rich

BEGGING FOR ALMS

http://www.reliefforafrica.org Figure 3 The one who is destined to beg?

True Solutions Volatile progress by the masses, without opium or carrot Landmark economy, by relating and collaborating with other Nations of the world Be in-charge of everything (catch fish by yourself) Power that abides by the rules of law. Increased accountability Poverty can shape whole communities for generations. The best strategies for combating its effects and progressing into a better future must come from within the community itself. Most of the developed Nations of the World are found to have great priority for internal security first. Any external aggression were easily confronted if not quenched fully. I belief that the residents of Nigeria and other International Communities with their true development experts have the talent and initiative to create real, sustainable change fist on their own. Oftentimes all they need are the resources and some support network to help their ideas thrive by exploring more in the discipline towards peace and security. One attains a firm ground for not only local consulting works but global as well in different aspects of achieving peace and leave well. In achieving that harmony peace and security, experts will be in position to successfully study the cracks in foreign affairs responsible for the insecurities in Africa, or any other angle the will be explored and blocked from causing regional and global catastrophes.

Conclusion
The best strategies for combating the effects of global instability and progressing into a better future must come from within the community itself. Increased accountability, an important element in preventing violence towards noncombatants, can have a deterrent effect in armed conflict and encourages adherence to the international humanitarian law

References
http://www.scielosp.org/scielo.php?pid=S0042-96862007000300010&sc... International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty. Responsibility to protect: report of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty. Ottawa: International Development ResearchCentre; 2001 Jacob Waiswa, http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jacob_Waiswa , and http://EzineArticles.com/5997325

Rhen and Johnson Sirleaf, 2011, In-depth: Our Bodies - Their Battle Ground: Gender-based Violence in Conflict Zones, AFRICA-ASIA: War and women's health, IRIN: humanitarian news and analysis (a service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian), Affairs Available: http://www.irinnews.org/InDepthMain.aspx?InDepthId=20&ReportId=62825