Periscoping urbanisation and emerging security challenges in Enugu Metroplis

Abstract

There has been a serious increase of insecurity in the country making it a prominent issue in recent times. Lives are lost on daily basis, population depleted, businesses in comatose, investments are nose-diving, multinationals closing shops and vacating the country, unemployment soaring and the populace in fears. Clearly, it poses a threat to governance and economic growth in troubled nation. There is no doubt that these security challenges pose serious threat to the socio-economic development of Nigeria. The study examined the urbanization and security challenges in Enugu State. The specific objectives were to: determine the relationship between urbanization and the rate of kidnapping in Enugu metropolis, examine the relationship between urbanization and armed robbery in Enugu metropolis and investigate the relationship between urbanization and cybercrime in Enugu metropolis. The study was guided by three research questions and three hypothesis. This research employed a descriptive research design. The population of the study is 2,636,630. Taro Yamani’s statistical sampling formula was used to obtain a sample of size of 400. The data collected were analyzed through the use of men scores. Mean score statistics were utilized in analysing of the data. The correlation analysis method was applied in the test of the hypothesis. The finding revealed that urbanization has a significant relationship with the rate of kidnapping in Enugu metropolis (where r= 875 and p= 0.00). This means that the high level of kidnapping in Enugu urban scares away investors in the states. It was found that Urbanization has significant relationship with armed robbery in Enugu metropolis (where r=0.61 and p=0.00) and that urbanization has a significant relationship with cybercrime in Enugu metropolis (where r=0.14 and p=0.00). The study concluded that urban insecurity which often manifest in the way of kidnapping, armed robbery and violent agitations etc, influenced negatively the economic development in Enugu State. The study recommended that government at all levels should put in place mechanisms that encourage financial institutions to provide soft loans to aspiring young entrepreneurs who want to start small businesses, allowing them to sustain themselves and avoid engaging in criminal activities such as kidnapping for ransom, which has become the norm in many Nigerian states.