DEPARTMENT OF POLITCAL SCIENCE

The issue of national security is contentious and indeed, a subject of immense concern to every Nigeria and Government which has ruled from independence to the present day. It is a subject that concerns the survival of a nation in the international system. However, there is a correlation between national security and pursuit of a foreign policy. In the past, there was demarcation between foreign policy and national defence policy. The truth remains that no nation can play meaningful role in the international system, if the state does not have dynamic foreign policy linked up with her defence policy.

The study examined the impact of banditry and kidnapping for ransom on the people of Nigeria with implications for National security. The general objective of the study was to examine the extent to which banditry and kidnapping activities have affected the right to life, personal liberty, freedom and progress of people in Nigeria and to determine the implication for Nigeria’s
National security. The scope of the study covered the period between 2014 and 2022. The paper posits that banditry and kidnapping for ransom activities have negatively affected the life and freedom of people living in Nigeria and thus are a problem for National security. The study adopted the critical discuss analysis approach in the analysis of the phenomena of the study. Themes were generated from the research questions and the phenomena of the study were thus examined under various sub-headings for patterns and analysis. The findings show that banditry and kidnapping for ransom in Nigeria have negatively and mostly affected the right to life, freedom and progress of people in Nigeria and hurt National security; hence, the Nigerian
security architecture is weak. Consequently, the study recommends that the government security forces should be complemented by private security outfits and vigilantes in all towns and villages; the security and intelligence capacity of the military and the police forces should be built up for effective management of information; and that people in Nigeria should be allowed by an act of parliament to carry arms for self-defence among others.

This research study examined National Question of State Police as a Panacea to security in Edo South Senatorial District, Nigeria. The study aimed to determine the crime rates in Edo South Senatorial District, Edo State, find out the most common crime in Edo South Senatorial District, Edo State, ascertain the roles of State Police in crime control in Edo South Senatorial District, Edo State, and determine the perception of the Edo South residents towards State Police if established. Anchored on structuralfunctionalism theory as the theoretical framework of the study, the research descriptive survey design methods and questionnaires to obtain information and employ frequencies and percentages to analyze data. The research unveils that there is a high rate of crime in the senatorial district, kidnapping rank first among the common crime in the senatorial district, followed by cultism,theft/burglary, then rape, and fighting, Edo South senatorial district residents perceived that the if State Police get established, will be very good, worthwhile and commendable. It was suggested that the government should make a priority to meaningfully engage the youth in 7 the county thereby reducing the rate of unemployment, for an adage says "idle hands are the devil's workshop, the establishment of the State Police is strategic to the national security of the country because of its size and heterogeneous nature. The State Police if created will not only decongest the administrative stress at the federal level but will also have a closer chief of security of icer in the person of the governor monitoring to address security issues before they escalate, to this end if it gets initiated, it should be guided against abuse by State actors