Table of contents

1. Introduction............................................................................................................................3

2. The research problem.............................................................................................................4

3. Methodology..........................................................................................................................4

3.1 Scope of the project..........................................................................................................4

3.2 Clinical case studies.........................................................................................................5

3.3 Argumentation for the choice of theory...........................................................................6

3.4 Data collecting methods...................................................................................................7

3.5 Country profile – Nigeria.................................................................................................8

4. Theory..................................................................................................................................13

4.1 Human security...............................................................................................................13

4.1.1 Security – from state to the individual.....................................................................14

4.1.2 Criticism of state security........................................................................................15

4.1.3 The “new” human security......................................................................................17

4.1.4 Human security and human development................................................................19

4.1.5 UNDP Human Development report.........................................................................20

4.1.6 Threats to human security........................................................................................22

4.1.7 Developing the human security concept..................................................................23

4.2 Criticism of human security...........................................................................................27

4.3 Rethinking human security.............................................................................................28

4.3.1 Measuring human security.......................................................................................30

4.3.2 Enhancing human security.......................................................................................32

5. Analysis................................................................................................................................34

5.1 Methodology...................................................................................................................34

1

5.1.1 Environment as a domain of human well being......................................................35

5.1.2 Choosing indicators.................................................................................................36

5.2 Income............................................................................................................................38

5.2.1 Current state of information regarding income security..........................................39

5.2.3 Recapitulation..........................................................................................................41

5.3 Health.............................................................................................................................42

5.3.1 Current state of information regarding health security............................................43

5.3.2 Recapitulation..........................................................................................................45

5.4 Education........................................................................................................................46

5.4.1 Current state of information regarding education....................................................47

5.4.2 Recapitulation..........................................................................................................49

5.5 Political freedom............................................................................................................49

5.5.1 Current state of information regarding political freedom........................................51

5.5.2 Recapitulation..........................................................................................................54

5.6 Democracy......................................................................................................................54

5.6.1 Current state of information regarding democracy..................................................55

5.6.2 Recapitulation..........................................................................................................58

5.7 Environment...................................................................................................................59

5.7.1 Current state of information regarding environment...............................................60

5.7.2 Recapitulation..........................................................................................................62

5.8 The Niger Delta Crisis....................................................................................................62

5.8.1 Recapitulation..........................................................................................................71

6. Conclusion............................................................................................................................72

7. Bibliography.........................................................................................................................76

2

1. Introduction

“Nigeria has no business with poverty. With our human and material resources, we shall

strive to eradicate poverty from our country.”1 -Former Head of State and President Olusegun Obasanjo

In 1960 when Nigeria won independence they had all the potential to become a rich and

influential country. Nigeria is blessed with an abundance of both human and natural

resources; it is the largest black nation in the world with up to 160 million people, it is one of

the biggest producers of both oil and natural gas, it possesses 34 types of solid minerals, 44

exportable commodities and huge areas of arable land.2 Despite the great potential it remain a

fact that Nigeria are placed low on almost all parameters in economic and social development

and thus continue to belong to the group of “underdeveloped” countries in the world. The

authors’ interest in Nigeria is based on a personal experience working and living six months

in Nigeria. Nigeria is an enhancing country; beautiful nature, diverse culture and most of all

the most welcoming people, but Nigeria is also marred by many problems that affect the well

being of ordinary Nigerians. One example is from a journey made by the author between

Badagry and Lagos in the southwest Nigeria; the stretch between the two cities is less than 50

kilometres but still there were 13 roadblocks manned by soldiers demanding bribes to let cars

through. This is already a terrifying high number but the chauffeur said that on an ordinary

day when people were not home in their villages for Christmas there can be as many as 30!

Would you like to commute there??

The example above is just one out of many and every day you are confronted with the long

list of the challenges Nigeria is facing through television, newspapers and radio. As a

consequence of this bombardment the author had a growing feeling that it was difficult to

comprehend all the information, and out from that developed a desire to systematise the

developmental issues Nigeria are facing in order to understand the country and its challenges

in a holistic way.

2. The research problem

1 Nigeria Quotes: www.brainyquote.com2 Soludo, (2007)

3

The first objective of the thesis, which is based in personal experiences, is to provide a frame

through which development issues in Nigeria can be grasped. In order to do this it is

important to have theory to guide the study and determine the focus,3 in this project the

concept of “human security” acts as the guiding theory. In other words; it is human security

that frame reality and determine the angle upon which the reader understand the case.

Letting human security guide the collection and analysis of information from the case provide

the second objective of the thesis; the study can detect vulnerable areas in a Nigerian context

and therefore it acts as a kind of warning system for threats to human security in Nigeria and

thereby it can help to prevent future human crisis.4

Based on the above considerations and in an endeavour to systematise challenges Nigeria is

facing in the area of development the study will be conducted around this problem

formulation:

“HOW CAN NIGERIAN DEVELOPMENTAL CHALLENGES BE POSITIONED IN A

HUMAN SECURITY FRAMEWORK IN ORDER TO ABTAIN A BROAD

UNDERSTANDING OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE VERY SAME

CHALLENGES?”

3. Methodology

3.1 Scope of the project

In order to answer the problem formulation it is necessary to do the following two things;

1. Develop a human security framework.

2. Position Nigerian developmental challenges in the framework.

3 De Vaus, (2001), p. 2214 This point will be elaborated in the presentation of the theory.

4

There are two main approaches to research in general and the role of theory in particular; that

is theory testing (deductive) and theory building (inductive).5 In the theory testing approach

the research begins with the theory and uses theory to guide what observations to make. In

this particular project, the researcher, if adopting the theory testing approach, would start off

with step number one above and then move on to step number two letting the framework

decide what developmental challenges that are included in the study.

If one adopts the theory building approach, the research begins with observations and uses

inductive reasoning to derive a theory from these observations. The theory building approach

tries to determine if the observations fit into a pattern or a story. As opposed to the theory

testing approach the theory building approach would begin with step number two and the

observations about the developmental challenges would be decisive in the construction of the

framework. The approach adopted in this project is both theory testing and theory building,

in other words; the human security have to some extent decided what developmental

challenges include, but observations about the developmental challenges Nigeria is facing has

also decided the structure of the human security framework. By letting theory guide which

indicators that are included in the framework ensure that the selection is not arbitrary, and

thus secure some degree of comparability where the study can be reproduced and the

observations made can be compared to observations made in other countries. It is also

important that the “reality” in Nigeria is deciding for the structure of the framework, this

provide a fuller picture of the case and makes sure that challenges that are important in a

Nigerian context are not excluded from the study.

3.2 Clinical case studies

This research was undertaken as a single and clinical case study with the purpose of

understanding to the most possible extent the developmental issues Nigeria is facing.

According to De Vaus, clinical case studies are case centred and use theories to understand a

case and gather information to build up a picture of what is going on.6 The nature of the study

is descriptive; it tries to provide as complete picture of the case as possible. Usually it is not a

good idea to choose a descriptive design, because it tends to be purely referring to existing

5 De Vaus, (2001), p. 5-76 De Vaus, (2001), p. 223-224

5

information and thus contain little independent work.7 Despite the pitfalls there are cases

where a descriptive design can be rewarding; one is if the subject or approach is new and

therefore it is time to describe the case in a systematic way guided by theory. This is exactly

what this project intends to do as it moves into a relatively new and unexplored area; Nigeria

developmental issues in the light of human security. As described later in the theory the

concept of human security is a much debated concept, and there is little consistency in the

wide range of definitions of the concept. Usually studies in human security tend to be

thematic and limits its focus on single issues and do not try to understand the human security

in a country as a whole. What is new in this project is that it broadens the use of the concept

human security and tries to understand the case as a whole in the light of human security. One

can say that existing studies seek to deepen the understanding while this project seek to

broaden it, this off course mean that the project loose some depth, but it will be compensated

for by the gain in broadness. Much research have been conducted on Nigerian issues, but not

with the specific approach adopted by this project. In an interview with a senior UN officer in

Nigeria he expressed his concern that many development workers knowledge on

developmental issues were limited to their specific working areas, therefore a study that could

broaden the knowledge would be of great value to all people working with development in

Nigeria. By using human security and adopting a broad approach to Nigerian development

challenges the project shed new light on the case und thus justify the use of the descriptive

design.

3.3 Argumentation for the choice of theory

In this project human security acts as the guiding theory for which observations to make.

Since the United Nations Development programme (UNDP) coined the concept in 1994,

since then it has been adopted by a great number of scholars, states and international

organizations. Despite the great interest in the concept no coherent definition has been

developed and mainstreamed. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and

Cultural Organization (UNESCO) human security has; “ultimately, not been operationalized

as it should have been”8

7 Rienecker, (2002), p. 16-178 Tadjbakhsh, (2005), p. 1

6

This project seek to narrow down the broad definitions presented by especially the UNDP

and operationalise the concept in order for it to act as a frame in which Nigerian

developmental issues can be placed and understood. Therefore human security is valuable to

this project as it provide the possibility to study a broad spectre of a country’s developmental

issues.

A part from being able to broaden the understanding of a country and its developmental

challenges, this study into the state of human security in Nigeria is also a risk assessment and

ultimately it can act as a warning system and possible point out risk areas in order to prevent

future human crisis. Christopher K.L Murray9 and Gary King10, who is behind the definition

adopted by this project, argue that a process of enhancing human security begin with risk

assessment and prevention. A risk assessment can provide important knowledge about the

risks to human security and thus enable politicians and development workers to design more

effective policies. Another advantage of risk assessment is that it looks not only at what is

going on now, but it is also looking forward, thereby detecting risks that doesn’t influence

human security today.11

3.4 Data collecting methods

This project began with a review of the literature on human security, this involved primary

resources that were later used to construct the theories utilised in the study. The study relies

heavily on web sources run by international organizations, mainly the UN and the World

Bank and NGOs working in relevant areas. The study also makes use of secondary web

resources such as news portals on African issues. The broad base of data is important when

conducting a study on a country which is notorious for its lack of data. It also ensures that the

project is up-to-date and that it corresponds to the reality the people in Nigeria are

experiencing.

9 Christopher K.L Murray is executive director of evidence and Information for Policy Cluster at the World Health Organization.10 Gary King is professor of government and director of the Harvard-MIT Data Center at Harvard University, and senior science advisor at the World Health Organization.11 King et.al, (2001) p. 604-605

7

3.5 Country profile – Nigeria

Map of Nigeria

Nigeria is located within the tropics in the heart of the West African sub-region. It is

bordered to the south by the bights of Benin and Biafra, which are in the Gulf of Guinea in

the Atlantic Ocean. To the west Nigeria is bordered by the republic of Benin, to the east by

Cameron and to the north by Niger. In the far eastern corner Lake Chad separates Nigeria

from Chad. The country is roughly 1120 km from west to east and 1040 km from north to

south, and has some 800 km coastline. The total landmass is 932.768 square kilometres,

making it the biggest country in West Africa. Nigeria is watered by two main rivers, the

River Niger and the River Benue. The River Niger is the third longest river in Africa running

1160 km from the northwest corner and emptying into the Atlantic Ocean through the Niger

Delta. The Niger Delta is the largest delta in Africa, 150 km wide and it stretches inwards

about 50 km.12

12 Ikein, (2008) p. 1-28

Nigeria exhibit great diversity in geographical characteristics, ranging from tropical to arid.

The area around the Niger Delta comprises mostly of dense mangrove swamps, wile the rest

of the southern part is heavily forested. Further north the forests gives way to hills and

plateaus, an area known as the middle belt. In the northern part of the country are the plains

of the savannah and in the extreme north is the semi-dessert area known as the Sahel. There

are two main seasons in Nigeria, the wet season and the dry season. During the dry season, a

cool wind, called the Harmattan sweeps in from the Sahara, bringing relief from the warm

weather but it also carries particles of sand from the Sahara, resulting in the air being full of

these sand particles, especially in the north. The geographic diversity means that Nigeria has

a big variety of natural resources, mineral resources include large deposits of coal, iron, tin,

columbite, lead, copper and zinc, most of this is found in the hills and plateaus of the middle

belt. There are also small amounts of gold, silver and diamonds.13 Another natural resource

Nigeria has is an enormous work force; the World Bank world places the population at

almost 148 million.14

Nigeria is best known for their reserves of petroleum. The search for oil started as far back in

1908 by a German company, but it was not before 1958 that Shell started extracting oil from

its fields in the Niger Delta.15 Nigeria is the largest oil producer in Africa, the eleventh

largest producer of crude oil in the world and a member of the Organization of Petroleum

Exporting Countries (OPEC). Nigeria is also the world’s eighth largest exporter of crude oil

and the country is a major oil exporter to the United States.16 Oil is the single most important

commodity, sale of petroleum products constitute over 90 percent of the country’s export

earnings and over 75 percent of public revenues. The total reliance on oil has contributed to

economic instability due to world price fluctuation on oil and high level of corruption among

government and public officials.17

Nigeria comprises of more than 200 different ethno-linguistic groups. Three main groups

constitute the majority of the population; the Hausa which count for 21 percent is located in

the northern savannahs, the Yoruba which makes up 20 percent of the population is located in

the south west, the last group, the Igbo of the south east count for 17 percent. There are more 13 Falola et.al, (2008) p. 1-314Nigeria Country brief: www.worldbank.org15 Azaiki et.al, (2008) p. 7316 Nigeria oil: www.eia.doe.gov17 Falola et.al, (2008) p. 3

9

than 250 indigenous languages spoken in Nigeria, but English has been the official language

since independence in 1960. There are also a vast number of different religions, although the

majority identify with either Islam or Christianity. About 50 percent of the population is

Sunni Muslim, mostly located in the north where Islam first appeared between the eleventh

and fourteenth century’s. It is mostly the Hausa and Fulani groups that identify with Islam.

Christianity came with European missionaries around 1840, this development of Christianity

was aided by Christian freed slaves who returned home from Sierra Leone and started

preaching Christianity. About 10 percent still practice indigenous religions, mostly centred on

ancestor worship and reverence for both natural and supernatural phenomena.

The population of Nigeria is exceptionally young; the median age is 1918, and as of 2005 it

was estimated that 64.7 million people in Nigeria were under the age of twenty four.19 The

average life expectancy is only 46.94 years, with poverty, malnutrition and the lack of basic

health services to keep life expectancies low. Despite the low life expectancy rate, the

average population growth lies at around 2.5 percent, which means that the ratio of young to

middle aged and older person will increase year by year. On the Human Development index20

Nigeria is ranked 154th out of 179 countries with available data. The UNDP have also

developed an index that deals exclusively with poverty, the HPI-121. On this index Nigeria is

ranked 111th out of 135 developing countries. According to the World Bank about 54 percent

of the population in Nigeria lives on less than 1 dollar per day.22

Nigeria is a former British colony, starting with the annexation of Lagos as crown colony in

1861. The culmination was when the borders that constitute Nigeria today were created in

1914 when the British colonial government amalgamated the northern and the southern

Nigerian protectorates into one colonial state. Before the British colonized Nigeria there had

been more or less centralised states that had risen and fallen over the centuries, the most 18 Nigeria: www.cia.gov19 Falola et.al, (2008) p. 520 Human Development Index: The HDI provides a composite measure of three dimensions of human development: living a long and healthy life (measured by life expectancy), being educated (measured by adult literacy and enrolment at the primary, secondary and tertiary level) and having a decent standard of living (measured by purchasing power parity, PPP, income). Available at: www.hdrstats.undp.org21 Human Poverty Index: The HPI-1 focuses on the proportion of people below a threshold level in the same dimensions of human development as the human development index - living a long and healthy life, having access to education, and a decent standard of living. By looking beyond income deprivation, the HPI-1 represents a multi-dimensional alternative to the $1.25 a day (PPP US$) poverty measure. Available at: www.hdrstats.undp.org 22Nigeria Country brief: www.worldbank.org

10

prominent of those were; Kanem-Borno, Benin Kingdom, Oyo and the Sokoto Caliphate.

Some of these different states were strong regional powers and others were smaller,

decentralized states ruled by political structures of local chiefs, local councils and other types

of elite. In 1960 Nigeria gained independence and the nationalist leadership promised to

retain Nigeria colonial borders and to govern the country as a federal republic. The country

was divided into three regions with the Federal Capital Territory at Lagos. In 1991 the federal

Capital was moved to Abuja. The political bureaucracy is divided into three tiers, federal,

state and local, each with certain responsibilities guaranteed by the Nigerian constitution.

Sine 1996 Nigeria have been divided into 36 states and the Federal Capital territory. The

number of states has always been a disputed subject, with demands from different ethnic

groups for the creation of more and more states. In 2007 Nigeria held its third consecutive

national elections, further strengthening the transition from military to democratic rule that

began in 1999 with the election of President Olusegun Obasanjo. The winner of the 2007

elections, President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua who is the third democratically elected President

of the Federal Republic of Nigeria marked the first handover of power from one civilian

government to another in the history of post-independence Nigeria. The President has

committed his government to reforms and his “7-Point Agenda” identifies the development of

human capital; macroeconomic management; physical infrastructure, agriculture; combating

corruption; security, law and order; and focus on the Niger Delta. The political system in

Nigeria is infamous for instability, since independence the military have ruled for a total of

28 years. Military coups is very common, there have been two military coups bringing

civilian regimes to an end and three times have one military regime substituted another, in

addition to that there have been a great number of failed coup attempts.

Historically Nigeria has been subject to much political, ethnic and religious tension and

violence, resulting in many both spontaneous and organized attacks and one civil war from

1967 to 1970, also known as the Biafran War.23 The most recent clashes occurred in the city

of Jos in November 2008 where, in just one weekend, hundreds of people were killed after a

local election.24

23 Falola et.al, (2008) p. 6-924 “Niger denies role in Jos Clashes”: www.bbc.co.uk

11

Corruption is another big challenge for Nigeria, although they have moved up Transparency

Internationals corruption perceptions index, Nigeria is still ranked as number 121 out of 180

countries.25 The former president Olusegun Obasanjo expressed his concern regarding

corruption in his inaugural speech in 1999;

“Corruption, the greatest single bane of our society today (…) no society can achieve

anything near its full potential if it allows corruption to become the full-blown cancer it has

become in Nigeria. One of the greatest tragedies of military rule in recent times is that

corruption was allowed to grow unchallenged, and unchecked, even when it was glaring for

everybody to see. The rules and regulations for doing official business were deliberately

ignored, set aside or by-passed to facilitate corrupt practices.”26

Nigeria can be described as a neo-patrimonial27 society where public officials steal

government funds for personal use and to distribute money and government contracts to

cronies and allies. Politicians argue that they take care of their “own” while at the same time

they grow extremely wealthy themselves. In a society like Nigeria only those who are in

power have access to government funds and therefore it is in their self interest to stay in

power, sometimes at all costs. As a consequence elections have often been riddled with

violence and manipulation, as politicians tend to use vote rigging to make sure that they stay

in power.

4. Theory

4.1 Human security

Principles and definitions of security are a much debated institution in international politics.

The importance of the concept is particular evident in the ceremonials of reconstruction after

large international wars. The post-war settlements at Vienna in 1815, at Versailles in 1919

25 2008 corruptions perception index: www.transparency.org 26 Inaugural speech by His Excellency, President Olusegun Obasanjo: www.nigeriaworld.com 27 Erdmann et.al, (2006)

12

and at San Francisco in 1945 have all been followed by new discourses on international

security. The most recent large international conflict, the Cold War, was also followed by

significant changes in the political configuration of Europe. The changes after the Cold War

also sparked a renewed political interest in principles of security.28 Traditionally theories of

security emphasize the predominant role of the state; it is the state that is the centre of

security and the state is the entity which has to be secure. The close connection between

security and the state seemed natural in the nineteenth and twentieth century where realism

occupied a dominant position in international relations. In the recent years the close

relationship between human security and the state has been contested, and the state as the

primary object of security has been challenged by others, among them the individual human

being.29

During the Cold War different actors in the field of security started emphasising the security

of the individual, but it was not until the nineties that a coherent concept of human security

was developed. The discussion of human security expanded significantly and involved

diverse actors such as international organizations, specialized agencies, NGOs and

independent commissions.30

4.1.1 Security – from state to the individual

“Since the 17th Century, international security has been defined almost entirely in terms of

national survival needs. Security has meant the protection of the state— its boundaries,

people, institutions, and values— from external attack”31

One of the main changes in the new principles was that the focus of whom or what that was

to be secured changed from the state to the individual, how this change came about is the

28 Rothschild, (1995) p. 53 29 MacFarlane, (2006) p. 135-140 30 MacFarlane, (2006) p. 140-14131 MacFarlane, (2006) p. 36

13

focus for the following section. The concept of state security is usually identified with the

development of the international system from its medieval to its Westphalian variant. But the

concept can be traced as far back as the Greeks; one example is Thucydides who wrote about

how the consolidation of the city state was a precondition of civilized life in early Greek

history. His observation shows that all men at that time had to carry weapons to protect the

city state from endemic violence whereas later, the Athenians didn’t need to carry weapons

because the power of the polis protected them by arming an army. The importance of the

state can also be seen in the fact that it is a general notion in the work of classic Greek writers

that security claims of the individuals can’t exceed those of the state if they diverge.32

Another theorist which is important regarding the relationship between the state and the

citizens is Thomas Hobbes; in Leviathan he describes a human dilemma of trading liberty for

security. Hobbes argues that men traded their individual liberty and natural rights upward to

the state in return for security in order for them to live a peaceful life in a time characterized

by war and with “continual fear, and danger of violent death; and the life of man, solitary,

poor, nasty, brutish, and short”33. Thus, in a security context, it is the state that is important

and it is the responsibility of the state to provide security for its citizens.34

In the previous it was established how the state was predominant in earlier understandings of

security – especially the idea that providing protection for citizens is fundamentally the

responsibility of the state. As mentioned earlier there was during the Cold War a growing

critique of the dominating role of the state and recognition of the importance of individual

security. Also the responsibility of the states and the international organizations to address

that security was a recurring theme.35 In the next section this critique will be presented.

4.1.2 Criticism of state security

Through history some theorists have argued that state’s failure to provide security for its

citizens, residents and subjects weakened its claim for absolute sovereignty and thus it

32 MacFarlane, (2006) p. 3533 MacFarlane, (2006) p. 38 (from Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, p.111)34 MacFarlane, (2006) p. 3835 MacFarlane, (2006) p. 60

14

indirectly permitted intervention by outsiders as a respond to the state’s incapacity. But it

wasn’t before after the Second World War that theses arguments made an impact on the

general security discourse.

The critique of state security in this period is closely connected with the emergence of human

rights: awareness about the state’s ability to fulfil its role of providing physical and existential

security which was followed by attempts to “reclaim” the rights that had been metaphorically

“transferred” to the state.36 The same idea is presented by Astri Suhrke37 in her text “Human

security and the Interest of States”;

However defined in detail, the idea of “human security” springs from the same values that

during the second half of the twentieth century led to the greater articulation of norms for

securing human rights, civilizing the conduct of war, and protecting the vulnerable.38

During the Cold War there was still a broad acceptance of state security, but this was to

change. In the time after the end of the Cold War there was great number of state collapses

and internal wars which meant that the notion of the state as the protector and guarantor of

security was severely undermined. The learning from this was that state security cannot be

relevant when there is no functioning state to begin with, consequently there can be no other

referent to security other than the individual. This created an environment for a change in the

security discourse in favour of individual human beings.39

Many fragile states, especially in Africa, had only been held together with the help from one

of the two superpowers. Much of the support was withdrawn after the end of the Cold War in

the early nineties resulting in state collapses all around the world. The fragile states simply

imploded or found themselves incapable of providing security and basic economic and social

necessities. The great number of states that collapsed in this period made millions of people

very vulnerable and it confirmed the arguments that the referent of security should be

changed from the state to the individual and the understanding of security should be

36 MacFarlane, (2006) p. 108-10937 Astri Suhrke is a political scientist currently working on the Chr. Michelsen Institute38 Suhrke, (1999) p. 26839 MacFarlane, (2006) p. 130-135

15

broadened to include societal upheaval brought by internal war, economic privation, famine,

ecological devastation and refugees.40

Another thing that supported the arguments that the focus of security should be changed was

a number of deadly internal conflicts and wars; one of the first was in Somalia where war

lords and clans fought over the control of the country. The UN authorized a peacekeeping

force to be deployed; this force was attacked by clan leader Mohammed Aideed, killing 24

Pakistani UN soldiers. The UN called in the U.S Rangers to hunt for those responsible for the

attack. These U.S soldiers were later caught in a gunfight in Mogadishu where 18 Americans

got killed and President Clinton then ordered U.S troops to withdraw from Somalia. This

would later be called the Mogadishu effect; the unwillingness of USA and other states to take

casualties or participate in UN peacekeeping operations. This effect was especially evident in

another internal war in a failed state, the civil war in Rwanda. The UN Security council

refused to reinforce its forces in Rwanda, despite reports of a planned genocide. When the

killings started USA and Britain refused to use the word genocide to describe what was going

on, and explained it as an internal war in which the international community had no business.

This example of the Mogadishu effect resulted in a genocide of about 800.000 Tutsis and

moderate Hutus. Another example where the international community failed to prevent

atrocities is the case of Srebrenica, a small Muslim enclave inside a mainly Serbian area. This

enclave was a designated “safe haven” by Dutch UN troops but that did not prevent Serbian

forces from attacking the city killing 7.000 and relocating 23.000 people, all without any

resistance from UN troops. Other internal wars in the early nineties include Croatia, Bosnia-

Herzegovina, Chechnya and Kosovo, to mention the most prominent ones. Since the Second

World War, there have been 25 inter-state wars, and about 122 civil wars. The number of

deaths in inter-state wars is around 3.3 million while 16.2 have died in civil wars. The

number of inter-state wars has continued to fall after the Cold War.41 The rise in the number

internal wars and the fact that international community failed to help the civilians caught in

the conflicts, also helped change the focus from the state to the individual human being which

made it easier to intervene in internal conflicts and help the civilians.

40 MacFarlane, (2006) p. 125-13041 MacFarlane, (2006) p. 107-138

16

Suhrke also argue in support of the fact that the end of the Cold War played a significant role

in the transition from state security to human security. As a consequence of the many internal

ways there was some structural change in UN that enabled them to intervene easier and

address the humanitarian consequences of violent conflicts. Among other things the

“Department of Humanitarian Affairs” was established and Kofi Annan identified

humanitarian affairs as one of four principal work areas of the UN. These structural changes

set the stage for broader efforts to strengthen and expand existing international regimes for

promoting human rights, protecting refugees and providing humanitarian assistance. Suhrke

further argues that the new institutions and organizations greatly aided by the media formed

an authoritative set of actors dedicated to promoting the principles and practices of

humanitarianism.42 Theses changes can explain the emergence of human security as a very

powerful idea and discourse;

“A combined interest and institutional perspective can help to explain the power of

particular ideas at a particular historical conjuncture. As the 20th century draws to close,

humanitarian ideas have become a principal normative for states and organizations to clarify

their international obligations or against which to hold others responsible”43

4.1.3 The “new” human security

The change from national security to human security can be seen as security in an “extended”

sense.44 This extension takes four forms;

1. Downwards from the nations to individuals

2. Upwards from the nation to the biosphere, from security of the nations to the security

of the international system, or of a supranational physical environment.

3. Horizontally, from military security to political security, economic security, social

security, environmental security etc.

4. The responsibility for providing security to the individual is extended in all direction

from the state; upwards to international organizations, downwards to regional or local 42 Suhrke, (1999) p. 26843 Suhrke, (1999) p. 268 - 26944 Rothschild, (1995) p. 53

17

government and sideways to NGOs, to public opinion and the press, and to the

abstract forces of nature and the market.45

“Extensions” number one and two describe what entities are to be secured. Number three

describes what sort of security that is in question, different entities such as the state, the

international system and individual human beings are not secure or insecure in the same

way.46

In conclusion it is important to mention that state security and human security is not mutually

exclusive, in many ways the two complements each other, according to the UN Commission

on Human Security, Human security complements state security in four respects;

1. Its concern is the individual and the community rather than the state.

2. Menaces to people’s security include threats and conditions that have not always been

classified as threats to state security.

3. The range of actors is expanded beyond the state alone.

4. Achieving human security includes not just protecting people but also empowering

people to fend for themselves.

The Commission emphasized that there will always be need and room for security

emphasizing the importance of the state, it was just important that the predominant position

of the state was changed. Human security and state security can’t stand alone, they are

mutually reinforcing and they are dependent on each other. Human security requires strong

and stable institutions and ultimately state security is also dependent on stability internally in

the state.47

4.1.4 Human security and human development

One starting point for exploring human security is the relationship between human security

and human development. Human security and human development are closely intertwined, in

45 Rothschild, (1995) p. 5646 Rothschild, (1995) p. 5647 Commission on Human Security, (2003) p. 5-6

18

the UNDP Human Development Report (HDR) from 1994 it is stated that; “Without peace,

there may be no development. But without development, peace may be threatened.”48 The

interconnectedness is also supported by the fact that in most literature on security the 1994

UNDP human development report serves as the introduction of the concept human security

into mainstream circles of international organizations and the general security discourse.49

The two concepts became so intertwined that development issues merged into security issues;

“for many, the economic well-being of individual human beings came to be seen as a core

element of individual security” the same shift could be seen in the HIV/AIDS debate where

health issues more and more often was perceived as fundamental aspects of security. 50

The 1994 HDR supported the observation that the number of internal wars exceeded intra

state wars in the contemporary international system. Based on that they concluded that the

root causes for these wars was to be found in socioeconomic conditions. UNDP further

emphasized that the path to peace was sustainable development or in another way;

“sustainable human development and human security were mutually constitutive: the two

together were basis for peace”51

4.1.5 UNDP Human Development Report

UNDP started publishing the HDR in 1990. It was already in the 1993 edition UNDP

introduced an explicit wish for a change in the security discourse; “The concept of security

must change— from an exclusive focus on national security to a much greater stress on

people’s security, from security through armaments to security through human development,

from territorial security to food, employment, and environmental security.”52 This statement

was followed by a set of suggestions that tied human development to security. The movement

48 UNDP, (1994) p. 2349 Suhrke, (1999) p. 27050 MacFarlane, (2006) p. 107-13851 MacFarlane, (2006) p. 14652 UNDP, (1993) p. 2

19

towards human security was completed in the 1994 HDR with the subtitle; “New Dimensions

of Human Security”53

The 94 HDR report argued that; “The concept of security has for too long been interpreted

narrowly: as security of territory from external aggression, or as protection of national

interests in foreign policy or as global security from the threat of a nuclear holocaust. It has

been related more to nation-states than to people.” 54 The report went further and argued that

the concerns of ordinary people who sought security in their daily lives had been forgotten,

especially in the developing world where states were too sensitive to any real or perceived

threats to their fragile national identities. For the ordinary people security was protection

from the threat of disease, unemployment, crime, social conflict, political repression and

environmental hazards. In the report UNDP presented the first substantial definition of

human security;

“Human security is a child who did not die, a disease that did not spread, a job that was not

cut, an ethnic tension that did not explode in violence, a dissident who was not silenced.

Human security is not a concern with weapons - it is a concern with human life and

dignity.”55

According to the 94 HDR an analysis of the basic concept of human security must include the

following four essential characteristics;

1. Human security is a universal concern. It is relevant to people everywhere, in rich

nations and poor. There are many threats that are common to all people-such as

unemployment, drugs, crime, pollution and human rights violations. Their intensity

may differ from one part of the world to another, but all these threats to human

security are real and growing.

2. The components of human security are interdependent. When the security of people is

endangered anywhere in the world, all nations are likely to get involved. Famine,

disease, pollution, drug trafficking, terrorism, ethnic disputes and social disintegration

53 UNDP, (1994)54 UNDP, (1994) p. 2255 UNDP, (1994) p. 22

20

are no longer isolated events, confined within national borders. Their consequences

travel the globe.

3. Human security is easier to ensure through early prevention than later intervention. It

is less costly to meet these threats upstream than downstream. For example, the direct

and indirect cost of HIV/AIDS was roughly $240 billion during the 1980s. Even a few

billion dollars invested in primary health care and family planning education could

have helped contain the spread of this deadly disease.

4. Human security is people-centred. It is concerned with how people live and breathe in

a society, how freely they exercise their many choices, how much access they have to

market and social opportunities and whether they live in conflict or in peace.56

According to UNDP human security essentially centers around two things. First, it means

safety from such chronic threats as hunger, disease and repression. Second, it means safety

from sudden and hurtful disruptions in the patterns of daily life – whether in homes, in jobs or

in communities. Human insecurity can result from forces of nature, it can be man-made or a

combination of both.57

4.1.6 Threats to human security

UNDP classify seven main threats to human security; Economic security, food security,

health security, environmental security, personal security, community security and political

security. 58 The following will go into more detail with each of the seven points and the issues

will later act as inspiration to the indicators in the analysis.

Economic security requires a stable basic income from productive and remunerative work.

Another possibility could be income from publicly financed safety net.

56 UNDP, (1994) p. 22-2357 UNDP, (1994) p. 2358 UNDP, (1994) p. 24-25

21

Food security means that all people at all times have sufficient economic and physical access

to basic food. This means that people have an “entitlement” to food, an entitlement to either

buy it, grow it or taking advantage of a public food distribution system.

Health insecurity is a major threat to people all over the world especially in developing

countries; millions die every year of infectious and parasitic diseases, health security is about

providing tools to fight these diseases and ultimately decrease the number of deaths.

Environmental security - human beings rely much on a healthy physical environment -

sometimes environmental disasters can threaten this environment. These disasters are often a

result of a degradation of local ecosystems and that of the global system. Environmental

security is about minimizing the strains put on the earth and thus minimizing the risk of

natural disasters with severe humanitarian consequences.

Personal security understood as security from physical violence is possibly the most vital of

all seven points. Threats to personal security can take many forms; Threats from the state

(Physical torture), threats from other states (war), threats from other groups of people (ethnic

tension), threats from individuals or gangs against other individuals or gangs (crime, street

violence), Threats directed against women (rape, domestic violence), threats directed at

children based on their vulnerability and dependence (child abuse) and threats to self (suicide,

drug use)

Community security, people gain security from their membership of a social group that be a

family, a community, an organization, a racial or ethnic group. Being a part of any of these

groups provides the individual with an identity and a reassuring set of values. Some of these

groups can also provide physical and material support such as protection of its weaker

members. Threats to community security could be things such as discriminating specific

ethnic groups and thereby limiting their access to resources and opportunities such as social

services from the state or jobs.

Political security is about people’s basic human rights and the right to live in a society

without state repression. According to the UNDP the priority a government gives to its

military a good indicator for political freedom – since state sometimes use armies to repress

22

their own people. The ratio between the two can be seen in how much a government is

spending on the military in proportion to the social spending, this will give a good picture of

the state of political security.59

Even though the human security concept has developed since UNDP’s 1994 HDR, it laid

down the baseline for a major change in the understanding of security and all later

developments are in one way or the other rooted in the understanding presented in this

report.60

4.1.7 Developing the human security concept

In 1999 the UN Trust Fund for Human Security was established by the Japanese government

and the UN. The trust fund’s goal was to provide funding to projects that seek to enhance

human security around the world. Since there was no conceptual framework and guidelines

available for the trust fund to follow in the beginning, they adopted a more operational

approach and most of the funding was directed towards development projects.61

The trust fund later adopted the definition of human security presented by the Commission on

Human Security in their report “Human Security Now” In 2001, where human security seeks;

“…to protect the vital core of all human lives in ways that enhance human freedoms and

human fulfilment. Human security means protecting fundamental freedoms – freedoms that

are the essence of life. It means protecting people from critical (severe) and pervasive

(widespread) threats and situations. It means using processes that build on people’s strengths

and aspirations. It means creating political, social, environmental, economic, military and

cultural systems that together give people the building blocks of survival, livelihood and

dignity.”62

59 UNDP, (1994) p. 24-3360 MacFarlane, (2006) p. 15061 Human Security Unit, (2006), p. 162 Human Security Unit, (2009) p. 6

23

Their understanding of human security had some contributions to the one presented by

UNDP in 1994, one was to supplement freedom from want and fear with freedom to take

action on ones own behalf. The concrete human security framework proposed by the

commission included two dimensions; protection which refer to national and international

norms, processes and institutions that shield people from critical and pervasive threats and

empowerment that emphasizes people as actors in defining and implementing their vital

freedoms and the goal is to enable people to enhance their resilience to difficult conditions.63

The final report from the commission presented a number of special issues in human security,

they included;

- Hunger: at the time of the report, 800 million people in the developing world and at

least 24 million in developed and transition economies didn’t have enough food.

There is widespread hunger, malnutrition and food insecurity despite the fact that

there is adequate food resources in the world, the problem is the before mentioned

entitlement and access to food. Improved nutrition would enhance people’s capacity

to participate in all spheres of political, economic and social life and move out of

chronic poverty. Unequal distribution of food, environmental degradation, natural

disasters and conflicts all affect people’s access to food. Food security is important in

human security, a country’s ability to procure and distribute adequate food resources

to avoid hunger and malnutrition is vital as food insecurity undermine a person’s

dignity and well-being.64

- Water: in 2003 half the world population lacked access to sufficient sanitation and

one in every fifth person didn’t have access to safe water. In “Human Security Now”

it was estimated that 1.7 million die every year form diseases connected to unsafe

water and sanitation. Failure to meet the needs for fresh water imposes great risks on

societies, especially in developing countries. There are immense human costs as well

as economic, social and political risks if people doesn’t have access to adequate safe

water, food security, power blackouts and water scarcity are among the most sensitive

public service issues for which societies hold governments accountable. The

63 Human Security Unit, (2006), p. 264 Commission on Human Security, (2003) p. 14

24

commission argued that in a few decades the world population would require 20

percent more fresh water than today. Any analysis of human security must therefore

address this essential matter.65

- Population: the UN population division have estimated that the world population

would increase to 8.9 billion in 2050, half that increase will be concentrated in eight

countries, among them Nigeria. It is also assessed that sometime in the 21st century,

because of decreasing fertility rates, the number of people 60 years old or more will

triple in three out of four developing countries. The total number of older people in

developing countries is expected to rise from 8 percent in 2000 to 20 percent in 2050.

This development put serious strains on human security as it will reduce people’s

ability to move out of poverty and cope with crisis. It is important to take these long

term changes in population into account when dealing with human security.66

- Environment: in many developing countries a large part of the population is

dependent on their access to natural resources such as forests for fuel, the land for

farming and the water for fishing. When these resources are threatened because of

environmental change, degradation or disasters people’s security is also threatened.

The Sudanese participant in a Commission on Human Security expressed like this;

“One of the root causes of human insecurity is ecological or resource degradation

(…) without ecological stability we cannot have food security”67

A number of countries have later adopted the human security concept into their official

foreign policy, Canada, Japan and Norway were the first states to do this, and later many

other nations have followed. There is some divergence in how the countries that have adopted

the concept and how they understand it. Canada defines human security as “safety for people

from both violent and non-violent threats”68. According to the Canadian Department of

Foreign Affairs and International Trade human security is freedom from fear and human

development is freedom from want. These two concepts are mutually supportive but distinct

concepts. Human security also plays a central role in Japans foreign policy. Their definition is

65 Commission on Human Security, (2003) p. 15-1666 Commission on Human Security, (2003) p. 1667 Commission on Human Security, (2003) p. 1668 King et.al, (2001) p. 590

25

broader that the one adopted by Canada; “Human security comprehensively covers all the

menaces that threaten human survival, daily life and dignity – for example environmental

degradation, violations of human rights, transnational organized crime, illicit drugs,

refugees, poverty, anti-personnel landmines and other infectious diseases such as AIDS – and

strengthens efforts to confront these threats”69

A large group of nations including Norway, Jordan, Austria, Ireland, Chile, the Netherlands,

Slovenia, Switzerland, Thailand and Norway have also adopted a narrow and more thematic

definition and focuses on things such as; antipersonnel landmines, small arms, children in

armed conflict and international humanitarian and human rights law etc.70

In 2009 the Human Security Unit presented in their report “Human Security in Theory and

Practice” a number of threats to human security, the list is based on the seven categories in

the HDR from 94.

Possible types of human security threats;71

Type of Security Examples of Main Threats

Economic security Persistent poverty, unemployment

Food security Hunger, famine

Health security Deadly infectious diseases, unsafe food,

malnutrition, lack of access to basic health

care

Environmental security Environmental degradation, resource

depletion, natural disasters, pollution

Personal security Physical violence, crime, terrorism, domestic

violence, child labor

Community security Inter-ethnic, religious and other identity

69 King et.al, (2001) p. 59070 King et.al, (2001) p. 59071 Human Security Unit, (2009) p. 7

26

based tensions

Political security Political repression, human rights abuses

4.2 Criticism of human security

One of the things which is much debated in human security is how broad or narrow the

concept should be defined, which has resulted in a lack of a precise definition, and according

to Roland Paris72 human security is very similar to another much used concept, sustainable

development; “everyone is for it but few has a clear idea of what it means”73 King and

Murray base their article “Rethinking Human Security” on a number of off-the–record

interviews with politicians and officials responsible for the foreign policy in countries that

describe their policy as based on human security. Almost all the interviewed expressed a

concern about the lack of a widely accepted or coherent definition, and pointed out that there

were conceptual problems in relating human security, human development, and the

development focus on poverty together in the articulation of foreign policy.74 This shows that

politicians and officials have difficulties placing human security in relation to existing

concepts in the field, therefore is a conceptual clarification and definition urgently needed.

Murray and King argue that without a consensus on a theoretical definition, the goal of

enhancing human security is practically impossible.75 Roland Paris argue that existing

definitions are too broad and vague, including everything from physical security to

psychological well being, this gives policymakers’ too little guidance in the prioritization of

competing policy goals and academics little understanding of what is to be studied.

According to Paris the definition by UNDP from 1994 is still today the most cited and

authoritative formulation of the concept, but the definition is so broad that it is difficult to

imagine what can be excluded from it. One example is the seven main threats to human

security mentioned above; it is so broad formulated that almost every possible thing can be

72 Roland Paris is Assistant professor of Political Science and International Affairs at the University of Colorado, boulder.73 Paris, (2001) p. 8874 King et.al, (2001) p. 59275 King et.al, (2001) p. 592

27

included under these points. Actually UNDP was and is not very interested in defining

specific borders in their definition of human security, instead they emphasize that their

definition is “all-encompassing” and “integrative” and argue that this is one of the qualities of

human security.76 Murray and King also criticize UNDP’s lack of a clear operational

definition; “the seven dimensions of human security imply a number of potential interrelated

and overlapping dimensions centered on human dignity, but do not provide a coherent

framework for integrating them into a single concept”77 they argue further that this is a very

common approach, defining human security by presenting a list of past humanitarian crisis

and threats, This is a very useful descriptive first step, but doesn’t provide a clear definition

of the concept.78

4.3 Rethinking human security

Murray and King have provided a substantial input to the human security debate in their

article “Rethinking Human Security” published in 2001. In the article Murray and King notes

that many attempts to guarantee security of states via military power have failed to ensure

security for the population inside these states. Therefore the international community have

combined human development, military security and other basic human rights into a new

concept of human security. They argue that the concept of human security lack a clear

definition and an agreement on how to measure it. A reason for this is the diversity in the

definitions used by different organizations and states, as illustrated above with the examples

of UNDP, CHS, Canada and Japan.79 Therefore Murray and King propose a simple, rigorous,

and measurable definition of human security;

“The number of years of future life spent outside a state of “generalized poverty”80

76 Paris, (2001) p. 9077 King et.al, (2001) p. 59078 King et.al, (2001) p. 59179 King et.al, (2001) p. 59080 King et.al, (2001) p. 585

28

Generalized poverty occurs when an individual falls below the threshold of any key domain

of human well being”81 human well being and threshold is key concepts here and will be

elaborated on below.

According to their understanding, the word “security” contains two elements; an orientation

to future risks and a focus on risks of falling below some critical threshold of deprivation. In

other words; “my security today is not only a function of my well being today, but also the

prospects of avoiding states of great deprivation in the future”82

In order to define and narrow down the concept of human security it is necessary to define

the concept of well being, Murray and King include in human security only those domains of

human well being that are essential or extremely important;

“Those domains of well being that have been important enough for human beings to fight

over or to put their lives or property at great risk”83

Each of the selected domains of well being does not have to be independent or logically

distinct, as long as they are measurable. What is important is to identify a number of

measurable and possibly overlapping domains of well being, that taken together constitute

what the majority of people would understand by well being. In parenthesis it should be

mentioned that independent and intrinsic domains would be preferable but it has no

consequences for this particular proposed definition.84

Another important concept that is important to clarify in this context is “generalized poverty”

Historically poverty has been defined in terms of income – In their definition Murray and

King take inspiration from literature that define poverty more broad and include the

deprivation of any basic capabilities. This would mean that for example, if a person was

about to enter prison, food and shelter would be guaranteed, but the loos of freedom would

still make that person impoverished. Murray and King thus argue that a person is in a state of

generalized poverty whenever he or she slips below a pre-defined threshold in any of the

81 King et.al, (2001) p. 58582 King et.al, (2001) p. 59283 King et.al, (2001) p. 59384 King et.al, (2001) p. 592-593

29

component areas of well being. The definition doesn’t require the different domains of well

being to be weighed in relation to each other since a person who is missing even one of these

essential elements for any part of the year can be said to be impoverished.85

4.3.1 Measuring human security

Murray and King suggest that to measure human security in practice one would have to

identify a number of domains of well being. For each domain a practical indicator must be

constructed and the threshold value below which an individual will be defined to be in a state

of generalized poverty.86 To choose domains they take inspiration from UNDP’s Human

Development Index which included; income per capita, health and education. Levels of

economic well being and health are obviously important enough to provoke violence.

Education has not traditionally been regarded as being an essential part of having a minimum

standard of human well being, so education could in fact be omitted from the list. But as

Murray and King argue people often fight over which cultural vales that are reflected in the

education, and therefore it is included as a domain. It is necessary to include other

contributors to generalized poverty related to other basic freedoms. UNDP wanted to

emphasize the importance of political freedom and democracy, but because it was not

possible to construct generally accepted measures or weights for the two concepts they were

not included in the Human Development Index. These two important concepts can be

included in the new definition because according to this it only required a threshold value,

which is easier to establish. Based on the above the following set of domains for measuring

human security is selected;

1. Income.

2. Health.

3. Education.

4. Political freedom.

5. Democracy.

85 King et.al, (2001) p. 590-59586 King et.al, (2001) p. 597-598

30

Several other domains come in indirectly through these and any part of well being that

directly affects people’s life expectancy such as the environment is to a degree also included

in the measure without having to construct a separate domain or threshold.87

For each domain one or more indicators must be selected that reflect the current state of

information. A threshold value must also be selected, if a person is below this value he is in a

state of generalized poverty.88 These thresholds should not be context or region specific. The

normative argument for this is that human security is a global issue and a global challenge

and all people, regardless of location, belong to the same global community. Another

argument is that the resulting concept would be comparable across individuals and

populations. When it comes to selection of domains the international community can choose

as many as they estimate is necessary.89

They further state that research and action in the fields of risk assessment, prevention,

protection and compensation logically follows this definition. They urge academics and

political communities to develop forecasting methods so the level of human security can be

measured in different communities.

4.3.2 Enhancing human security

Murray and King divide the process of enhancing human security into four parts;

1. Risk assessment – involves improving and communicating knowledge of the risks

that particular populations will enter into or remain in a state of generalized poverty.

2. Prevention – include efforts to reduce these risks.

3. Protection – include those actions that decrease the harm from the events if they

occur.

4. Compensation – includes efforts to provide financial or in-kind payments to those in

generalized poverty.90

87 King et.al, (2001) p. 597-59888 King et.al, (2001) p. 597-59889 King et.al, (2001) p. 59590 King et.al, (2001) p. 604

31

Many scholars in the human security field emphasize the importance of risk assessment. It is

critical for measuring human security but it is also useful for many other aspects. Risk

assessment is according to Murray and King; “an important research endeavour in its own

right”91 Risk assessments will result in improved knowledge about risks that can be used by

politicians and public officials to design more effective public policy. Also, risk assessments

are critical for the design of early warning systems which can improve the chance for

effective response to human security risks and secure better prevention efforts.

By emphasizing the importance of risk assessment Murray and King has the advantage of

being forward looking and thereby encompassing future risks that doesn’t influence human

well being today. One example is biodiversity which may not affect peoples well being today,

but is seen by many scholars as one of the main global risks in the future.92 In line with this

Murray and King argue that; “even though biodiversity has no effect on current well being, it

is essential in maintaining future well being and hence plays a central role in improving

human security”93

Murray and King further argue that risk assessment and prevention is the most rewarding

direction for international efforts to improve human security. Enhancing the capacity in data

bases and methods to undertake better risk assessments is a critical component of human

security focused foreign policy. In other parts of political sciences is risk assessment methods

highly developed, this may mean that it is also possible to improve significantly the methods

of risk assessment of key causes of human insecurity.94 To conclude they present their vision

for their own definition of human security;

“More detailed implications for policy would, we believe, follow from a structured

application of this framework to the challenges of human security. At this point, building the

evidence base for human security must be a priority if the focus of international action is to

move from reacting to the latest humanitarian crisis to effectively enhance human security

through risk assessment, prevention, protection, and compensation.”95

91 King et.al, (2001) p. 60592 King et.al, (2001) p. 604-60593 King et.al, (2001) p. 60594 King et.al, (2001) p. 607-60895 King et.al, (2001) p. 608

32

5. Analysis

The analysis in this project serves two valuable goals. The first objective of this project is to

provide a frame through which development issues in Nigeria can be grasped. The previous

chapter presented human security, which will act as the frame for the analysis. In the analysis

Nigerian developmental issues will be placed into that frame and the current state of

information on the issues will be presented.

The four steps of enhancing human security which were introduced in the previous chapter

leads to objective number two; the project can act as some kind of a warning system for

future human crisis. Because the project present a lot of information on human security in

Nigeria in the analysis, it can also be seen and used as a risk assessment, which, as Murray

and King say; “involves improving and communicating knowledge of the risks that particular

populations will enter into or remain in a state of generalized poverty.”96

96 King et.al, (2001) p. 60433

The next section will explain the methodology used for the analysis, and the background for

choosing the indicators will be presented.

5.1 Methodology

In the analysis the definition of human security presented by Murray and King, act as the

main theoretical source for the analysis. The project operates with the original five domains

of human well being, but for reasons explained below one more is added, that is environment;

1. Income.

2. Health.

3. Education.

4. Political freedom.

5. Democracy.

6. Environment.

5.1.1 Environment as a domain of human well being

Global challenges to the environment such as climate change, decline in biodiversity etc.

have in the latest years occupied a top spot on the political agenda, therefore it is a natural

choice to consider if it should be a part of an analysis of human security in one way or the

other. Murray and King argue that the environment directly affects people’s life expectancy

and therefore implicitly is included in the measure of human security without having to

construct a separate domain.97 The environment does affect the lives of people here and now,

but it can also be argued that there is just as severe indirect and longer term consequences and

therefore it goes beyond the arguments presented by Murray and King and thus it requires

that environment should play a larger role in the analysis.

Politicians and international organizations have also recognized that the environment is an all

important challenge to the world, illustrated by a quote from the UN Secretary General; “As

97 King et.al, (2001) p. 60534

we look back on a year of multiple crises, it is striking to note how strongly environmental

themes feature. (…)We are devouring our natural capital at ever increasing rates. Future

prosperity and stability means rethinking how we exploit the planet’s natural assets.98

The importance of a sustainable environment is also recognized in a Nigerian context; one

example is that in the master plan for the Niger Delta, the environment is identified as one of

the main areas to improve, moreover have President Yar’Adua stated that one of the

government’s goals in the Niger Delta is to address the challenges of environmental

protection.99

In Nigeria it is especially the oil sector and the non-compliance of the oil industry that has

resulted in environmental degradation and general environmental hazards which continuously

affect the lives of the Nigerian people. The Nigerian environment minister has warned the oil

companies that they must actively work for a better environment;

"If these companies (oil and manufacturing) continue to pollute our environment in the

cause of their operations in fragrant disregard to our environmental safety rules and

regulations, government will have no option other than to withdraw their license. A situation

where oil companies and manufacturing industries fragrantly fail to comply to government

laid down environmental safety rules and regulations can no longer be tolerated."100

In the latest years the Nigerian government has, according to the environment minister,

strengthened the “National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency”

as part of the governments renewed commitment to creating a better, safer and cleaner

environment.101 It is clear that Nigeria, and especially the Niger Delta faces great

environmental challenges and it is essential that the Nigerian government continue their

efforts to stop the environmental destruction. It is equally important that scholars all over the

world devote research to develop strategies to improve the environment in developing

countries. For these reasons described above this project argue that the environmental

challenges Nigeria face is an essential part of an analysis of human security and therefore it is

natural to add environment to the five domains presented in theory.

98 UNEP, (2008) P. 3 99 Nigeria: Seizing the Moment in the Niger Delta: www.crisisgroup.org100 “Nigeria tackles swine flu and environmental issues”: www.en.afrik.com101 “Nigeria tackles swine flu and environmental issues”: www.en.afrik.com

35

5.1.2 Choosing indicators

After choosing the domains one or more indicators must be selected for each domain that

reflects the current state of information. The selected indicators in the analysis must fit into

one or more of the six domains or must directly affect people’s life expectancy.

The analysis focuses on choosing different indicators for human security and presenting the

indicators in a Nigerian context while also attempting to present the current state of

information. The next step would be to choose a threshold value, to be able to be able to

quantitatively measure the level of human security. This is merely a statistical job, and as

explained in the methodology it is not part of this project.

In the process of selecting the different indicators it is important to have in mind that some

indicators would be universally important no matter where in the world one would measure

human security. Others would be context specific to the particular case country if the country

has some characteristics that require the development of specific indicators. This doesn’t

mean that no other country have the same characteristics and thus faces the same challenges,

it means that these specific indicators are particularly important to the case country and thus

must be included in a mapping of risks to human security. In selecting the indicators the

relationship between the indicators and the case country is an important methodological

question, because it has some consequences for the final design of the analysis if one chooses

the indicators or the case country as the starting point for the analysis.

One way of doing it is to choose a set of indicators based on international standards and then

“fit” them into the case country; this indicates a “one size fits all” approach to the analysis as

the characteristics of the specific case is not taken into account. This approach would miss the

specificities of the individual country and thereby result in a superficial analysis, and

ultimately in an inadequate picture of the level of human security.

Another approach is to choose the indicators exclusively from how relevant they are to the

case country. At first this approach seems as the most useful as you only get the indicators

36

that are relevant for the specific country. But it could create some problems for the

comparability between the countries and thus make it more difficult for the development

community to develop strategies and also to compare the outcome of the efforts to enhance

human security.

Murray and King do not explain in their article how to choose the indicators, and how they

should be related to the domains. This project combines the two approaches presented above

and chooses an approach where the selection of indicators is based on three main sources;

first, indicators that are derived directly from the six domains presented in the theory and

earlier in this chapter. Second, Indicators based on the suggestions made by different UN

agencies such as the UNDP, CHS and HSU. The different suggestions whether they call them

threats, special issues or something else will be assessed to find out if they compatible with

the definition adopted in the project and ultimately if they are relevant to Nigeria. The third

source is specific characteristics of the Nigerian society that are acknowledged broadly by the

international society to constitute a risk for the development of the country.

The approach adopted by this project is illustrated in the model below. It is not the indicators

that exclusively decide what to look for in the case country, but at the same time it is not the

case country that exclusively decides what indicators to choose. The combination of the two

gives the most comprehensive analysis of the level of human security in Nigeria.

It is important to underline that the selection of indicators can never encompass all areas of a

society, it is always a partial description of reality. While one researcher would choose one

set of indicators based on his scope of research, another researcher with another focus would

choose another set of indicators. In the same way as the selection can never encompass the

entire picture, it is not possible to go into depth with all the indicators, and thus it will always

come down to a selection by the researcher about how much information to include.

37

INDICATORS CASE COUNTRY

5.2 Income

The first domain is income, this project select the following indicators for income security;

1. Poverty rate.

2. Unemployment rate.

3. Economic inequality measured by Gini coefficient.

4. The existence of a public financed security net.

Income, poverty and social security net is all listed as threats to human security by UNDP

and HSU; The UNDPs lists economic insecurity as one of seven main threats to human

security and argue that economic security requires a stable basic income from productive and

remunerative work. If that fails another possibility for income could be from publicly

financed safety net. The HSU lists persistent poverty and unemployment within the economic

security category. Gini coefficient is a measurement of “relative” poverty and it is based in

the idea that the way people define their position in the society is important to their welfare.

The overall distribution in a country, region or population group is an important measurement

of welfare and consequently well being in that group.102

5.2.1 Current state of information regarding income security

There are many ways to measure poverty; the World Bank follows in their online-atlas on the

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) the international poverty line which is set at 1.25

dollars a day103. According to the World Bank 62 percent of the Nigerian population or 88

million people are below the international poverty line. This is actually the third highest

number of poor people in a single country in the world after India and China.104

102 Measuring Inequality: www.worldbank.org 103 The 1.25 dollar a day poverty line has been recalculated based on new data on purchase power parities and compiled by the International Comparison Program. Available at: www.worldbank.org 104 Online Atlas of the Millennium Development Goals: www.worldbank.org

38

The absence of reliable data on employment rates in Nigeria is a major problem according to

the World Bank,105 thus it has not been possible to find reliable data on the unemployment

rate in Nigeria, therefore is the current state of information regarding unemployment based on

statements made by public officials and the World bank. In a recent study by the World Bank

they expressed that they were worried that although Nigeria has witnessed an impressive

growth in GDP per annum of 7% the growth has not translated into a decrease in the

unemployment rates.106 The unemployment rates is also worrying politicians internally in

Nigeria; in January 2009 the Chairman of the Senate committee on Employment, Labour and

productivity appealed to the government to react to rising unemployment rates, especially

among youths.107

According to the UNDP108 the Gini coefficient109 for Nigeria in 2007 were 43.7, making them

number 158 out of 177 countries in the study. The World Bank estimate that the highest ten

percent of the population account for 33.2 percent of the income or consumption, while the

lowest 10 percent account for 1.9 percent.110 The numbers show that there are great economic

disparities in the Nigerian society and thus a high level of economic insecurity.

In a society with a substantial number of poor people, high unemployment rates and

extensive economic inequalities it is important with a publicly financed welfare system to

support the people that find themselves in economic despair. With incomes low and insecure,

many people have to look for support from their governments. But according to UNDP the

governments in developing countries often fail in to provide even the most basic forms of

social security.111

In April 2009 the government, through its labour Ministry launched a 26 man committee,

chaired by former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon. The terms of reference of the

105 “Nigeria: Unemployment Worries World Bank”: www.allafrica.com106 “Nigeria: Unemployment Worries World Bank”: www.allafrica.com107 “Nigeria: Unemployment Rate Worries Senate”: www.allafrica.com108 UNDP has adopted a special measurement of Gini coefficient, where a value of 0 represents absolute equality, and a value of 100 absolute inequality. Available at: www.undp.org 109 The Gini coefficient is a measure of inequality of income distribution or inequality of wealth distribution.  It is defined as a ratio with values between 0 and 1, where 0 corresponds to perfect equality (everyone having exactly the same income) and 1 corresponds to perfect inequality (where one person has all the income, while everyone else has zero income).  Thus, a low Gini coefficient indicates more equal income or wealth distribution, while a high Gini coefficient indicates more unequal distribution. Available at: www.poverty.org 110 Data and Statistics: www.worldbank.org111 UNDP, (1994b), p. 26

39

committee are, among other things to propose a National Social Security Policy. This would

enable the government to fulfil its role, which according to the constitution is to provide;

"Suitable and adequate shelter, suitable and adequate food, reasonable national minimum

living wage, old age care and pensions, and unemployment, sick benefits and welfare of the

disabled are provided for all citizens."112

The minister of Labour stated at the inauguration ceremony that he was concerned that after

49 years of independence Nigeria doesn’t have a holistic National Social Security Policy. He

further argued that despite existing legislation in the area this doesn’t provide sufficient social

security to the people because of overlapping, incoherent and confusing social security

schemes. The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Labour and Productivity argued along

the same lines; "The dissipation of energy in the multiplicity of overlapping social protection

schemes within ministries, department and agencies has not been cost expertise but had

negligible impact on the critical mass of our teeming populace. This is unacceptable in the

21st century given the fact that a sizeable number of Nigerians living below the poverty line

of less than $1 per day is on the increase,"113the chairman of the committee stated that the

governments step to establish the committee would; “go down in Nigeria's history as one of

the most far-reaching and courageous acts by any Nigerian government since independence.

To attempt to provide a comprehensive social security scheme for the nation that will ensure

the building of a more humane and caring nation; a nation and government which places

great premium on the welfare and well-being of its citizens above all else." But he also

argued that the existing legislation have shown not to be effective enough; "While it is true

that there already exist desperate social protection programmes being carried out by

different organs of government and by different tiers of government, these programmes,

despite substantial funding by the government and support by international donor agencies,

they have not had the desired effect of substantially reducing the scourge of poverty facing

millions of our country men and women. This situation is attributable to the fact that some of

these measures are sometimes ad-hoc, uncoordinated, unfortunately plagued by massive

corruption and above all the absence of a National Social Security Policy.114

With the establishment of the committee, the government tries to develop a coherent social

security scheme for all Nigerians and tries to patch the big hole in a totally inadequate social

112 “Fresh vista for social security scheme”: www.ngrguardiannews.com 113 “Fresh vista for social security scheme”: www.ngrguardiannews.com114 “Fresh vista for social security scheme”: www.ngrguardiannews.com

40

security system. Although it is a step in the right direction only time can show if it will have a

positive effect for the ordinary Nigerian. To many times before have bad leadership and/or

corruption destroyed good initiatives.

5.2.3 Recapitulation

Although Nigeria is one of major oil exporting countries in the world poverty is a major

problem with 88 million people living under the international poverty line. According to

former Head of State General Yakubu Gowon is poverty the single biggest threat to the

contemporary Nigerian society and democracy.115 Precise and reliable data on unemployment

rates is very difficult to obtain, but the perception by leading politicians and the World Bank

is that there is an alarming high level of unemployment, especially among youth. The

economic inequality in Nigeria is also at a very high level. This means that despite economic

growth the poor people remain poor because the majority of the wealth is in the hands of very

few. The Nigerian social security system is completely inadequate as it is structured now, but

initiatives are being launched to improve the situation.

5.3 Health

Health insecurity is, according to the UNDP, a major threat to people all over the world

especially in developing countries; millions die every year of infectious and parasitic

diseases, such as HIV/AIDS and malaria. A majority of these deaths are related with poor

nutrition and an unsafe environment, particularly polluted water.116 The Human Security

Commission also emphasized the importance of safe water and sanitation in their final report

where they argued that a failure to meet the needs for fresh water imposes great risks on

societies, especially in developing countries. A lack of access to basic health care is

responsible for many of these deaths, a point which is supported by the fact that the Human

Security Unit listed the access to health care as one example of main threats to human

security. Maternal mortality is a severe problem in many developing countries where

thousands of women die every year and many children find themselves as orphans from birth.

Maternal mortality rates are closely connected with the quality of and access to health care,

115 “Fresh vista for social security scheme”: www.ngrguardiannews.com116 UNDP, (1994b), p. 27

41

one could argue that high maternal death rates are a symptom of a failing health care system

which makes it a relevant indicator to include in the study.

There are a great number of factors that influence physical health, the health indicators in this

project are based on health indicators presented by WHO in a Country Health System Fact

Sheet about Nigeria from 2006. The indicators are judged to pose a threat to health security in

Nigeria and thus it is important that steps are being taken on these specific indicators to turn

the development around and improve the general health status in Nigeria. The following

indicators are chosen for the health domain;

1. Access to health care system

2. Access to safe water sources and sanitation.

3. Maternal mortality and births attended by skilled health personnel.

4. Deadly diseases such as HIV/AIDS and Malaria.

5.3.1 Current state of information regarding health security

The general health situation in Nigeria has, according to WHO, either stagnated or even

worsened in the last years. Life expectancy has dropped from 53.8 years for females and 52.6

years for males in 1991 to 46 years for females and 45 years for males in 2004. The infant

mortality rate (per 1 000 live births) has declined a little bit from 105 in 1999 to 103 in 2004,

but the number is still below the average for the African region. The under-5 mortality rate is

also extremely high with 197 deaths per 1000 live births with Africa averaging on 167. The

causes of death among children under 5 years of age are characteristic for developing

countries and includes; Neonatal117 causes (26.1%), Malaria (24.1%) and Pneumonia

(20.1%).118

The most recent data available from WHO on the overall availability, accessibility, quality

and utilization of the health services in Nigeria show that the health facilities do exist but

117 Of or relating to the first 28 days of an infant's life.118 WHO, (2005), p. 5-6 and (WHO), (2006)

42

most of them are poorly equipped and lack essential supplies and qualified staff. Especially

the access to safe water and sanitation has declined.119

There are numerous factors that either decrease or increase peoples access to the health care

system. One is the sheer size of the health system, the more a government invest in the health

care system the easier the access. The total expenditure per capita in Nigeria in 2006 was

50$.120 In comparison South Africa spend 869$121, Kenya 105$122 and Senegal 72$123, this

shows that Nigeria spend much less money on their health system than comparable countries,

which decreases peoples access to health care. One major problem in the health system is that

there is a shortage of skilled personnel; there are only 0.28 physicians and 1.70 nurses per

1000 inhabitants.124 According to WHO the lack of skilled workers is one of the main reasons

for the fall in key health indicators such as maternal mortality and infant mortality.125

The access to proper water sources and sanitation is important because many infectious and

parasitic diseases can be traced back to unsafe water and sanitation. In the urban areas it was

in 2002 only 72 percent that had access to safe water sources, below the average in Africa

which was 84 percent. In the rural areas 49 percent had access to safe water, a little above the

African average of 45 percent. It is the same picture with access to proper sanitation; 48

percent had access to proper sanitation in the urban areas and 30 percent in the rural areas, the

average in Africa was 58 percent for urban areas and 28 percent for rural areas.

The maternal mortality in Nigeria is among the highest in the world, with numbers ranging

from 704 to 1500 maternal deaths per 100.000 live births.126 According to the newest

numbers from WHO the maternal mortality ratio in 2000 was 800.127 The causes for the high

ratio of maternal deaths are, among other things, a lack of service quality and equipment in

the hospitals. Many hospitals are short of basic equipment such as thermometers, weighing

scales, delivery kits etc. The hospitals also lack a stable supply of electricity because they

119 WHO, (2005), p. 7-8120 WHO African Region: Nigeria: www.who.int121 South Africa: www.who.int 122 Kenya: www.who.int123 Senegal: www.who.int 124 WHO, (2006)125 WHO, (2005) p. 6126 Abass, (2008), p. 2127 WHO, (2006)

43

cannot maintain a standby generator. There is also a major problem with water supply at

some hospitals; some even require the patient to provide their own water! As if this was not

big enough problems, staff are inadequate and demoralized due to poor and irregular

remuneration. As a consequence many have relocated to industrialized countries where they

will be adequately remunerated.128All this means that the proportion of births which are

attended by skilled personnel is 35 percent, well below the African average of 43 percent.

A very direct threat to health security in Nigeria is deadly diseases such as HIV/AIDS and

Malaria. The HIV prevalence peaked in 2001 with 5.8 percent, this number has declined

slightly to 4.4 percent in 2005. Even though the prevalence numbers seems rather low Nigeria

ranks third in the world after India and South Africa when it comes to actual the number of

people infected with HIV.129 Currently there are about 3.86 million people infected with HIV,

and annually there is 221.000 deaths related to HIV/AIDS. As a consequence 1.3 millions

children are orphans because their parents have died from AIDS. The numbers listed above is

not expected to decline in the nearest future as there are about 370.000 new infections of HIV

every year.130

Malaria also constitutes a serious threat to the health security in Nigeria, according to WHO

the death rate related to malaria per 100.000 is 209, which means that more than 300.000 die

every year from malaria, far more than any other major diseases. The National Malaria

Control Programme in Nigeria estimate that malaria is responsible for 60 percent outpatient

visits to health facilities, 30 percent childhood deaths, 25 percent deaths of children under one

year and 11 percent of maternal deaths. Numbers indicate that a child in Nigeria will be sick

of malaria between 2 and 4 times a year and 70 percent of pregnant women are infected with

malaria.131

5.3.2 Recapitulation

128 Abass, (2008), p. 2129 UNGASS, (2007), p. 14130 UNGASS, (2007), p. 14131 National Malaria Control Programme, (2005), p. 1

44

WHOs Country Cooperation Strategy (2005) describe the health threats that the Nigerian

population faces like this; “Widespread endemic and emerging diseases, declining health

status, weak and fragmented health system and declining external partner confidence”132

This sums up rather well the situation described above where all indicators show that health

security in Nigeria is under immense pressure, where practically nothing in the hospitals

work and the government is not investing enough money to turn it around. Measured in

absolute numbers Nigeria has some of the highest rates in maternal deaths and deaths from

HIV/AIDS and malaria in the world. Although this is a rather negative outlook WHO

emphasize that there is positive signs; “The favourable political atmosphere, the

democratisation process and the governments growing interest in the social sector, including

health”133

5.4 Education

Education is vital to the socio-political and economic development of a country, in the words

of the World Bank;

“Education is central to development. It empowers people and strengthens nations.  It is a

powerful “equalizer”, opening doors to all to lift themselves out of poverty. (…) Investment

in education benefits the individual, society, and the world as a whole. Broad-based

education of good quality is among the most powerful instruments known to reduce poverty

and inequality. With proven benefits for personal health, it also strengthens nations’

economic health by laying the foundation for sustained economic growth. For individuals

and nations, it is key to creating, applying, and spreading knowledge—and thus to the

development of dynamic, globally competitive economies. And it is fundamental for the

construction of democratic societies.”134

132 WHO, (2005) p. 1133 WHO, (2005) p. 1134Education and Development: www.worldbank.org

45

The world economy is changing towards a focus on knowledge rather than physical capital as

the source of wealth. As knowledge becomes more important, so does education. It is all-

important that countries invest in education and prepare more of their young people to

participate in the new economic structures.135 Literacy is a basic component of education,

without literacy no education and no building of knowledge. A high illiteracy rate limits poor

people’s chances to act on their own behalf and move out of the vicious cycle of poverty. The

access to primary schooling is the subject in the MDG number two which state that; “by

2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of

primary schooling.”136 In MDG goal number three which seek to promote gender equality

and empower women education is also essential. Target number one in goal three seek to

eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education by 2005, and in all levels of

education no later than 2015.137 The access to education for everyone, regardless of gender,

ethnic origin etc. is the subject of article 26 in the Human Rights Declaration which states

that; “Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary

and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory.”138

Based on the above this project draws up the following indicators for education;

1. Public spending on the education sector

2. Literacy

3. Access to primary schooling

4. Gender disparity in primary, secondary and tertiary education.

5.4.1 Current state of information regarding education

Public spending on the education sector

There is very little data available on public spending on the education. Numbers from 2000

sow that Nigerian government spend 0.76 percent of GDP on education, if this number is

compared to other African countries it shows that South Africa spend 7.9 percent, Ghana 4.4

135 Moja, (2000), p. 10 136Goal 2: Achieve Universal Primary Education: www.un.org137 Goal 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women: www.un.org 138 The Universal Declaration of Human Rights: www.un.org

46

percent and Ivory Coast 5 percent.139 These numbers show that the amount of money the

Nigerian government is investing in the education sector is very low in general and if one

compare with other African countries it is clear that Nigeria is far behind countries that they

should be at least at the same level with. In a report from 2000 the World Bank note that the

government funding for education at the elementary level is very low, and actually the total

public funds allocated to the education sector was halved between 1994 and 1996.140 The

government funding for tertiary education is higher than at other levels of education, but still

not sufficient.141

Literacy

UNESCO, which is the UN agency that deals with education have two sets of literacy rates;

youth literacy, which is the share of the population aged between 15 to 24 that are literate and

adult literacy which is the share of the population aged 15 years and older that is literate. In

2007 Nigeria had a youth literacy of 86.7 percent which is well above the regional average of

72 percent. Also with adult literacy is Nigeria above the regional level; adult literacy in

Nigeria is 72 percent, and the regional level is 62.3 percent.142

Access to primary schooling

Estimates from the Millennium Development Goals show that the total gross enrolment

ratio143 in primary education for both sexes in 2001 was 93 percent. In an African context this

is above average, but still less than the goal that all children will be able to complete a full

course of primary education.144

Gender disparity in primary, secondary and tertiary education

Inequalities in education in Nigeria has always been take for granted and dates back to the

pre-colonial era and is rooted in traditional African culture and Christian and Islamic

139 Dike, (2000) available at: www.afbis.com140 The World Bank, (2000), p. 11-12141 The World Bank, (2000), p. 32142UIS Statistics in Brief: www.unesco.org 143 The gross enrolment ratio (GER) or gross enrolment index (GEI) is a statistical measure used in the education sector and by the UN in its Education Index. In the UN, the GER is calculated by expressing the number of students enrolled in primary, secondary and tertiary levels of education, regardless of age, as a percentage of the population of official school age for the three levels. 144 National Millennium Development Goals Report, (2004), p. 16-17

47

religious structures. Another factor the promote gender inequalities in education is the

traditional attitude of parents to prioritize education for male children over female children.

Government policies on education in the have not differentiated between male and female

student but seek to benefit all students.145 This has resulted in improving numbers in gender

equality in primary and secondary education which has decreased in the recent years; at the

primary school level the gender ratio146 increased from 0.76 in 1990 to 0.96 in 2001. At the

secondary school level the numbers were 0.75 in 1990 and 0.92 in 2002. According to a

report on the MDGs the numbers show that gender inequality is not a serious problem on the

primary and secondary level in Nigeria anymore.

There is significant lower gender ratio level when it comes to tertiary education, in 1990 the

ratio were only 0.46 but has since increased to 0.82 in 2002.147 Another measure that can

reveal gender inequalities is the ratio between literate males and females, in 1996 the ratio of

literate females to males aged 15-29 years was 0.89 and this has since increased to 0.93 in

2000.148

5.4.2 Recapitulation

Despite a lack of government funding, Nigeria has seen a positive development in the area of

education. The literacy rate and the access to schooling are higher than the regional average

and there has been a positive development towards a fall in gender inequality, especially in

primary and secondary education. But the impressive numbers mask considerable regional

differences inside Nigeria which makes it difficult for all regions to reach the MDGs. This

shows that although Nigeria is moving in a positive direction there is still a severe lack of

equality in many states in Nigeria.

One of the main challenges is the inadequate public spending on education. A problem which

is made even worse when another big problem, resource mismanagement through inflation of

contracts and general official corruption, entail that the little money the government do

allocate to the education sector seldom reach the schools.

145 National Millennium Development Goals Report, (2004), p. 22146 Ratio of girls to boys in primary, secondary and tertiary education is the ratio of the number of female students enrolled at primary, secondary and tertiary levels in public and private schools to the number of male students. 147 National Millennium Development Goals Report, (2004), p. 23148 National Millennium Development Goals Report, (2004), p. 23-24

48

Another major challenge is that a lot of young people don’t attend school simply because

their families can’t afford it and in some areas young boys do not attend school believing they

don’t benefit from it because it is not likely they get a job when they have finished their

education considering the high unemployment rates.

5.5 Political freedom

Political freedom is a very large and complex concept, and therefore it is extremely difficult

to make a complete list of indicators. A complete list would be interminable and therefore it

has been necessary for the author to make a narrow selection in order to not focus on one

aspect but instead paint a broad picture of as many aspects of the Nigerian society as possible

The indicators in this project are grounded in the same understanding of political freedom as

the UN and are mainly derived from reports from the UNDP.

The domains political freedom and democracy are two so closely connected concepts that it is

important to elaborate a little on how this project differentiate between the two. Political

freedom works on actor level; it is what the individual human being is experiencing in his or

hers daily life. Important issues in this category gather around the notion human rights.

Democracy works on a structural or political level; it is the political structure of society.

Things important here could be free and fair elections etc. Together the two constitute a

democratic society.

According to the UNDP political freedom is essential to development; they further argue that

political freedom is vital in economic development because; “freedom is a necessary

condition to liberate the creative energies of the people and to pursue a path of rapid

economic development.”149 The indicators presented below move along the same lines as

three of the seven main threats to human security which was drawn up in the 1994 HDR, that

is personal security, community security and political security. These threats deal with things

such as, security from physical violence, discrimination against ethnic groups and the right to

live in a state without state repression. The reader will notice that the indicators below

include the same issues.

149 UNDP, (1992), p. 2749

In the attempt to create a political freedom index UNDP lists a number of indicators for

political freedom, the following is a extract of these and will serve as the indicators for the

political freedom domain;

1. Personal security.

2. Rule of law.

3. Freedom of expression.

4. Equality of opportunity.

5.5.1 Current state of information regarding political freedom

Personal security

According to the UNDP personal security deals with things such as arbitrary arrest, detention,

torture or punishment and arbitrary killings and disappearances.

In their report “Freedom in the World” from 2008 Freedom House states that people in

Nigeria continue to suffer from abuses from security and police forces. A number of

international organizations have in the recent years reported several violations of human

rights by security forces; Human Rights Watch has reported that police forces routinely

tortured detainees in Nigerian prisons. A UN special rapporteur said in 2005 that the Nigerian

police used armed robbery as an excuse to jail people that refused to pay bribes or to justify

unlawful killings of civilians. In a three month period in 2007 Human Rights Watch said that

the police force "killed half as many 'armed robbery suspects' as they managed to arrest". In

December 2007 Amnesty International reported “secret executions” in Nigerian prisons

despite assurances that there had been no executions for years.150

Rule of law

The rule of law indicator deals with fair and public hearings and competent, independent and

impartial tribunals. The higher courts in Nigeria are, according to Freedom House

150 Freedom House, (2008),: www.unhcr.org50

characterized by a relatively high degree of competence and independence. If one looks at the

judiciary as a whole they are often subject to political interference and it is permeated by

corruption and inefficiency, particularly at lower levels. The rights of the defendant are often

not secured, resulting in lack of legal representation, ill information about procedures and

rights. Long lasting pre-trial detentions also remain a problem. The prisons in Nigeria is often

overcrowded, unhealthy and even life threatening,151 in Amnesty Internationals report from

2009 titled “State of the Worlds Human Rights” they described the Nigerian prisons in this

way; Living conditions in prisons were appalling. Overcrowding, poor sanitation, lack of

food and medicines and denial of contact with families and friends were damaging to the

physical and mental well-being of inmates. Many inmates slept two to a bed or on the bare

floor. In some prisons, no beds were provided, toilets were blocked or non-existent, and there

was no running water. Disease was widespread. Children as young as 12 were held together

with adults.152 The United Nation Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) judge that the

Nigerian judiciary lacks competence and effectiveness especially in dealing with the often

complex and time consuming cases regarding corruption. According to UNODC the Nigerian

government have failed to deal with the widespread corruption inside the judiciary.153

Freedom of expression

Indicators on the level of freedom of expression include restrictions in law and practice,

media censorship, freedom of speech. Freedom of speech is guaranteed by the 1999

constitution and generally respected. More than 200 private radio and television stations

broadcast in Nigeria, there are also a vast number of print publications published generally

without interference from the government. Internet access is not restricted. Nevertheless,

there are reports of criminal prosecution of journalists, especially those that cover sensitive

issues such as corruption and the Niger Delta crisis. The New York-based NGO the

“Committee to Protect Journalists” (CPJ) say that the State Security Service (SSS) have

arrested journalists, confiscated newspapers and harassed vendors, and as late as October

2008 a Nigerian blogger based in the US was held for questioning in Nigeria. 154 According to

CPJ; coverage of sensitive topics, including unrest in the oil-rich southern Niger Delta and

Yar'Adua's health and family, have often resulted in arrests and raids by the SSS, which

151 Freedom House, (2008),: www.unhcr.org152 Amnesty International Report 2009 – Nigeria: www.amnesty.org153 Strengthening Judicial Integrity and Capacity: www.unodc.org154 “Second U.S.-based Nigerian blogger held”: www.cpj.org

51

reports directly to the Nigerian presidency. At least seven journalists, (…), have been

detained in SSS custody this year alone without charge for days or weeks.155 The Freedom

House assessed the freedom of the press in Nigeria in 2008 and judged it to be partly free.

They also reported that the state continued to use arbitrary actions and extralegal measures to

suppress political criticism and expression in the media. Prior to the 2007 presidential

elections the SSS was responsible for numerous raids of newspapers and television stations as

well as detention of journalists and editors. According to the Freedom house violence against

journalists is a common occurrence, and especially journalists that cover the Niger Delta

crisis.156

Equality of opportunity

The question here is if there are constitutional or legislative guarantees of equality, regardless

of gender, race, colour, descent, tribe, religion or national or ethnic origin, and if there is

violence against or harassment of particular groups? Freedom House say that Nigerian

women experience considerable discrimination. In some ethnic groups, women are not

allowed to inherit and marital rape is not considered a crime. Human trafficking in women to,

from and within Nigeria for domestic labour or prostitution continues to be a major

problem.157 According to Human Rights Watch violence against women is pervasive; in 2008

they reported several incidents of domestic violence and rape and other forms of sexual

violence by state officials and private individuals.158 Religious freedom is secured by the

constitution but discrimination by government officials and ordinary Nigerians occasionally

occur towards people with a different religion than their own. Violence between different

religious or ethnic groups is a reoccurring thing. Religious differences are often described in

the national and international media as the underlying reason the these conflicts. Nevertheless

religion is seldom the only issue that spark conflicts and it is often difficult to determine the

origin of violent clashes, but it is sure to say that religion often plays a large role in the

conflicts. In one incident in 2007 in Sokoto State Shiite and Sunni Muslims clashed after a

prominent Sunni cleric was assassinated.159 The most recent clash with religious undertones

happened in the city of Jos in Plateau State after a local election, and in three days of riots 155 “Second U.S.-based Nigerian blogger held”: www.cpj.org156 Freedom House,(2008),: www.unhcr.org157 Freedom House,(2008),: www.unhcr.org158 Amnesty International Report 2009 – Nigeria: www.amnesty.org159 Freedom House,(2008),: www.unhcr.org

52

more 400 people were killed.160 Ethnic discrimination and violence is also a reoccurring

phenomenon, many ethnic groups feel they are discriminated by larger ethnic groups; one

example is the ethnic minorities in the Niger Delta, especially the Ijaws. The Ijaws and other

ethnic groups in the Niger Delta have for many years campaigned against the unjust

distribution of the countries oil wealth. This have led to the current crisis, where militia

groups, MEND161 being the biggest have had violent clashes with security forces and the

Nigerian Military, which have claimed thousands of lives. Violence between different ethnic

groups is also common in Nigeria, a look up on any internet search machine reveal several

news stories about ethnic violence all around Nigeria. According to the Human Rights Watch

more than 11.000 Nigerians have died in intercommunal clashes along ethnic, religious and

other lines since 1999.162

5.5.2 Recapitulation

The points above reveal that ordinary Nigerians relatively often experience insecurity

regarding political freedom. The security forces in the country such as the police and the SSS,

who actually should provide security and stability is doing the exact opposite; terrorising

people with torture and arbitrary arrests and killings. It seems to be characteristic to Nigeria

that many things that contribute to political freedom is secured by the constitution and other

laws, but these laws are not being followed in reality; freedom of expression is secured in the

constitution, and none the less there are every year cases where newspapers are being raided

and journalist arrested. The same goes with equality in opportunity; the constitution

guarantee equality regardless of race, gender, ethnicity etc. but again it is not what the

ordinary Nigeria is experiencing in his daily life. Instead they experience that in many aspects

of their life it is all-important which ethnic origin they have, both in dealing with your fellow

Nigerians as well as public officials.

The judiciary doesn’t have the capacity to maintain a professional system of justice and at the

moment there are serious breeches of defendants’ rights reported in Nigeria every year. The

conditions in the prisons in Nigeria is also a serious problem, as late as 2009 the Amnesty

160 Amnesty International Report 2009 – Nigeria: www.amnesty.org161 Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta162 Human Rights Watch, (2007) p. 9

53

International and other international organizations described the conditions as appalling and

even life threatening.

5.6 Democracy

As explained elsewhere is the domains political freedom and democracy closely interrelated

and thus it is difficult to distinguish to distinguish between the two. The domain democracy

deals with the structure and history of the Nigerian political system. The two indicators that

are chosen are based on suggestions made by UNDP in their effort to develop a political

freedom index. The two indicators examine the following things, are there free and fair

elections with is there universal adult franchise? And are there procedural irregularities by

government in the elections such as; exclusion and intimidation of voter, vote rigging,

violence against candidates or opponents of government? Free and fair elections is obviously

important as it is the cornerstone in a democratic system, and for Nigeria which have been

marred by military coups since independence free and fair elections is the path to democracy

and also an important tool to restore peoples faith in their leaders. The second indicator looks

at the history and asks if the free elections are a recent introduction or a longstanding

tradition. This is important as it helps to provide an understanding of the stability or

instability of the political system. The two indicators are;

1. Free and fair elections

2. Continuity of democratic system

5.6.1 Current state of information regarding democracy

Free and fair elections

Historically elections in Nigeria have often been characterized by vote rigging, fraud and

violence. As a consequence of the many military coups Nigeria not many presidential

elections have been held since their independence. Before the current streak of

democratically elected governments only two regimes have been elected in a democratic

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process; the first government after independence with Azikiwe as president and the

government from 1979 to 1983 under President Shagari.163

In 1999 the presidential elections were held after 16 years of different military governments,

the former Head of State Olusegun Obasanjo won majority and was inaugurated as the new

President. Even though the transfer of power from a military to a civilian government was a

great accomplishment the election was marred by irregularities. The Carter Center164 said the

elections; “fell short of its democratic objectives. Electoral irregularities, including fraud and

vote rigging, that our observers and others in the field witnessed are cause for serious

concern.”165 They further questioned the overall election process and they went so far to

question the legitimacy of those elected and their ability to govern.166 Several other observers

reported widespread irregularities and fraud in the election on all levels.167

In 2003 another round of presidential elections took place. But once again observers reported

widespread irregularities and human rights abuse, an EU observer mission found evidence of;

“widespread electoral fraud in many areas and concluded that in a number of States the

minimum standards for democratic elections were not met.”168

Obasanjo called a presidential election in 2007, and because Obasanjo had served the

maximum of two terms he had to step down. The Peoples Democratic Party won the majority

and Umaru Yar`Adua was inaugurated as president. Despite it was positive that this was the

third consecutive presidential election in a row it is widely believed that the elections were

rigged.169 Human Rights Watch observers reported violence and intimidation and described

the process as; “An electoral process that denied large numbers of voters the opportunity to

cast their votes. Where voting did occur, it was marred by the late opening of polls, a severe

shortage of ballot papers, the widespread intimidation of voters, the seizure of ballot boxes

163 Falola et.al, (2009)164 The Carter Center is a nongovernmental, not-for-profit organization founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn Carter. www.cartercenter.org165 The Carter Center, (1999), p. 32166 The Carter Center, (1999), p. 32167 Human Rights Watch, (2007), p. 7-8168 Human Rights Watch, (2007), p. 8169 Falola et.al, (2009)

55

by gangs of thugs, vote buying and other irregularities”170 the EU observing team said that

the process; “Cannot be considered to have been credible”171

Continuity of democratic system

Military coups have been a reoccurring event since 1960. The first national election took

place in 1964, four years after the independence; the elections were hampered by boycotts,

vote rigging and violence.172 After the elections Nnamdi Azikiwe, one of the leading figures

of Nigerian nationalism, became President in what was called the First Republic.

In 1966 a military coup brought down the First Republic and General John Aguiyi-Ironsi was

installed as Head of State. On 29 July after a counter coup General Yakubu Gowon came into

power. Ethnic violence after the two coups in 1966 led to Emeka Ojukwu declaring the

independence of the Eastern Region as the sovereign Republic of Biafra. The declaration of

independence resulted in a civil war between the Federal Military Government and Biafran

separatists, millions of people died in the war which ended with the surrender of Biafra in

1970.173

In 1975 Yakubu Gowons military regime was overthrown in a coup led by General Murtala

Muhammad. Muhammad’s reign didn’t last for long; a year after he was appointed Head of

State Muhammad Murtala was assassinated in a failed coup, Lieutenant General Olusegun

Obasanjo succeeded him as Head of State. The Muhammad/Obasanjo regime was

characterized by its political reforms and willingness to hand over power to a civilian

government, and in 1979 Obasanjo handed over the power to the civilian administration of

the Second Republic under President Alhaji Shehu Shagari. Another military coup in 1983

removed Shagari from the power and General Muhammadu Buhari became Head of State.

Only two years later, in 1985 General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida was leading yet another

coup and he was instated as the new Head of State. After immense pressure nationally and

internationally Babangida caved in and finally presidential elections were held in June 1993.

In what were called the most free and fair elections since independence Chief M.K.O Abiola

won majority and was expected to be the next president. Babangida, not ready to hand over

power to a civilian government, annulled the elections and imprisoned Abiola leading to

170 “Nigeria: Presidential Election Marred by Fraud, Violence”: www.hrw.org171 “Nigeria: Presidential Election Marred by Fraud, Violence”: www.hrw.org172 “ Nigeria: A history of coups: www.bbc.uk173 Falola et.al, (2009), p. 158-181

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chaotic conditions in the country. In August the same year, Babangida handed over power to

an Interim Government Council headed by Chief Ernest Shonekan. Only three months later

the Interim Government was overthrown by General Sani Abacha in a military coup and he

became the new Head of State. Under Abacha Nigeria became an international Pariah state,

and Abacha was one of the worst dictators Africa had seen.174

In 1998 Abacha died in the presidential villa in Abuja and power was transferred to General

Abdulsalami Abubakar, who commenced a quick transfer to civilian rule.175

When military rule finally ended with a presidential election in 1999, the importance for

Nigeria was impossible to underestimate, the US based Carter Center expressed the

importance in this way; “Nigeria’s elections and transfer of power from a military regime to

a civilian government mark historic steps for the country.”176 In 2003, after serving his first

four year term as civilian elected Head of State, President Obasanjo called for a new election.

Obasanjo won majority and he continued his presidency. The most recent presidential

election in 2007 marked the first transfer of power between one democratic elected

government to another. The outcome of the election was that the ruling party won majority

but Obasanjo, after serving two terms, had to step down as president and Umaru Yar`Adua

was installed as the new president.177

5.6.2 Recapitulation

The Nigerian based NGO “Centre for Democracy and Development” have described the

democratic situation like this; “Nigeria’s domestic political scene has relatively recently

shifted from authoritarian military regimes to a democratically elected one. However, the so-

called ‘democratic dividend’ has hardly materialised in terms of any improvement in

ordinary people’s living conditions, and the incumbent regime, although democratically

elected, has lost a substantial degree of trust.”178

174 Falola et.al, (2009), p. 181-209175 Falola et.al, (2009)176 The Carter Center, (1999), p. 32177 Falola et.al, (2009)178 Briefing on Nigeria’s 2003 elections: www.cdd.org

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This quote describe the situation well; the democratic tradition in Nigeria is relatively new, as

mentioned elsewhere Nigeria is now experiencing the longest period of democratically

elected governments which have now lasted for 10 years. Even though this is a great

development there are still many things that need to be improved for the political system to

be fully democratic. Observers have reported numeral cases of irregularities in the last three

elections, they include; violence and intimidation towards voters and candidates, ballot

boxing, fraud, vote rigging, vote buying etc. the EU observer team even went so far to say

that the elections could not be considered to be credible.

5.7 Environment

Although Nigeria is home to a wealth of biodiversity, rich natural resources, and a variety of

eco-systems, the country also suffers from a number of environmental challenges. These

issues are largely a result of human activities, population density, and over-population in

urban centers. The quest for development and industrialization has left great marks on the

environment and the unwise use of natural resources due to ignorance, poverty,

overpopulation and greed among other things have led to the degradation of the

environment.179 Nigeria faces similar environmental problems as many other countries in the

developing world and unfortunately environmental issues have rarely played a central role in

development plans in developing countries, including Nigeria. Scholars are now

acknowledging the interdependence between economic development and a sustainable

environment and environmental issues are now in the forefront of international, national and

local governments` agenda.180

One of the most important things in relations to preservation of environment is biodiversity,

The UNDP emphasize the importance when they argue that; “At the ecosystem level,

biodiversity provides the conditions and drives the processes that sustain the global economy

– and our very survival as a species”181. The two last indicators, deforestation and

urbanization are factors that influence a country’s biodiversity to a great extent. Deforestation

is an important issue in Nigeria; through the years huge areas of woods have been eliminated

with severe consequences, such as desertification in the north where people experience

179 Environmental issues – general overview: www.nigeriadailynews.com 180 Okafor et.al, (2008), p. 101181 The importance of biodiversity: www.undp.org

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diminishing arable lands. In a country with close to 150 million people, and many of them

living in the cities, urbanization is an important issue. With that huge number of people in the

cities the environment can easily come under immense pressure, and it is essential to reduce

the negative impact of the many people. The following indicators are some of the important

environmental issues in a Nigerian context;182

1. Biodiversity

2. Deforestation

3. Urbanization

5.7.1 Current state of information regarding environment

Biodiversity

Biodiversity is often used to describe all the species living in a particular area. Some scientist

use broader definitions which include living organisms’ interactions with their non-living

aspects of their environment. In this project biodiversity is defined as; the variety of life on

Earth at all its levels, from genes to ecosystems, and the ecological and evolutionary

processes that sustain it.183

In a report from 2008 on Nigerian biodiversity USAID argued that as a result of the high

number of people in the country the biodiversity is under immense pressure. The

consequences are; “Wildlife, trees, and many other plants are overharvested and poached,

and the natural environment faces increased degradation from expanding unsustainable

agriculture”184 The Nigerian government is slowly realising the importance of biodiversity,

and in 2008 they launched the first National Biodiversity Action Plan. The goal is to enhance;

"Sustainable use of components of biological diversity especially the aspects concerning the

protection and encouragement of customary use of biological resources in accordance with

182 The Niger Delta is by far the place with the most oil pollution in Nigeria, a coming chapter will elaborate on important issues regarding human security in the Niger Delta, including the oil industry and its consequences. Therefore oil pollution is not included in the environment domain even though it naturally is an environmental issue. 183 Harrison et.al, (2004), p.1184 USAID, (2008), p. 1

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traditional cultural practices that are compatible with conservation and sustainable use

requirements".185

Deforestation

Deforestation is the process where trees are felled for many purposes but not replaced again,

deforestation leads to the soil being exposed which again leads to floods and the rivers and

lakes become filled with silt resulting in decreasing breeding grounds for many fish.

Deforestation for agricultural development, urban growth and industrial expansion has

greatly reduced the extent, diversity and stability of the Nigerian forests.186 Another

consequence of deforestation is desertification where once fertile land is now waterless and

treeless land. Desertification is dangerous because it can lead to famine, diseases and

destruction of livestock and crops. The phenomenon is more pronounced in the northern part

of the country, one example is Lake Chad; in 1963 the lakes water surface was estimated to

be 24.000 square kilometres, but due to natural hazards and peoples unwise use of the lake

environment the surface decreased to only 3000 square kilometres in 1984.187 In 2005 data

from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations show that Nigeria have the

worlds highest deforestation rate; between 2000 and 2005 the country lost 55.7 percent of its

primary forests188 If Nigeria continue the deforestation with the same speed it is likely to lose

virtually all of its primary forest within a few years.189

Urbanization

Urbanization is the result of high population growth and rural to urban migration. Many

urban areas in Nigeria are characterized by big city slums with great environmental

consequences, one being the problem of disposal of non biodegradable materials such as

plastic.190 With the increasing urbanization in the recent years the environmental problems in

the cities has grown out of control; the cities lack basic infrastructure to secure things like

safe water supply, sewerage, sanitation, urban roads, electricity, drainage and waste disposal.

185 “Nigeria: National Biodiversity Action Plan and Land Degradation”: www.allafrica.com 186 Omofonmwan et.al, (2008), p. 54-55187 Omofonmwan et.al, (2008), p. 55188 Forests with no visible signs of past or present human activities. 189 “Nigeria has worst deforestation rate, FAO revises figures”: www.mongabay.com 190 Omofonmwan et.al, (2008), p. 53

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Especially the lack of systems to disposal of wastes is possibly the most severe environmental

problem in Nigerian cities and constitutes a serious health risk to the people.

The consequences the rapid urbanization are increased health risks which make the poor

people in the slums spend a larger portion of their money on health care, depriving them of

fulfilling other needs like food, housing, education etc.191

5.7.2 Recapitulation

The examples above show that Nigeria has major environmental problems; the biodiversity is

under severe pressure as is the forests. One of the biggest environmental problem right now is

perhaps that millions of people in Nigeria is living in slum in the big cities, with a total lack

of basic infrastructure such as running water, sewages etc. the consequences is that there is

waste everywhere and the small streams and rivers where people used to get water are now

polluted. This has a very direct effect on people’s health and security and every year it leads

to thousand of deaths.

5.8 The Niger Delta Crisis

The current crisis in the Niger Delta encapsulate many of the problems Nigeria are facing

with regard to poverty, environmental degradation, violence and a lack of basic structures in

education, health care etc. The problems in the Delta also constitute maybe the biggest threat

to human security and stability in Nigeria, and it is urgently needed that measures are being

taken to deal with the problems. The next chapter about the Niger Delta crisis move

somewhat outside the domains and indicators but at the same time along the same lines.

There are several reasons why the Niger Delta crisis should be included in this project about

human security; first, because, as mentioned in the theory, a measurement of human security

can also act as a warning system of problem areas, and considering how many signs of

decreasing human security that have come from the Niger Delta it is time to see this (local)

crisis in a broader sense and move it to the front of the political agenda, nationally as well as

191 Oluwasola, (2007), p. 8-1161

internationally. Secondly, the complexity of the issues, the scale of human suffering and the

before mentioned importance for Nigerian stability require that it is being dealt with

independently. The following chapter provide an analysis of the Niger Delta crisis utilizing a

number of the same indicators presented earlier.

The Niger Delta is one of the biggest deltas in the world; it is a vast sedimentary basin build

over time through successive layers of sediments dating back 40-50 million years. The delta

covers almost 70.000 square kilometres and extends from the Benin River in the west to the

Imo River in the east. The Niger Delta contains vast petroleum resources such as oil and

natural gas; 31.5 million barrels according to OPEC192, and 36.2 million barrels according to

the official energy statistics from the U.S Government.193 The biggest reserves are found in

the delta and offshore in the Bight of Benin, the Gulf of Guinea and the Bight of Bonny.194

Nigeria is the biggest producer of petroleum in Africa. Although the country has always been

heavily dependent on the oil resources, post colonial Nigeria is more dependent than ever and

can be described as a mono-economy where oil petroleum products contributes 99 percent of

export revenues, 85 percent of government revenues and about 18 percent of GDP, this

number have been higher before but has declined as oil output has declined due to unrest in

the Niger Delta region. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation manages the state

owned oil industry, a number of multinational companies are also operating, including them

Shell which is the biggest.195

In 2005 there were almost 29 million people living in the Niger Delta, and that number is

expected to rise to almost 46 million in 2020.196 The people living here are extremely

heterogonous and consist of many different ethnic and linguistic groups. The majority of the

people in the delta don’t belong to any of the three major ethnic groups (Yoruba, Hausa-

Fulani and Igbo) in Nigeria. Minimum five different language groups are represented in the

states that constitute the Niger Delta. The largest ethnic group is the Ijaws; there are

192 Watts, (2004), p. 58193 Nigeria oil: www.eia.doe.gov194 Nigeria oil: www.eia.doe.gov195 Nigeria quick facts: www.eia.doe.gov196 UNDP, (2006), p. 25

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approximately 8 million people that would identify themselves as belonging to the Ijaw

ethnic group, although they themselves are also divided into subgroups.197

Human Development situation in the Niger Delta

In 2006 UNDP published a report about the human development situation in the Niger Delta.

To sum up the findings regarding poverty, the UNDP found that the people in the Niger Delta

largely followed the same pattern as the rest of the country. The difference in the Niger Delta

was the intense feeling among the people that they ought to do far better, based on the natural

resources that is extracted from their land. In the South-south zone198 74.8 percent perceived

themselves as poor, far higher than the actual number. This could explain why there is so

much frustration and indignation in the region.199

The Niger Delta and the Millennium Development Goals

Another way of measuring human development in the Niger Delta is to explore the MDGs

and assess how far they are form reaching the goals. In the human development assessment

from UNDP they point out that because the Niger Delta states receive higher revenue

allocations from the federal government, they should be in a better position to reach the

MDGs.

Millennium development goal number one

Goal number one is to reduce by half the number of people whose income is less than 1$ a

day and those who suffer from hunger200. The poverty rate in the Niger Delta decreased from

57.9 percent in 1996 to 42.85 in 2004, although this show a drop in poverty rates it is

doubtful that they are going to reach the goal considering the fall represents less than one

percent annually. Lack of time series data makes it impossible to asses if the states in the

Niger Delta are likely to halve the number of people suffering from hunger. Data from 2004

show that the states in the Niger Delta are doing better than the national average, only Cross

River and Rivers states are performing worse.201

197 UNDP, (2006), p. 10-12198 The South-south zone comprises of Delta State, Akwa-Ibom State, Cross-River State, Bayalsa State, Rivers State and Edo State.199 UNDP, (2006), p. 35-36200 Measured by a daily intake of 2.900 calories average. UNDP, (2006), p. 46 201 UNDP, (2006), p. 42-46

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Millennium development goal number two

Goal number two seek to achieve universal primary education measured by net. enrolment in

primary education. Data show that the Niger Delta States might reach the goal and maybe

even a little beyond. When it comes to enrolment in secondary and tertiary education the

numbers are even better and they by far outdo the national scores, this means that they might

meet the target of universal education on all levels.202

Millennium development goal number three

In goal three the ratio between female and male enrolment school enrolment is assessed in

order to promote gender equality and empower women. The available data show that females

have equal opportunities for education, and in some states is the number of female students

even higher than male students. This means that the targets for gender equality in education

are already reached or achievable by 2015.

Millennium development goal number four

Goal number four seek to reduce child mortality, UNDP use several indicators such as under-

five and infant mortality rates. The Niger Delta states were doing better than national average

on child mortality203 (Delta states; 47, national average; 121) while they were doing far worse

on infant mortality204 (Delta states; 120, national average; 109). Due to a lack of time series

data it was not possible to asses the development, so based on available data UNDP

concluded that; “The Niger Delta region performed very poorly on neonatal205,

postneonatal206 and infant mortality, with the worst post-neonatal mortality rate in Nigeria.

Even where it performed moderately well, the achievement is not commensurate with the

resources generated by the region.”207

Millennium development goal number five

Goal number five seek to improve maternal health. Due to a lack of data nothing can be said

about progress being made on maternal health, but in general the region has very limited 202 UNDP, (2006), p. 46203 The death of a child between one year of age to 12 years of age in a given population.204 The death of an infant before his or her first birthday.205 Of, relating to or affecting the newborn infants or an infant.206 Post neonatal; of, relating to, or affecting the infant and especially the human infant usually from the end of the first month to a year after birth.207 UNDP, (2006), p. 47

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access to health care in comparison to other parts of the country. It is mostly high cost of

health care that limit peoples access to health care; in 2003 47.1 percent of women identified

lack of money as a major factor for limited access to health facilities.208

Millennium development goal number six

In number six the goal is to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases. In general the

HIV/AIDS prevalence in the Niger delta is among the highest in the country, the prevalence

rates inclined between 1999 and 2001 but then declined in 2003. Even though the declining

prevalence rates suggest that current efforts are having some positive impact, the states in the

Niger Delta reported some of the smallest drops in the country. The number of people

suffering of malaria and tuberculosis in the Niger Delta is high; for example does malaria

account for more than 71.2 percent of the sickness in the region209

Millennium development goal number seven

Goal number seven seek to ensure environmental sustainability. Environmental issues are the

subject in a later chapter and therefore will the following only be a brief description of

environmental sustainability in connection with the MDGs. In general UNDP describe the

environmental situation in the Niger Delta in this way; “The numerous oil spills and the gas

flaring in much of the delta have taken an enormous toll on the environment. Pollution has

greatly affected the air, water, soils, vegetation and even physical structures. Perhaps more

troubling are problems related to limited access to safe drinking water and electricity supply,

poor environmental sanitation and waste management.”210

Civil unrest in the Niger Delta

The oil industry can be described as Nigeria’s lifeblood and yet it is also central to the

ongoing civil unrest in the country. With the large amount of oil, the Delta is also important

in the larger international economic and political context, since the 19th century various

factors have made the Niger Delta a very volatile area with 6 major rebellions in the last two

208 UNDP, (2006), p. 48209 UNDP, (2006), p. 49210 UNDP, (2006), p. 49

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centuries. In recent years it is especially the Ogoni people and the Ijaws that have been in the

forefront of the struggles.211 The next section will explore into the backgrounds for the

violence in the Niger Delta.

During the transition years to independence the British set up a commission called the

Willink Commission, the aim was to; “enquire into the fears of minorities and the means of

allaying them”212. Many ethnic groups voiced their concerns to the commission that they

feared to be left out from a federation dominated by the Hausas, Yorubas and the Igbos that

constituted 70 percent of the total population. During the years after independence the feeling

of being left out and dominated by the three major ethnic groups grew in the Niger Delta. The

finding of oil in commercial qualities in 1956 brought lots of money to the federal

government, but not to the people in the Niger Delta. This coupled with the environmental

degradation and a crisis of traditional livelihood made a number of ethnic groups rise against

what was called the “slick alliance” of the multinational oil companies and the Nigerian

military in the 1970s and1980s.213 Protests by a small ethnic group called the Ogonis lead by

Ken-Saro-Wiwa hit the international headlines in the early 1990s. The Movement for the

Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) mobilised tens of thousands of people in protest

against the oil politics of the Nigerian government and the activities of Shell, which is by far

the biggest oil company in the area. The mass protests in Ogoni land forced Shell to close

down its production, citing intimidation of their staff as the reason. The Rivers State Internal

Security Force hit hard on the protests and thousands were beaten or detained and hundreds

were summarily executed over a period of several years. In 1994, Wiwa and seven other

Ogoni leaders were arrested charged with the murder of four traditional leaders in Ogoni.

After being convicted guilty the Ogoni eight including Ken-Saro-Wiwa were hanged in 1995

by the military government. According to the Human Rights Watch the trial was conducted

before a tribunal that; “blatantly violated international standards of due process and

produces evidence that he or the others were involved in the killings for which they were

convicted”214

211 UNDP, (2006)212 The Willink Commission report, (1958)213 Watts, (2004), p. 58-59214 Human Rights Watch, (1999), p. 9

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Since 1995 many other minority groups such as the Adoni, the Itsekiri and the Ijaw have

organized in the same ways as MOSOP did, but most of these movements eventually

collapsed because of internal political rivalry and disputes. Women movements have also

been at the forefront of the oil struggles, a group gained international headlines recently when

they occupied a Chevron oil refinery, demanding company investments in the communities

and jobs for indigenes. In 1997-98 the Ijaws mobilized, building on movements such as, the

“Ijaw Youth Council”, the “Ijaw National Council” and the “Movement for the Survival of

the Ijaw Nationality” they rallied against the Abacha regime. The Ijaw protests marked the

beginning of the so called “Egbesu wars” which resulted in a period of deepening political

disorder and civil unrest in the Niger Delta.215

In the last few years the protest has almost developed into a full scale war between militia

groups and the Nigerian military. Militia groups such as “Nigeria Delta Peoples Volunteer

Force” (NDPVF), the “Niger Delta Vigilantes” (NDV), and the most well-known, the

“Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta” (MEND) attack oil installations, kidnap

local and foreign oil workers and steal oil via what is called oil bunkering. The instability in

the Niger Delta has caused a significant fall in the oil production; it is estimated that the

effective oil production capacity is 2.7 million barrels per day, but due to various factors the

production in 2008 was only around 1.8 to 2.1 million barrels per day.216

The biggest and most well known of the militia groups MEND emerged in 1995 as an

umbrella organization grown out from the Ijaw Youth Councils militant wing. Its first

operation was an attack on a Shell pipeline in Delta State. In 2006 a truce between the

Nigerian government and MEND was negotiated. The truce violently ended in 2007 when

Nigerian soldiers ambushed and killed 15 members of MEND.217 The collapse of the truce

resulted in a further deterioration of the situation in the Niger Delta. According to a UN

office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs report; “at least 50 foreigners were taken

hostage, two of whom were killed. That compares to a total of around 70 foreigners snatched

in the whole of 2006. Most of the kidnap victims are non-Nigerians working in the oil

industry. Victims have included American, European and Asian workers”218 In 2008 MEND

declared an “oil war” against government forces and oil companies which resulted in the

heaviest fighting in two years.219 215 Watts, (2004), p. 59216 Nigeria oil: www.eia.doe.gov217 “Niger Delta: Behind the mask”: www.ww4report.com218 Obi, (2008), p. 2219 Human Rights Watch, (2009)

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Environmental degradation

The multinational oil companies maintain that it is not the oil production that is responsible

for the environmental degradation in the Niger Delta and that the oil production is conducted

to the highest environmental standards. Shell, for example have argued that; “Shell Nigeria

believes that most of the environmental problems are not the result of oil operations.”220 Ken-

Saro-Wiwa on the other hand accused the oil companies of destroying the region and that the

environment had been; “completely devastated by three decades of reckless oil exploitation

or ecological warfare by Shell.... An ecological war is highly lethal, the more so as it is

unconventional. It is omnicidal in effect. Human life, flora, fauna, the air, fall at its feet, and

finally, the land itself dies.”221

It is important to note that due to a lack of information it is not easy to assess the scale of the

consequences of oil production in the Niger Delta, but problems that have been indentified

include; flooding and coastal erosion, sedimentation and siltation, degradation and depletion

of water and coastal resources, land degradation, oil pollution, air pollution, land

subsidence, biodiversity depletion, noise and light pollution, health problems, and low

agricultural production.”222

One of the most severe consequences is oil spills; Estimates from Nigerian National

petroleum Cooperation show that roughly 2.300 cubic meters of oil are spilled in 300

separate incidents annually. It is important to note that a majority of the oil spills are

considered “minor” and therefore not reported and due to that the actual number is probably

much higher; some conservative estimates place it at as much as ten times higher. According

to Human Rights Watch, between 1976 and 1996 an estimated 4.835 incidents resulted in the

spillage of 2.446.322 barrels of oil.223 The most serious incident happened in 1980 when an

offshore oil well exploded and at least 200.000 million barrels of oil spewed into the Atlantic

Ocean, the oil spill destroyed 340 hectare of mangroves, which is extremely sensitive to oil

spills since the soils soak up the oil like a sponge and then re-releases it every rainy season.224

The last “large” oil spill occurred in 2004 along Shells Goi Trans Niger pipe line in Ogoni

land; a major leakage occurred in the 24 inch pipeline resulting in oil gushing out for nearly

220 Human Rights Watch, (1999), p. 52221 Human Rights Watch, (1999), p. 52222 Human Rights Watch, (1999), p. 52223 Human Rights Watch, (1999), p. 55224 Human Rights Watch, (1999), p. 54-55

68

24 hours and destroying the swamps and creeks in the areas and depriving the local

communities of access to fresh water and destroyed their fishing grounds.225

As mentioned elsewhere the Niger Delta is one of the largest deltas in the world and has great

bio diversity, but that bio diversity is threatened by the effects of the oil production. The

70.000 square kilometres of mangroves and swamps are home to 800 oil producing

communities that everyday see and feel the consequences of the oil. The Niger Delta have an

extensive network of 900 oil wells, 100 flow stations and gas plants, over 1,500 km of trunk

lines, and 45,000 km of oil and gas flow lines.226 Many aspects of oil activities have an effect

on the vulnerable bio diversity in the Delta. One example is oil exploration by seismic

companies in which they do massive dynamiting for geological excavations, the explosions

leads to, among other things, the death of fish and destabilization of sedimentary materials

which destroy the fish’s breeding grounds. Another aspect is the many pipelines; in the

process of clearing areas and burying the pipelines the ecosystems in the Niger Delta is

fragmented, habitat areas are reduces and natural populations of different animals are

segregated. The effect of oil spills is obvious; it completely destroys the environment and the

diverse fauna and flora in the Niger Delta.227

Corruption in the Niger Delta

“In Rivers the state and local governments have failed to make meaningful improvements in

the state’s badly dilapidated primary health and education sectors in recent years despite per

capita spending far in excess of many West African countries at the state level alone. Instead,

an unprecedented influx of revenue into state and local government coffers has been

squandered or stolen.”228

The situation in Rivers State is not unique in Nigeria or in the Niger Delta. An UNODC

survey from 2006 show that 54 percent in Rivers State said they were asked by government

officials to pay a bribe for their services at least once during the last three years. In the other

states in the Niger Delta the numbers were; Delta (20%), Bayelsa (42%), Imo (25%), Abia

225 Zabbey, (2004), p. 4 226 Ugochukwu et.al, (2008), p. 140227 Ugochukwu et.al, (2008), p. 143-144228 Human Rights Watch, (2007), p. 32

69

(37%), Akwa Ibom (34%) and Cross River (23%). The numbers in the Niger Delta, except

Delta State, were all above the national level of 22 percent, Rivers being the worst state in the

entire country with 54 percent.229 as it is very difficult to measure the actual prevalence of

corruption, another method one could adopt is to measure peoples perception of the level of

corruption, which is the method used by Transparency International in their Corruption

Perception Index.230 The general perception of the level of corruption in Nigeria is much

higher than the actual prevalence; while 22 percent of the respondents reported being asked

for bribes in the last three years, a much higher number said that it was likely that they had to

pay bribes in order to get service from public administrations. The numbers varied from the

police (84%), the legislature and other institutions (53%), security guards (50%) to doctors

and nurses (33%) but all well above the actual prevalence level. Even though national

numbers have diminished in the recent years 85 percent of the people in Nigeria believed that

corruption had increased slightly or a lot since 1999. The numbers from the states showed

that the people in the Niger Delta had a very discouraging belief in the development since

1999; only Cross State was not among the top ten states were people thought that corruption

had increased slightly or a lot. The other states ranged from 94 percent in Rivers, 93 percent

in Abia, 92 percent in Imo, 91 percent in Delta to 90 percent in Akwa Ibom.231

5.8.1 Recapitulation

The people of the Niger Delta face many of the same challenges as the rest of Nigeria but for

various reasons is the Niger delta on almost all indicators worse off then the rest of the

country. The human development situation in the region is frightening, especially considering

the amount of money that is allocated to the state governments. As of 2006 only one of the

eight MDGs was close to be fulfilled, the rest was no way near the targets. The Niger Delta

has for many years been shocked by rebellions, civil unrest and violence, but now the

violence in the region has turned into a almost full scale war between government forces and

militia groups, with severe consequences for civilians. One of the challenges in the Niger

Delta with the most severe consequences for people is the environmental degradation. The

effects of oil production are on a daily basis deteriorating the environmental situation and

229 UNODC, (2006), p. 5230 TI Corruption perceptions index: www.transparency.org231 UNODC, (2006), p. 10-12

70

deprive the people of food, fresh water and land. One of the worst effects of oil production is

oil spills, often caused by both leakages and sabotage; every year millions of barrels of oil is

pouring into the delicate Delta and destroying the livelihood of the people and ruins a unique

environmental area in the world. Many factors play a role in the deteriorating situation in the

Niger Delta, but none is probably as important as corruption. Instead of improving

infrastructure and secure health care and education the state and local governments have

looted the public money and used them for personal gains.

6. Conclusion

The inspiration for this study comes from a personal experience working with the UN for six

months in Nigeria. Working in a developing country you are exposed to a bombardment of

information about the comprehensive and complex issues of development.

This creates an overload of information and makes it difficult to comprehend the challenges

the country are facing. Without a clear sense of the entire picture you tend to simplify things

and thus focus on understanding smaller and easier accessible components or simply end up

with an all too negative impression of the country which

It should be noted that naturally one have to focus, in your daily job, on smaller components,

but with limited insight into the whole range of challenges you fail to understand the

interrelations between the different components and at the end of the day reduces the

possibilities of you doing a satisfactory job. It is like a jigsaw puzzle; if you don’t know the

big picture, it is more difficult to put together the small pieces.

In order to provide a frame in which Nigerian developmental issues can be understood,

human security was chosen as the guiding theory. Human security has often been criticized

for being an all and nothing concept; where the definitions are so broad and too many things

have been identified with the concept that it has lost its practical value. Therefore the first

challenge was develop a definition which could be operationalised in a Nigerian context. The

definition presented by Murray and King was chosen for this purpose. In order to provide the

frame in which Nigerian developmental challenges could be arranged, six domains of human

well being was presented based on suggestions made by Murray and King and then adding

environment due to the great importance of environmental issues in general and for Nigeria in 71

particular. A number of indicators for human security were chosen for each indicator. The

following domains and indicators were judged to be relevant in a Nigeria context;

1. Income:- Poverty Rate

- Unemployment Rate

- Economic inequalities measured by Gini coefficient

- The existence of a public financed security net

2. Health:

- Access to health care system

- Access to safe water sources and sanitation

- Maternal mortality and births attended by skilled health personnel

- Deadly diseases such as HIV/AIDS and Malaria

3. Education:

- Public spending on the educations sector

- Literacy

- Access to primary schooling

- Gender disparity in primary, secondary and tertiary education

4. Political Freedom:- Personal Security

- Rule of law

- Freedom of expression

- Equality of opportunity

5. Democracy

72

- Free and fair elections

- Continuity of democratic system

6. Environment:

- Biodiveristy

- Deforestation

- Urbanization

In addition to the six domains and appertaining indicators the Niger Delta crisis was analysed

because this crisis constitute a serious and imminent threat to the human security of people

living in the Delta and the rest of Nigeria. The analysis of the Niger Delta crisis was

conducted along these points:

- Human Development situation in the Niger Delta

- The Niger Delta and the Millennium Development Goals

- Civil unrest in the Niger Delta

- Environmental degradation

- Corruption in the Niger Delta

To conclude on the findings from the analysis, we move on to the second objective of the

thesis as where the study functions as a kind of warning system for threats to human security

in Nigeria. In light of this we now treat the analysis as a risk assessment and try to conclude

on possible risk areas in Nigeria in relation to human security;

On the subject of income security one must conclude that Nigeria is, despite great wealth in

natural resources and high annual economic growth rates, a country with severe lack of

income security. The big economic disparities is largely responsible for the income

insecurity, because the money is there, it just doesn’t benefit the majority of the people. Some

would argue that it is useless to talk about a publicly financed welfare system in a developing

country. But again, considering the money that runs through the Nigerian state every year

they should be able to secure a basic income for the people.

73

On health security the picture is more or less the same; Nigeria is performing poorly on

almost all indicators, also in comparison with other African countries. The only place they do

better than other African countries is rural access to safe water and sanitation. Health

insecurity is probably the most imminent and severe threat to Nigerians and it costs thousands

of life every year.

In education Nigeria is doing better than many other developing countries, despite a lack of

government funding. Especially in combating gender inequalities is Nigeria performing well,

at least on a national level. Gender inequalities are not a problem in primary and secondary

education, while there is still some way in tertiary education.

Despite the fact that all the rights that are necessary to secure political freedom are stipulated

in the constitution there are serious breeches reported every year.

In the democracy domain it is positive that Nigeria is seeing its second democratically elected

administration in a row, the fist time since independence. Although Nigeria is moving in a

positive direction the elections are still not free and fair. This combined with a very short

tradition of relative democracy pose a risk that Nigeria is in danger of returning to its old

habits of authoritative regimes. The environment in Nigeria is deteriorating in a fast pace,

with great implications for the people. If measures are not being taken there is a risk that

thousand will die in the future because of things such as diminishing food sources and water

pollution.

The Niger Delta crisis is in itself a threat to human security, the importance of the situation is

emphasized by the fact that the Yar’Adua administration has created a completely new

ministry for the Niger Delta. In order the fully understand the crisis one need to break it down

into smaller pieces and try to analyse specific characteristics of the situation in the Niger

Delta. The general human development situation for the almost 30 million people living in

the Niger Delta is the same as in the rest of the country. When it comes to the Millennium

Development Goals the states in the Niger Delta are nowhere near reaching the majority of

the goals. Despite the negative situation there are positive signs; it looks like the goal of

universal primary education could be achieved, and even a little beyond. Another positive

thing is that males and females have equal opportunities for education. The Niger Delta has in

the recent years been synonymous with the violence and the civil unrest in the area. The

violence is now almost escalated into a full scale war between militia groups and Nigerian

security forces which constitute an obvious and very serious threat to human security in the

74

area. The environmental degradation in Nigeria is perhaps most visible in the Niger Delta; as

a result of oil production the environment is under immense pressure, with both short and

long term consequences for the human security of people living in the Delta. One reason for

the deteriorating situation in the Niger Delta could be corruption; the states in the Niger Delta

are among the most corrupt in the country, and billions of Naira which should have been used

to improve the situation disappears.

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