1. Civil Security Relations in a Democratising Polity: The Nigerian Case
by
J. ’Kayode Fayemi
Centre for Democracy & Development (Lagos)
Introduction
For a country that suffered a severe deterioration in its economy and politics in
thirty years of military involvement in politics, formal military disengagement from
political rule heralded expectations of a dawn of peace and a deepening of democratic
values and norms in society when the civilian rulers came into office in May 1999.
Indeed, there was a teleological link drawn between military disengagement from
politics and improvement of the military institution on the one hand, and
improvement in the political order and societal demilitarisation, on the other. While
some concerns were expressed about the exaggerated nature of these assumptions
(Fayemi, 1999; Adejumobi, 1999; Adekanye, 2000), political leaders and decision
makers espoused an outward confidence which took very little account of the deep-
seated nature of the centrifugal fissures present in Nigeria’s body politic, many of
which were not the by-products of military rule even if years of military rule might
have exacerbated them.
Two and half years into civilian rule, the scale, spread and intensity of conflict
underscores the exaggerated link between military disengagement from politics and
the eventual demilitarisation of the Nigerian society. What is worse, the incessant
intra-communal conflicts have resulted in deteriorating relations between the civil
sector and the security forces. Indeed, this deteriorating relationship came to a head
with the recent killings of soldiers sent ‘in aid to civil authority’ in Benue State in
October 2001 and the reprisal attacks that followed. There can be no doubt that these
actions have contributed to undermining the limited gains made in civil-security
sector relations since the transfer of power from the military to elected civilian
authorities in May 1999.1 With no fewer than five thousand Nigerians killed in
communal conflicts since May 1999, societal violence has clearly been on the
1

2. increase from the day the civilian government came into office.(See Appendix 1)
Although there are several reasons for this increase in societal and state violence - not
least the expanded space provided by democratic governance, the fact that public
perception still casts doubt on state’s capacity for effective domestic crisis
management and security of life and property (Consultation with the Poor in Nigeria,
The World Bank, 2000) underscores why governance in the security sector is as
critical as other issues in the overall public sector reform agenda. The assassination of
the nation’s chief law officer, Mr Bola Ige, in December 2001 further confirms this
widespread belief of state’s incapacity in managing conflict.
As Nigeria drifts down the path of violent conflict on a rising scale, the key
challenges in forging a stable civil-security order remain on the one hand that of
establishing effective and accountable security agencies dedicated to addressing
triggers of conflict, and, on the other, that of establishing effective and democratic
governance of the security sector through the empowerment of civilian oversight
mechanisms.
Yet, these immediate challenges could only be addressed within a historical
and political context. Hence, to understand the nature and complexities of the
challenges faced in this sector and proffer solutions to them, an assessment of
Nigeria’s political environment is critical. To what extent, for example has the
question of state and national legitimacy been resolved? What do the Constitution and
other laws say about the governance of the security forces; what is the mission,
purpose and nature of the security forces; what is the interaction between the
composition of security forces and the composition of society as a whole; Does the
mission derived from the security threat correspond to the size, composition and
equipment of the security forces; Are resources used to fulfil the identified mission of
the security forces, or are they misused in various ways; what is the role of non-state
security actors – positive and negative and how effectively do the key oversight
agencies – legislature, civilian bureaucracy, civil society – function in general.
This paper seeks to assess the dilemmas of civil security relations in a post-
military state2 from a nuanced investigation of the crosscutting issues highlighted
above by examining:
(a) The manifold legacies of Nigeria's authoritarian past and the effect of the
2

3. culture of militarism on public discourse, consolidation of civil politics and
democratic governance;
(b) State Legitimacy, political reform and its impact on democratisation agenda;
(c) Main challenges to stable civil-security relations;
(d) International & Regional Dimensions of security sector restructuring; and,
(e) Prospects for reform in the security sector.
3