Abstract

Since the beginning of this political dispensation, Nigeria has suffered a lot from bad leadership with most of its leaders not concentrating on the welfare and security of its citizens because of corruption. Poor leadership undermines the legitimacy of democratic values and tolerance from the leaders and other stakeholders. However, the link between leadership and security challenges in Nigeria was analysed. Qualitative method of data collection was adopted, and secondary data was used. The paper found that cattle rustling as a security threat Nigeria was a product of bad leadership in Nigeria. The paper concludes that, until good leadership devoid of corruption, religious and ethnic interest is put in place, transparency and accountability in all aspect of governance is maintained, cattle rustling will be the order of the day.

Introduction

Nigeria is blessed with abundant natural and human resources for growth and development. However, the country is crumbling into chaos in a democratic system of government that people yearned for a long period of time (Umukoro, 2014). It is a known fact that Nigeria has witnessed insecurity challenges over the years, although it became more prevalent during the democratic dispensation from 1999 to till date. The problem of insecurity surfaces in different forms; ethno-religious, political, economic conflicts, cattle rustling, armed robbery, bombing, kidnapping, post-election violence etc (Canadian Security Intelligence Service, 2016). The problems of insecurity are found in almost all parts of the country. However, recently, cattle rustling has become one of the most worrisome that posed serious threat to the existence of Nigeria with many properties destroyed and lives killed by day. Cattle rustling is an illegal and violent confiscation of livestock from the owners or communities, often with the use of sophisticated arms against the livestock owners (Bunei, McElwee, & Smith, 2016). Though the problem is relatively new in Nigeria, to be specific on a large scale, it became more obvious when it started affecting leaders in the country (Momale, 2016). The problem is more disturbing in the rural areas of the northern parts of the country where farming and cattle herding are the main means of livelihood (Okoli & Okpaleke, 2014).

Leadership and bad governance are the common phrase to describe governance in Nigeria. The concept is referred to a situation were government is unable to discharged it constitutional responsibilities (Schyns & Schilling, 2013). Leadership failure was found to be aggravated by corruption, unemployment, lack of free and fair elections, ethnicity among others (Moyosore, 2015). This paper, therefore, established the nexus between leadership failure and the activities of cattle rustling as it affects the lives and properties of the rural populace that were supposed to be protected by any responsible government.

Conceptual Clarification

Governance

Governance is seen as the exercise of political, economic and social authority to regulate human interaction for the well-being of the society (African Leadership Forum, 2000). Again, Okeke (2010) also said that governance is also the process of exercising political, economic and administrative authority, especially over state. It can be defined as the process that is employed to achieve a noble end of a state. Thus, governance simply implies the art of governing a people within a given territory or a state. It consists of two essential elements of the state, namely the structure of a state and the procedures of the legislative, judicial and those of the executive and administrative bodies at all the tiers of government. In one word, governance remains a state in action (Ogundiya, 2010). To elaborate further, Ogundiya (2010) describe governance as “the control of an activity by some means such that a range of desired outcomes is attained”. This is seen by some individuals as the act of leading a country or an organisation to achieve desired goals.

Good Governance

People tend to take democracy to be good governance; however, it is not that because democratically elected government can be regarded as bad government. Good governance refers to a competent management of a country’s resources or affairs in a manner that is open, transparent, accountable, equitable and responsive to the yearning and aspiration of the people. UNDP (1997) describes good governance as the totality of the exercise of authority in the management of a country’s affairs, comprising the complex mechanisms, processes and institutions through which citizens and groups articulate their interests, exercise their legal rights and mediate their differences.

Good governance was also defined as a state of satisfactory fulfilment of expectations and the achievement of societal well-being by the mandated authority (African Leadership Forum, 2000). Good governance has eight major characteristics; it is participatory, consensus oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive, and follows the rule of law. It assures that corruption is minimized, the views of the minorities are considered and that the voices of the most vulnerable in society are heard in decision making in society ().

Odock (2006), posits out that good governance is a system of government based on good leadership, respect for the rule of law and due process, the accountability of a political leadership to the electorates as well as transparency in the operation of a government. Good governance can therefore be explained as leadership or democratic governance which is characterized by high valued principles such as the rule of law, transparency, human and civil rights, mass participation, and accountability, etc. These qualities in governance can bring development and security. Good governance is a concept that is not realistic in Nigeria. This is because all the qualities are not visible in the country.

Elements of Good Governance

Good governance is sometimes seen as a democratic system of government, while democratic governance is widely regarded as an essential building block of good governance.

The distinguishing features of good governance include the following: (I) Accountability (ii) Inclusiveness (iii) Equity and Social Justice (iv) Observance of the Rule of Law and Due Process (v) Legitimacy of Political, Economic and Administrative Authority (v) Effective Institutions (vi) Purposeful Leadership and (vii) Security and Order.

The 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has further reinforced the elements of good governance under the Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy7. Section 14 (1) of Chapter II, reiterates that “the Federal Republic of Nigeria shall be a State based on the principles of democracy and social justice”; and in (2a) further states that “sovereignty belongs to the people of Nigeria from whom government, through this Constitution derives all its powers and authority”. In the same section (2b&2c) it is further stated that “the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government; and the participation by the people in their government shall be ensured in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution”. Subsequent Sections elaborate on the political, economic, social, educational, foreign policy and environmental objectives of the State, as well as the obligations of the media, the national ethics and duties of the citizens (1999 Constitution).

The import of these provisions is to promote national integration and participatory governance through inclusiveness, freedom, equality, justice, transparency, accountability, the rule of law, equitable use of the national resources and equal opportunities for all, to secure the maximum welfare, freedom and happiness of the citizenry. These are core ingredients of good governance, which every government, freely elected by the people, is expected to put into practice in the administration of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and its Federating Units. For instance, the International consensus on the basic components of good governance is as follows;

Effective institutions and processes, the protection of human rights and democratisation, conflict prevention, civil society participation, combating corruption and the achievement of equitable economic and social results are the main components of this international consensus. Core elements of good governance are transparency, participation and accountability.

However, governance is said to be either good or bad based on how the affairs of an organization or country is run. Bad governance indicates that leadership of a country has not discharged its duties and responsibilities and some observable features in which the leadership can be judged to be good or bad. World Bank cited in Ogundiya (2010) for example gave the following as the features of bad governance; failure to make a clear separation between what is public and what is private property, hence a tendency to divert public resources for private gain; failure to establish a predictable framework for law and government behaviour in a manner that is conducive to development, arbitrariness in the application of rules and laws; excessive rules, regulations, licencing requirements, etc. One can therefore say that good governance is a rear case in Nigeria. This is because most leaders find it very difficult to differentiate between their private properties and that of the government. Nigerian government officials find it difficult to declare their assets before assuming office due to fraudulent behaviours.

Cattle Rustling and Insecurity in Nigeria

Insecurity in Nigeria has reached a level were even those who are shouldered with the responsibility of protecting lives and properties of Nigerians find it difficult to sleep with all their eyes closed. This is evidence with the number of Nigerian security personnel killed day in day out by insurgents in the north-eastern part of the country.

According to Beland (2005), insecurity is “the state of fear or anxiety stemming from a concrete or alleged lack of protection.” It refers to lack or inadequate freedom from danger. This definition reflects physical insecurity which is the most visible form of insecurity, and it feeds into many other forms of insecurity such as economic and social security. In this paper, insecurity is conceived as a situation where human and national security of a state is compromised and exacerbated by weak or poor economic, military and/or human resource development conditions.

Facts showing the entire and distinct figures on cattle rustling that leads to insecurity in Nigeria are hardly available because of the way cattle rustling is being handled by both security agents, government and the victims. However, few remote data exist to show the existing frequency, of the cattle rustling in the country. For instance, in August 2011, not fewer than 19 farmers were killed in Zamfara State, also, in August and November 2012 it was reported that 62 people were gun down. Again in the same State, in 2013 the executive governor who was in charge of the State security confirmed that 160 men were killed, 60 cattle rustled and ten women were abducted (Nurudden, Ronald, Hamisu, Sadiq, Ibrahim, Shehu, Abah, Aliyu, Abubakar, Ahmed, 2014). This signals a far-reaching level of insecurity in the State and can affect well-being of the rural communities because the people living there may desert the community for security purpose. Furthermore, in the same Zamfara State, forty-five villages were plundered by the outlaws, members of the communities were served with threat notice to vacate their communities by the rustlers or face serious attack. As a result, more than 250,000 farmers could not cultivate their farms in the year 2014 due to the fear of attack by the cattle rustlers (Kabara, 2016). This shows the level of bad governance in the state.

Another investigation made to establish the level of insecurity caused by the cattle rustlers in northern states of Nigeria in 2013. Findings show that 322 pastoralists were killed while 60,000 cattle were stolen by the rustlers (Nurudden, et al., 2014). The level of livestock rustling indicates that there is no state in northern part of Nigeria that is secured from the danger of cattle rustling. Cattle rustling exists in all parts of Nigeria. However, research conducted shows that the problem is more prevalent in Plateau, Bauchi, Nasarawa, Zamfara, Kaduna, Benue, and Katsina states (Okoli & Okpaleke, 2014). The incidence claimed the lives of forty-four persons, properties and houses worth millions of naira burnt into ashes (Okoli & Okpaleke, 2014) . The attacks show that the problem of cattle rustling still exists in the study area and the government is not living up to expectations.

Conclusion

The paper concludes that cattle rustling has caused insecurity because of the poor leadership and bad governance in Nigeria. The menace has rendered lives and properties of the rural populace useless as the government are unable to stop them. Therefore, until credible leaders who are not corrupt and have the country at heart are elected the insecurity in the country will persist.

References