Journal of African Studies and Sustainable Development

It is no longer news that security concerns in recent times have challenged the sovereignty of the Nigerian State. The various dimensions of these challenges have made phenomena like Boko-Haram, militancy, kidnapping, political violence, Fulani herdsmen, political violence, destruction of lives and properties etc. Obnoxious as these circumstances are, the machinery of governance is compelled at times to negotiate and possibly capitulate. However, analysis of these problems will reveal that they are based on a culture that is alien to the country. The question of what to do, especially as security agencies have become victims of these challenges, is one that begs for urgency. Perhaps, if the culture and traditional values of the various ethnicities in Nigeria are revisited and revived, the nation will purchase a new lease of experience that holds the human life sacred, and places the common good of the society first. This paper explores the dimensions of the security challenges in the country vis-à-vis the trado-cultural provisions in tackling them as shall be seen in the cultural values which abound in every African society. It is hoped that paradigms from these cultural values will engender a renaissance of some imperative cultural aspects which will enhance a new sense of national orientation.

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