CIVIL-MILITARY RELATIONSHIP AND THE FIGHT AGAINST SECURITY CHALLENGES IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Civil-military relationship in a democratic state like Nigeria describes a situation where the military establishment is obedient, by accepting subordination, to elected civilian authorities. The military is viewed as an institution geared towards defending the state against external and internal threats. Also, it is seen as one of the corner-stone of  democracy in the sense that a well disciplined, trained and equipped military will not only defend the country against external aggression, but will also help protect and uphold
internal democratic norms while still differing to elected or appointed civilian authority whose fundamental function as agent of the state is the protection of lives and properties of the people as contained in the social contract. But shortly after independence, Nigeria's civilian government was truncated by the military, and as it turned out obstructed the consolidation of democratic governance and has since maintained a strong influence on the emergence of political leadership even after the country has transited into a civilian democracy. The paper examine the synergy between the Nigerian civilian leadership and the military establishment in their attempt to address the rising security challenges caused by the wanton killing of people and destruction of properties going on all over the country, especially in the Northern part that is being allowed to fester with no end in sight. The study is exploratory and documentary in nature with qualitative descriptive method used in analysing textual data. Anchoring our discourse on the Agency theory of civil-military relations, findings amongst others revealed that; the inability of the military to address the rising insecurity in Nigeria is as a result of the emergence of a weak civilian/political leadership that is enmeshed in corruption, nepotism, ethnic politics and religious fundamentalism, manifested in military corruption, untrained or ill-equipped military that lacks the courage to checkmate the security challenges bedevilling the country. The paper recommends emergence of a strong civil-political leadership that is transparent and accountable to the Nigerian people and has the courage to direct the military on the most appropriate measures to take in order to address the rising security challenges in Nigeria.