BAYELSA: CAGING THE MILITANTS

In May 2019, Nigeria achieved a rare feat of extending its uninterrupted democratic process into the second decade. However, the country has not been able to ensure effective deepening or consolidation of democratic rule chiefly on account of security threats. Since the return to civilian rule in 1999, there has been an escalation of ethnoreligious and socio-economic conflicts that were \’bottled up\’ during the years of draconian military rule.

In the years since the return to civil rule, the North-East and the South-South regions of Nigeria have been particularly impacted by insurgent attrition and intimidation strategies by various militant groups in the country. These attacks have not only destroyed lives and investments but have also resulted in nearly two million internally displaced people and exerted a huge toll on democratic consolidation in Africa\’s most populous country (Nkwachukwu, 2014). Peace should deepen as democracy deepens but this has not been the case in Nigeria.

This edition of Nextier SPD Policy Weekly provides perceptive answers to these questions and makes recommendations on how the upcoming Bayelsa State governorship election can be conducted in an atmosphere of peace, stabilised security situation, and decorum.