Repressing the Voice, Increasing the Noise: The Imperative for Negotiation as a Panacea to Security Crisis in the South East, Nigeria (PART I)

This article is divided into two parts: Part I and II. This part I discusses the provenance of insecurity in Nigeria, the theories explaining its emergence and the birth of militant groups in the region. Though there is no part of Nigeria that is immune to infectious insecurity, the case of South East is more worrisome. The security crisis in the region has been worsened by the intractable and complex secessionist agitation that started immediately after Nigeria’s independence. Common theories for explaining the situation have been long-term political marginalization of the region, state fragility to manage diversities and bad governance from the Igbo political elites. The conclusion of this part, therefore, is that insecurity in the South East Nigeria can be analyzed from these theories.