Terrorism and insurgency: Implications for socio-economic and political development of Nigeria

Abstract

This paper examines the issues of insurgency and terrorism and its challenges on socio-economic and political development in Nigeria. The pertinent research question is to what extent has terrorism and insurgency affected the socio-economic and political development in Nigeria. The history of terrorism and insurgency in Nigeria was extensively discuss and the distinction between terrorism and insurgency was clearly examined. A combination of three different theories was adopted to give a clearer understanding to the study. The theories include cognitive dissonance, asset to liability and frustration aggression theory. Acts of insurgency and terrorism are manifestation of unsolved conflict and the inability of the government to overcome the challenges are reflections that the root cause(s) of the conflict are not identified and therefore the government should adopt the proper mechanism to manage and resolve it.