A STUDY ON THE CHANGING NATURE OF NATIONAL SECURITY THREATS IN NIGERIA

Nigeria's national security landscape has undergone significant transformations since independence in 1960. The country's security challenges have shifted from traditional state-based threats to non-state actors, asymmetric warfare, and transnational crimes.1 This study examines the changing nature of national security threats in Nigeria from 2009 to 2022, exploring historical roots, contemporary challenges, and government responses. Nigeria's national security trajectory is deeply rooted in its colonial legacy. The British colonial administration's divide-and- rule policy created ethnic and regional tensions that persist today. Post-independence, Nigeria's national security concerns shifted from internal stability to regional and global issues, including the Nigerian Civil War and the Cold War. The post-Cold War era saw the emergence of non- state actors, terrorism, and insurgency.2