OIKHALA GABRIEL IZOKPU

Abstract

The escalating insecurity crisis in Nigeria, especially the recent dimension in which criminals are now invading churches and communities without a slightest challenge to kidnap and massacre people has raised questions concerning capacity of the state to provide public safety, maintain public order and deliver good governance. Despite the huge public expenditure being incurred to provide effective security administration, this country has continued to experience depressing cases of terrorism, kidnapping, farmer-herder conflicts, brutal separatist agitations, communal violence and other forms of banditries across the six geo-political zones without any end in sight. This paper examined the relationship between state capacity and responses to insecurity in Nigeria from a public administration perspective. The paper utilised the New Public Governance theory as theoretical framework to explain the inability of the state security institution to curb the current growing rate of security threat. The paper is theoretical and it used secondary method for data collection. The analysis of the data was done through descriptive method. The paper found that weak institutions, poor inter-agency coordination, inadequate security policy implementation, unnecessary political patronage and limited administrative capacity have significantly undermined effective security management in Nigeria. The paper also analysed the effects of insecurity on governance, socio-economic development, public service delivery and citizens’ trust in government institutions and found that inability of the Nigerian state to effectively mobilise institutional, administrative, and political resources has weakened the effectiveness of its responses to insecurity in governance process. The paper concluded that capacity of the state will effectively response to insecurity in Nigeria when the institutional governance is strengthened. It recommended among others comprehensive public sector reforms to improve the operation of security governance in to improve policy implementation for better security administration in Nigeria.

   

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Published: 2026

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