IndexCauses of Proliferation of Small ArmsInadequate Border Control: CorruptionEnvironmental InfluenceImplications of Small Arms on National SecurityCauses of Proliferation of Small ArmsNigeria's economic structure has created space for poverty. In general, capitalism is exploitative and survives only through its ability to perpetually and internationally subjugate the poor. Underlying the proliferation of small arms in Nigeria is widespread poverty, despite Nigeria's status as a major oil exporting country. There is therefore a clear contradiction between the fact that Nigeria is the world's sixth largest oil exporter and Africa's largest economy, but the fact remains that the standard of living in Nigeria is the 36th lowest in the world in terms of indicators of human development (HDI). According to the 2002 United Nations Human Development Index Report, life expectancy at birth is less than 50 years for both men and women. Nigeria's Human Development Index (HDI) stands at 0.462, placing the country 148th out of a total of 178 countries (Ebo,2002:18). Nigeria falls below Ghana (0.548), Zimbabwe (0.5551), Kenya (0.513) and Togo (0.493). As a result, individuals living in poverty are more vulnerable to manipulation combined with theft and violent crimes involving weapons. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original Essay The 2016 World Bank Poverty Report confirmed that poverty levels among Nigerians were higher in 2016 than in the 1990s (World Bank, 2016). Job opportunities and infrastructure are mainly concentrated in urban centers or constituencies loyal to political parties in power. This fuels crisis and inequality as these disadvantaged or excluded groups express their grievances through the use of small arms against the state. Widespread poverty and limited economic opportunities in Nigeria have been exploited by Boko Harma, herdsmen terrorists, Niger Delta militants and non-violent indigenous peoples of Biafra to recruit and radicalize poor, ignorant and vulnerable people through the distribution of money. Rural-urban migration created the leeway for Fulani settlement and ownership claims and, at the same time, devastated many communities resulting in the killing of innocent Nigerians. Inadequate Border Control: Nigeria is a vast country covering 923,768 square kilometers with more than 36,450 kilometers of land and sea borders. Nigeria shares its land borders with four countries: Benin (773 km), Cameroon (1690 km). Niger (1049 km) and Chad (87 km). The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has confirmed that there are 1,487 illegal routes into Nigeria across the borders (Abayomi,2013:1). Surveillance on these vast routes poses problems. In Borno State, for example, due to the porous nature of the border with Cameroon, the border area is easily accessible at any point by various means of transport during the dry season, thus frustrating all government efforts to curb immigrants illegal immigrants, bandits and smugglers of small arms and light weapons are ineffective. In 2013, Cameroonian security forces arrested a man transporting 655 firearms to Nigeria and another 5400 AK47s were also intercepted in Marona, in the northern region of Cameroon for the same destination (Oxfam,2017:12). In this regard, Albert Akpor ( 2012:3) notes that most of the weapons of the Boko sectHaram enter the country through the Apapa jetty and the northern borders of the republics of Chad, Mali and Niger. The small arms were evacuated in tankers with the help of some members of the authorized security agencies who are part of the group at the border. The tankers normally pass through all checkpoints until arriving at their destination where the contents are evacuated again to the designated mosque. Furthermore, the Libya and Mali crises have exacerbated the nature of the circulation, misuse and abuse of small arms abuse across Africa. This has become detrimental to the whole of West Africa, especially Nigeria, as this large number of weapons exported to the West African sub-region has encouraged human rights abuse and promoted a high level of violent conflict and mortality rates . Corruption The proliferation of small arms in West Africa is linked to structural collapse of institutions that have long suffered from pervasive political and social ills. The main source of arms supply was the illegal sale of weapons by police officers and soldiers. These security agents are known to sell or rent weapons illegally. According to President Olusegun Obasanjo, in his monthly chat with the National Television Authority on December 2, 2001, most of the ammunition we have... comes from security agencies... from the police... from the army. Only recently we discovered that 3,000 rounds of ammunition were sold here in Abuja by the police and in Jos by the military (Obasanjo, 2001). The miserable living and working conditions encountered by the population from the rulers were the factor in these horrific developments. . This situation not only generates corruption but also encourages the officers themselves to engage in crime. These security agents have lent their weapons to criminals to enable them to violate the law and satisfy most of their unmet needs. This became evident in February 2016, when some Nigerian soldiers were arrested for illegally selling small arms to Boko Haram insurgents. The weapons supplied consisted of one smoke grenade, 2136 live rounds of 7.62mm, 50 live rounds of 7.6mm, 5 AK47 magazines and 2 live rounds of Browning machine gun ammunition (Okibe2016:20). The environment caused by the negative impact of colonialism has created space for conflict in Nigeria. Colonialism had been fixed to Africa like a steel net whose debts exceeded credits. Of all the colonial legacies established in Nigeria, the worst has been the conflation of two strange bedfellows of the Northern and Southern protectorates, which is the hallmark of ethnic cleansing and religious violence. European colonialists sowed the seed of discord and conflict by forcing two incompatible groups of divergent ethnic hues and colors to coexist. The seed of discord sown by the colonialists germinated along with a lot of economic and socio-political insecurity, of which the benefactors exploited their whims and whims against the natives. Furthermore, the granting of independence by the colonialists had a corrupt overtone. The colonialists created an ill-conceived political arrangement in which pragmatic political power was in the hands of a Prime Minister from the North and a figurehead called the President from the South. Thus, the departing colonialist; because some dubious and diabolical intentions have distorted the Nigerian configuration to politically favor the North against those calling for independence. In this context, it is observed that the colonialists did not make subtle efforts to encourage unity or integration; rather they have fanned the embers of ethnic rivalries and conflicts. This seemed to be the originof the tragic flaws in our efforts to protect ourselves. McNezer Fashun (2009:5) notes that the mine was well prepared for foreseeable political crises. These colonial misadventures, among others, pushed people of different ethnic groups to a razor's edge and created the context for the acquisition, abuse and misuse of small arms. Implications of Small Arms for National Security Small arms have not only intensified the intensity of armed conflicts in Nigeria but have also been responsible for the majority of deaths, massive internal displacement of local populations, and socioeconomic and political insecurity. During the indigenous/settler crisis in Jos (2003), the Fulani population in Langtang North and South local government areas were completely plundered and only pockets of Muslim settlements remained.Similarly; The non-Muslim population fled Shendam, Quan an Pan, Wuse and Langtang local government areas. According to the Global Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Project, at least 10,000 people have been killed and 8,000,000 displaced due to outbreaks of community violence across the country (Forguin and Berman, 2005: 33). Between late December 2003 and January 2004, at least 10,000 residents of the towns of Babangida, Dankalawar, Geidam and Kanamma in Yobe state fled their homes due to fighting between Al-Sunna Wal-Jamma, also known as Boko Haram , and government forces. In 2003, violence between security forces and federated Ijaw communities of the Niger Delta displaced approximately 4,000 people. Between 2006 and 2014, statistics from the Nigerian Match Data Base indicate that the country recorded a total of 615 violent deaths linked to Fulani herdsmen in addition to 61,314 violent deaths among the same group (Olayokun2014:3). Similarly, the British Broadcasting Corporation's report on Fulani farmer and herder violence claims that between 2001 and 2014, crises claimed the lives of 50,000 people, including nearly 35,000 women and children (BBC, 2017). . Based on UNDP estimates, 24,771 people were killed and 5,507 injured between 2011 and 2015, with the majority of victims in Nigeria (UNDP:2017). In July 2014, Nigeria was estimated to have had the highest number of terrorist killings in the world with the recorded number of 3477 as well as 6600 people killed in 146 attacks. Since the insurgency began in 2009, terrorist groups have killed 20,000 people and displaced 2.3 million people from their homes (Time Magazine2015:14). The significance of these reports portrays Nigeria as a killing field of innocent citizens in the context of state coercive agents. The brazenness with which Fulani herdsmen, sometimes referred to as foot soldiers of Boko Haram, have massacred settled communities and razed villages is not only a grim reminder but also a stark reminder of the enormous security challenges in Nigeria. The terrorist group has at its disposal a seemingly unlimited supply of heavy weapons, vehicles, bombs and ammunition which it uses to kill with unfathomable wantonness. The activities of Fulani herdsmen, Boko Haram and government inaction have increased food insecurity, hardship and underdevelopment as many farmers have abandoned their farmlands and migrated to urban centers for their safety. Research conducted by the UK Department for International Development between 2013 and 2016 shows that the crises caused the country an estimated loss of 14 billion dollars over 3 years. States affected by herder-farmer conflicts also lost an average of 47% of their taxes (internally generated revenue) during attacks (DFID, 2017). Another tragic flaw in our nation has been the clamor for cattle coloniesthat the Buhari federal government has been trying to force communities to give up their natural inheritance (land) for cows at the expense of food crops and farmers' source of livelihood. But we must not be in a hurry to forget that the North has a vast territory that extends over 80% of Nigeria's territory. The consequences of poor land management have put pastoralists in a violent struggle over land in the south. These attacks and the illegal acquisition of agricultural land in southern Nigeria for grazing is a time bomb that will determine Nigeria's future when it finally explodes. The propensity for small arms in Nigeria threatens not only the existence of the state but also the livelihoods of millions of people across the country. The situation calls into question the essence of government and its security or primary function. The number of weapons in the custody of unauthorized persons is alarming and, although some seizures are occasionally made, the supply network closes the gap hundreds of times over. In October 2016, the Rivers State Police Command arrested a Nigerian importer and dealer of prohibited firearms and recovered hundreds of G3 rifles, AK47s and Berretta automatic rifles (Wellington2017:20). In Anambra State, weapons found in the armor of a kidnapper have created in the psyche of well-informed Nigerians that the nation is not only sitting on a keg of gunpowder but could sink into gun violence if the proliferation of small arms and small caliber was uncontrolled. These weapons include: 27AK47 rifles, 1K2 rifle, 2 types of 06 rifles, a general purpose machine gun, a rocket launcher, 17 rocket rifles, six shotguns, 3 Danish pistols, a Beretta I pistol and 13 rocket grenades. Also included were 12,800 rounds of Ak47 live ammunition, 530 rounds of LAR ammunition, 95 rounds of general purpose machine gun live ammunition, and 143 magazines (Ujumadu, 2012; 33). Between 2012 and 2016, on 17 separate occasions at various points of entry Nigerian Customs seized over 60,000 rounds of ammunition imported into the country from the United States and Europe. Over 288 rifles, 35 rocket-propelled guns and Imposed Explosive Devices (IEDs), including pistols, mortar bombs, machine guns, ammunition of various calibers, 50 Cameroonian passports and a Toyota jeep were recovered by the Cameroonian security forces from two alleged armed traffickers (Adeniyi,2016:25). Another arrest of a terrorist in a green Peugeot vehicle led to the recovery of 15AK47 rifles, 12 magazines and several unassembled rifles (Ibe,2016:40). In 2015, over 5,078 weapons and 11,917 ammunitions were recovered from robbers, kidnappers and cultists by the Rivers State Police Command. Additionally, 243 armed robbers and kidnappers were killed in various gun battles with security agents across the state. On 19 April 2016, police recovered Delta State 20AK47 rifles, 70 daneguns, 30 double-barreled pistols and over 1000 live ammunition, mainly from Fulani herdsmen (Oxfam2016:32). Even the guns burning program carried out by the Federal Government to destroy small arms recovered from criminals in various states such as “Zamfara 5000 pistols, Benue 600 pistols, Katsina 425 pistols” were all more than scratching the surface compared to weapons in circulation. Therefore, looking at the extent of weapons in individual and collective possession, one wonders whether they are intended exclusively for acts related to robberies and kidnappings or there are ulterior reasons for declaring war on Nigeria. Heavy caches of sophisticated weapons were paraded and publicly displayed by militants, insurgents, terrorists, cattle rustlers and Fulani herdsmen. The speed with which these illegal rifles are circulating freely calls into question the commitment.