Insecurity in any given nation can emerge as a result of many factors (Ighomereho &Akpor, 2013:82-83). Ighomereho and Akpor (2013) are of the opinion that security in Nigeria has become a challenge due to porous borders, urban drifting of jobless youth from the rural areas to urban areas, social irresponsibility of companies, such as in the case of the Niger Delta crisis, unemployment, poverty and terrorism.23 They further argue that when a country has a weak security system or lacks institutional capacity, it is bound to have national insecurity.
Therefore, it is popularly argued that, when there is a conflict of perception between government and its citizenry, or ethno-religious conflict, or even the loss of a socio-cultural and communal value system, a
23Terrorism is the premeditated use of threat or violence by an individual or group of people to cause fear,
destruction or death, especially against unarmed targets, property or infrastructure in a state with the intention to compel those in authority to respond to their demands or expectations. According to Sampson and Onoha (2011:3- 4), this is a worldwide phenomenon. On the one hand, terrorism in Nigeria is widely understood as an Islamic insurgency with a political undertone by a faceless group based in the Northern region of the country. Presently, the group called Boko Haram (Achumba, Ighomereho & Akpor-Robaro 2013:82).
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nation can suffer national insecurity. Perhaps this is why Human Rights Watch (2012:64) reiterates that the failure of any government to effectively perform its primary responsibility – of providing and guaranteeing the security of the lives and property of its citizens– can drastically affect its bargaining power and capacity to deal with identity issues and inter-religious conflicts. This might severely threaten national security. Therefore, the populace will place their loyalty in either ethnicity or religion instead of placing it in the state.
In fact, the volatile natures of ethno-religious violence have affected the services of the Nigerian police and other security agencies. The Human Rights Watch (2012:64), argues that this was the undermining of the core duty of the Nigerian police that led to several attacks on police stations and outposts, which claimed the lives of many police officers and of members of other armed forces, as well as led to the vandalising of security facilities and looting of armouries, with weapons falling into wrong hands. Additionally, Human Rights Watch correctly argues that conflicts are bound to occur in situations where the national constitution is not enforced. An example is Chapter 4of the National Constitution of Nigeria, which makes provision for the fundamental human rights to life, to dignity, to personal liberty, to a fair hearing, to a private and family life, to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, to freedom of expression and the press, to peaceful assembly and association, to freedom of movement, to freedom from discrimination, and freedom to acquire immovable property anywhere in Nigeria (Human Rights Watch, 2012).
Therefore, Walt (2005:146) is right in saying that “human beings are agents capable of making moral choices, of shaping their identity, resisting injustice and participating in the shaping of society”. It is also important to value the inherent dignity of human beings in a society, hence it’s ensures “that people enjoy civil and political liberties and also have effective access to the social and economic means indispensable to the development of their physical, emotional, creative and associational capabilities”. Van derVen (2004:8) says that, generally, human dignity is a complex concept with a long history.
What is dignity? Willard (1984:18) argues that “dignity as a term [is] used in moral, ethical and political discourses to signify that a being has an innate right to respect and ethical treatment”. This concept also carries a prospective and cautionary element in that Donrich (2009:9) asserts that, in politics, dignity is used to critique the treatment of the oppressed and vulnerable groups and individuals. However, it has also been extended to apply to cultures and sub-cultures, religious beliefs and ideals, such as the treatment of animals used for food and research, and even plants. Therefore, dignity signifies respect and trust, and
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it is often used to advocate that something is not receiving a proper degree of respect. This might be in the case of people, which they fail to treat themselves with proper self-respect. Dworkin (1977:295) extended the meaning of dignity to refer to the intrinsic worthiness of human beings, which provided the spiritual aspect of the term.
In view of the above description of dignity, De Lange (2011:4, 5) is right to explain that human dignity is a “quality inherent in every single human person”. It is “a permanent, universal, a priori and absolute characteristic”. This according to De Lange (2011:4, 5) means, intrinsic worthiness of the human person’s dignity does not matter how young, or old, strong or weak, wise or naïve people are. However, people may differ, but when it comes to the issue of dignity they are all equal. Therefore is helpful when Nussbaum (2000:72) maintains that the core idea of human dignity is that a human being is a dignified, free being who shapes his or her own life in cooperation and reciprocity with others. In other words, a life that is human is one that is shaped throughout by these human powers of practical reason and sociability. Therefore dignity exists exclusively as dignity to-be-acknowledged, and it reveals itself when it is infringed upon by violence, humiliation, neglect and indifference.