Examining Transboundary Migration and Its Strategic Implications for Internal Security in Nigeria During the Buhari Administration

It is truism that Africa at large and Nigeria in particular have continued to experience severe security threats which has been attributed to the effects of globalization evident upon certain links to the activities of illegal migrants. To even think that this particular area has in the past and presently continued to attract attention of scholars, policy makers, security experts as well as security analysts. These threats to national security include activities of Boko Haram, herdsmen as well as incidences of piracy and maritime insecurity. This paper discusses transboundary migration and its implication on internal security in Nigeria. The study relied on relevant secondary sources of data collection. The securitization theory forms the theoretical framework wherein analyses in this study occurred. The theory assumes that threats and vulnerabilities can arise in many different areas, military and nonmilitary, but in order to count as security threats, such threats must meet strictly defined criteria that distinguish them from the normal happenings of mere politics. The unchecked as well as unmonitored or poorly monitored transboundary migration in Nigeria significantly affected internal security under President Buhari. This is true because, Nigeria as a sovereign nation-state should take cognizance of the fact that globalization or openness without control encourages border crimes: smuggling, child and women trafficking, small and light weapons trafficking and trafficking of narcotics across the border. Again, the nomadic movements and activities of the Fulani herders engendered insecurity in Nigeria under President Buhari. The study concludes that irregular migration persists in Nigeria because there is no political will to impose adequate security across Nigeria’s international borders; and also, there is the lack of political will to effectively implement the national security strategy. The study recommends that the Federal Government should securitize the issue of irregular migration beyond the normal happenings of mere politics. Thus, border security threats should be treated as existential threats to both national and human security in Nigeria.