CAMPAIGN ON TRANSITION FROM STATE-CENTRIC SECURITY TO INDIVIDUALISTIC PROTECTION IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The persistent insecurity in Nigeria has exposed the inadequacies of a predominantly state-centric security architecture that prioritizes regime stability over the protection of citizens. Contemporary security challenges, ranging from terrorism and banditry to police brutality, communal conflicts, and digital threats, demonstrate that threats have become increasingly diffused, non-state driven, and proximate to individuals rather than the state. This shift necessitates a reconceptualization of Nigeria’s security paradigm. This paper examines the urgent need for a transition from a state centric model of security, rooted in traditional notions of sovereignty and territorial protection, to an individualistic protection framework that places the safety, rights, and dignity of the individual at the centre of security governance. The study evaluates constitutional provisions, national security institutions, and current policy practices, highlighting structural gaps that undermine the protection of citizens. It also interrogates human security theory, which expands the meaning of security to include political, economic, social, environmental, health, and community well-being, arguing that Nigeria’s complex security landscape demands a holistic, people-focused response. Through a review of normative international standards and comparative practices from democratic jurisdictions, the paper demonstrates that safeguarding individuals enhances state stability rather than undermining it. The abstract concludes by proposing a comprehensive campaign framework for Nigeria’s transition, emphasizing legal reforms, human-rights–based policing, community participation, accountability mechanisms, and socio-economic interventions as critical pillars for strengthening individual security and rebuilding public trust in state institutions. This paradigm shift, it argues, is essential for achieving sustainable peace, democratic legitimacy, and inclusive national development.