This paper analyses the problem of recurring threats to human and state security in Nigeria. It situates
the problem within the context of the nexus between governance and (under)development. It
notes that threats to human and state security predate Nigeria’s contemporary political history, as
there were cases of security challenges in the colonial era (1914-1960). However, after independence
in 1960, and especially after the return to democratic governance in 1999, security challenges in
the country multiplied and deepened. The paper argues that the root of the problem lies primarily
in the country’s prolonged crisis of development, engendered and sustained by political governance
systems (colonial, military/autocratic and civilian/democratic) that offer opportunities for
predatory accumulation by the elite and compromise the core elements and essence of government.