TERRORISM IN NIGERIA: A SEARCH FOR SOLUTIONS

Abstract

This work examines the root causes of terrorism in Nigeria as it is on the increase in the country today. The study employed the descriptive survey design and was carried out in Cross River State. The population of the study is made up of 291 Police officers in the 16 police stations in the five local government areas in Ogoja zone of Cross River State. The sample of this study consisted of 47 (33 males and 14 females) Police Officers. The instrument for data collection was a self-structured questionnaire titled: “Terrorism in Nigeria Questionnaire” (TNQ) and consisted of a twenty item of five clusters according to the research questions. The internal consistency of the instrument was established using Cronbach Alpha reliability method and reliability coefficient of 0.86 was obtained. The data generated were analysed using mean and standard deviation to answer research question. While independent sample t-test was used to test the null hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. The result of the study revealed that violence, unemployment, corruption, insecurity and religious motivation are the major causes of terrorism in Nigeria; while the t-test analysis revealed no significant difference in the mean responses of male and female officers on the root causes of terrorism in Nigeria. It was therefore recommended among others that: the culture of peace should be imbibed, gainful employment should be made, religious organizations should sensitize their youths against terrorism among others.