Socio-Cultural Organization and Insecurity in South-East Nigeria: Challenges From Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB)
Chapter One
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The main objective of the study is to investigate sociocultural organization and insecurity in south east Nigeria a case study of the challenges of the indigenous people of Biafra. The specific objectives of the study include;
- To determine the nature and functions of sociocultural organization.
- To appraise insecurity in south east Nigeria.
- To determine the challenges of the indigenous people of Biafra.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
INTRODUCTION
According to Omoyibo and Akpomera (2013), security is a concept that is prior to the state, and the state exists in order to provide that concept. Security is the prime responsibility of the state (Thomas Hobbes, 1996). The 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria specifically states that “The security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government”. Unfortunately, government on this constitutional responsibility has failed to provide a secured and safe environment for lives, properties and the conduct of business and economic activities. The alarming level of insecurity in Nigeria has fuelled the crime rate and terrorists attacks in different parts of the country, leaving unpalatable consequences for the nation’s economy and its growth. To address the threat to national security and combat the increasing waves of crime the federal government in the 2013 budget made a huge allocation to security, and the national assembly passed the Anti-Terrorism Act in 2011 (Ewetan, 2013). Despite these efforts, the level of insecurity in the country is still high, and a confirmation of this is the low ranking of Nigeria in the Global Peace Index (GPI, 2012). Despite the plethora of security measures taken to address the daunting challenges of insecurity in Nigeria, government efforts have not produced the desired positive result. This has compelled the Nigerian government in recent time to request for foreign assistance from countries such as USA, Israel, and EU countries to combat the rising waves of terrorism and insecurity. Amidst the deteriorating security situation in the country, Nigeria is also confronted with daunting developmental challenges which pose serious threat to socio-economic development. These developmental challenges include endemic rural and urban poverty, high rate of unemployment, debilitating youth unemployment, low industrial output, unstable and deteriorating exchange rate, high inflation rate, inadequate physical and social infrastructure, very large domestic debt, and rising stock of external debt (Ewetan, 2013) According to the National Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria’s unemployment rate increased to 23.9 percent in 2011 compared with 21.1 per cent in 2010 and 19.7 per cent in 2009. The country has a youth population of 80 million, representing about 60 per cent of the total population with a growth rate of 2.6 per cent per year, and the national demography suggests that the youth population remains vibrant with an average annual entrant to the labour force at 1.8 million between 2006 and 2011. In 2011, 37.7 per cent of Nigerian were aged 15-24 years and 22.4 per cent of those between ages 25 and 44 were willing to work but did not get jobs. The current level of social insecurity is alarming and unacceptable. The United Nations Children’s Fund reports that every day, Nigeria loses about 2,300 under-five year olds and 145 women of childbearing age, making the country the second largest contributor to the under-five and maternal mortality rates in the world. A greater proportion of the population do not have access to pipe borne water, health care facilities, electricity and affordable quality education. Although Nigeria is a signatory to the UN resolution on the MDG goals the attainment of these goals by 2015 remains elusive and doubtful (Ewetan, 2013).
CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY
This section covers the methods used to address the objectives of the study. The section discusses the research design, research population and sampling technique, the instrument for data collection, the method of data analysis and the analytical software used for the study.
Research Design
In this study, a survey research design is adopted. Survey is chosen based on the objectives of the study. Survey is defined according to Nworgu (2005) a survey studies the sampling of individual units from an already known population and its associated survey data collection techniques, such as questionnaire construction and methods for improving the number and accuracy of responses to survey.
Population of the Study
The population of this study comprises all the residents of South Eastern part of Nigeria.
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF RESULTS
This section presents the results of the field study; it shows the descriptive information of the respondents, the results of each of the research questions and the test of hypothesis.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Summary
This study focused on socio-cultural organization and insecurity in South East Nigeria, challenges from the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). The study was set to address three major research objectives. The objectives which include:
- To determine the nature and functions of sociocultural organization.
- To appraise insecurity in south east Nigeria.
- To determine the challenges of the indigenous people of Biafra.
Based on the above stated objectives and the study carried out, the following findings were made:
- that the functions of sociocultural organizations include but not limited to promote the cultural activities of the organization; to protect the interest of the group; to promote interpersonal relationship among the members of the group and to ensure the group is not marginalized.
- that the level of insecurity in South Eastern part of Nigeria is high.
- that the challenges of the indigenous people of Biafra include but not limited to poor funding; lack of support from Igbo stakeholders; insecurity and lack of basic infrastructure in the South East.
Conclusion
The main purpose of this study is to assess socio-cultural organization and insecurity in South East Nigeria, challenges from the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). The study was set to address three research objectives. Three research questions guided the study.
In this study, a survey research design was adopted, the population comprises all the residents of South Eastern Nigeria, a simple random sampling technique was used to select 100 respondents for the study and a questionnaire was the instrument for data collection. Relevant literatures were reviewed which guided the objectives and methodology of this study. As result of the field study and analysis of results, the following findings were made:
- that the functions of sociocultural organizations include but not limited to promote the cultural activities of the organization; to protect the interest of the group; to promote interpersonal relationship among the members of the group and to ensure the group is not marginalized.
- that the level of insecurity in South Eastern part of Nigeria is high.
- that the challenges of the indigenous people of Biafra include but not limited to poor funding; lack of support from Igbo stakeholders; insecurity and lack of basic infrastructure in the South East.
Recommendations
Based on the findings of this study, the following recommendations are made:
- Efforts should be made to reduce the level of insecurity in the South East.
- Government at all levels should ensure that the residents of South East are treated fairly with their counter parts in Nigeria.
- There should be proper orientation of the stakeholders on the need to reduce the level of insecurity in the South East.
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