SECURITY CHALLENGES AND SECURITY VOTES IN NIGERIA, 2008-2013

Abstract

Nigeria has joined the league of countries that are known to spend a good chunk of their budgetary allocation on security. As a result of these challenges, Nigerian leaders have decided to tackle them by raising her defence and security votes. Nigeria ranks 57 in the global rating on military expenditure. It occupies the seventh position in African while it is regarded as the largest spender in the West African sub-region. The ranking was based
on Nigeria’s military expenditure in 2009, which also made her the seventh largest spender on the African continent. The country spent $1.864 billion or N233 billion in 2009, representing 0.90 percent of the Gross Development Production (GDP). Defence is a critical sector and has enjoyed favourable consideration in funding, especially in recent years. For instance, the sector got N264 billion in 2010 and this rose to N348 billion in
2011 budget. Unlike other sectors of the economy, military expenditure in Nigeria has gone up by over 50 percent compared to other sectors in recent times. It is anybody’s guess why budget allocations in key ministries and agencies especially security and defence has continued to get the lion’s share in the last few years. But analysts however wager that the rising budget spending for security over the years could have been
influenced by a constellation of forces. For instance, in 2008, the policy thrusts of the budget as presented by the late President Umaru Yar’Adua to the legislature on November 8, 2007, was supposedly reflected in “N444.6 billion for security and the Niger Delta.” It would appear that the mega figure was aimed at political correctness and possibly intended to show new commitment heights for security and the development needs of the Niger Delta. Apparently justifying the need for the bogus budget, analysts at the time said perhaps, it was also intended to signal to the international community that Nigeria is sparing no expenditure in ensuring peaceful co-existence among the citizenry and the interest of the businesses. The paper concludes that despite rising budget allocations for defence and security in the last five years Nigerians have not received value for their money.