The Politics of Arms Control and Internal Security in Nigeria: Challenges and Prospects

The attempts of many countries to ensure peace and stability in their territories have continually seemed to be inefficient due to the growing rate of violence, terrorism, conflict in many regions of the world and Nigeria in particular. This is predominantly due to the proliferation of small arms and weapons of war circulating freely in the hands of unauthorized persons. Some of the objectives of the study were to ascertain the presence of weapon control laws in Nigeria as well as to examine the effect of arms control on internal security of Nigeria and also to determine the impact of the proliferation of fire arms on the internal security of Nigeria. Theoretically, the study adopted the Failed State Theory as associated with the Weberians. Methodologically, the study also made use of the secondary sources of data collection and analyze same through content analysis. Using the above stated methodology, the study found the presence of some weapon control laws in the country both international and local. Following from this, the study concluded that though these laws are there, the operations have proven ineffective in the management of arms in a turbulent country like Nigeria and therefore recommended that, in order for the government's security agencies to be able to effectively fight the spread of armaments across the nation, more advanced and automated logistical support should be made available to the security agencies.