Security challenges and leadership in Africa, 1960-2019

Abstract

There is need to develop a new approach towards understanding behind the prevailing level of insecurity in Africa. The continent is in the grip of various destructive forces that are coalescing to give it a failed – status toga. The current state of insecurity in most African countries is a manifestation of deep-rooted and structurally entrenched crisis of development that creates the environment for the emergence of conditions of poverty, unemployment, and inequality in those countries. These in turn, lead to frustration, alienation and, ultimately, social discontent that spark violence and insecurity. Without the enabling environment, these conditions could not have metamorphosed into serious national security problem threatening to tear the countries apart. Although Africa may appear to be failing, the trends leading to this situation are reversible, if seriously proactive and sustained measures could be adopted by African leaders. Policymakers have the duty to arrest this drift through social justice and development. It is on this backdrop that this paper examines this core issues on security challenges and leadership in Africa. The work also highlighted the linkage between development and security in Africa. The work also adopted secondary sources of data such as books, journal articles, newspapers and internet sources. Also used was the historical approach in its analysis. Reports obtained from these sources formed the bulk of this Research’s tool of assessment.

Keywords: Security, Challenges, Leadership, Development, Africa